meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: How Every VC Firm Is A Marketplace, Why A Large Amount of Promise in AI Today Is Impossible & Entrepreneurs 3 Main Pain Points of Fundraising with Alex Mittal, Founder & CEO @ Funders Club

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The Twenty Minute VC

Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4637 Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2017

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Alex Mittal is the Founder & CEO @ Funders Club, the company that uses software and networks to provide investors with access to the world's most promising startups. Their portfolio includes the likes of Slack, Greenhouse, Shippo and Flexport just to name a few. They are backed by some of the world's leading investors themselves with the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, Felicis Ventures and First Round Capital. Prior to starting FundersClub, Alex was the founding CEO of Innova Dynamics, a VC-backed touchscreen hardware company, leading the company from university laboratory to securing design-in collaborations with today's major consumer electronics companies. Previously, he was the founding CTO of Crederity, a VC-backed identity and credential verification enterprise software company. 

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Alex made his way from YC founder to revolutionizing seed stage investing with Funders Club?

2.) Why is Alex still so bullish on the on-demand space? How does Alex evaluate on-demand startups? What metrics are attractive in the space? What do good unit economics look like for on-demand startups?

3.) Does Alex agree that we are experiencing a AI bubble? Where are the shortcomings in the current state of AI and machine learning? How does Alex expect the space to play out and what does Alex advise entrepreneurs in the space?

4.) What does Alex make of the rise of investing in hard science startups? Why does he get concerned to see traditional software VCs investing in the space? How should VCs view the rise of nontech businesses both in hard science and consumer?

5.) You have said before that 'the API is not in the past but is still to come'. Why are you so bullish on the continued expansion of APIs? Where do the inherent oportuities and use cases remain?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Alex's Fave Book: The Art of War by Sun Tsu

Alex's Fave Blog: Eric Newcomer, Mattermark Daily

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Alex on Twitter here!

Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.

X.ai is AI-powered personal assistant for scheduling meetings bringing you Amy or Andrew. The assistant you interact with like you would to any other person and it allows you to avoid the tedious hours of email ping pong in order to schedule one meeting. Even better, there is no sign in, no password, no download, all you do is cc [email protected] beautiful! And you can check it out now on x.ai it really is a must!

Workable is the all-in-one recruiting software for ambitious companies. From posting a job to tracking and managing candidates, Workable provides everything you need to hire better. Transparent communication, organized candidate profiles, structured interviews and a full reporting suite gives hiring teams the information they need to make the best choice. Workable is available for desktop and mobile and you can find out more on workable.com where you can try it for free.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello and welcome back to the 20 minute VC with me, your host, Harry Stebbings, found on Snapchat

0:04.1

at H. Stebbings with 2Bs. All ads get a personal message from me, and I'd so love to see you there.

0:09.1

However, to the show today, and I'm thrilled to welcome Alex Mattel. Now, Alex is the founder and

0:13.3

CEO at Funders Club, the company that uses software and networks to provide investors with

0:18.1

access to the world's most promising start-ups. Their portfolio includes the

0:21.6

likes of Slack, Greenhouse, Shippo and Flexport, just to name a few. They're also backed by some of the

0:26.9

world's leading investors themselves, with the likes of Andresen Horrors, Wye Combinator, Felices Ventures and

0:32.1

first-round capital. And prior to starting funders club, Alex was the founding CEO of Inova Dynamics,

0:37.4

a VC-Batt

0:38.1

touchscreen hardware company where he led the company from University Lab to securing design

0:42.4

collaboration with today's major consumer electronics companies.

0:45.6

Previously before that, he was the founding CTO of Creditority, a VC-Batt identity and credential

0:50.3

verification enterprise software company.

0:52.2

I do also want to say a big thank you to Pejman Nozad at Per for the intro to Alex today, without which the show would not have been possible.

0:58.5

But before we dive into the show today, there are some products that you simply cannot remember

1:02.2

what life was like before them. For me, that's X.a.I. They bring you Amy and Andrew, their

1:07.1

AI-powered personal assistance for scheduling meetings. And the beauty of Amy or Andrew is you interact with them like you would any other person.

1:14.3

And it allows you to avoid the tedious hours of email ping pong in order to schedule one meeting.

1:19.2

Even better, though.

1:19.9

There's no sign-in, no password, no download.

1:22.5

All you do is CCAmy at X.A.I.

1:25.4

Absolutely fantastic.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Twenty Minute VC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Twenty Minute VC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.