20VC: Mac the VC on the Journey from Homeless To Becoming A VC, What It Takes To Raise a Fund on Twitter, Why the Venture World is F***** Up and How Institutional LPs Need To Change
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 1 November 2021
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
McKeever "Mac" Conwell II is the founder and managing partner of RareBreed Ventures, a pre-seed fund that invests outside of large tech ecosystems, with a concentrated portfolio approach being the first check with up to $250K. Mac's journey into venture is nothing short of inspirational, Mac went from being homeless to being an engineer to founding his own companies to today, raising Rarebreed largely on Twitter.
In Today’s Episode with Mac the VC You Will Learn:
1.) How Mac went from being homeless to becoming an engineer and starting his own company? How did his time operating lead to his becoming a VC and building his Twitter brand?
2.) What are the biggest ways that venture is messed up today? Why does Mac believe it does not matter about getting into hot deals? Why does Mac believe that the brand of the VC that does your round does not matter? Does Mac see the leading venture brands investing outside SF and NYC? What elements of an investment compel them more than others?
3.) In the wake of the George Floyd event, who does Mac note did not say anything? How does Mac want to see diversity introduced at the institutional LP level? What does Mac believe institutional LPs care about? What can institutional LPs do structurally to allow themselves to invest in the next generation of emerging managers?
4.) Why does Mac not like AngelList Rolling Funds? How did he structure his fund in a creative way? How does Mac feel about the requirements for GP commits? How did Mac use Twitter very specifically to raise his fund? Which people went out of their way to help him? What were some of the biggest takeaways from those discussions?
Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Mac the VC
Mac’s Favourite Book: Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?: How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion-Dollar Business Empire
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Harry Stebbings here for another week in 20 VC world and to our show today and when I put on |
| 0:03.8 | Twitter I was booking new shows. This guest was by far the most requested show by the Twitters |
| 0:07.8 | sphere. Hundreds of messages poured in requesting this guest and so by popular demand I'm thrilled |
| 0:12.7 | to welcome Mac the VC. Mac is the founder and managing partner of Rare Breed VC, a pre-seed fund |
| 0:18.1 | that invests outside of large tech ecosystems, with a very concentrated portfolio |
| 0:22.2 | approach, being the first check-in with up to a 250k check, Matt's journey into venture is |
| 0:27.6 | very different to the usual, Stanford, McKinsey, Bain, Goldman, and it's quite simply nothing |
| 0:33.2 | short of inspirational and exceptional. Mack went from being homeless to being an engineer, to founding |
| 0:38.2 | his own companies, to stay, raising rare breed largely on Twitter. Such a fascinating and |
| 0:43.6 | inspiring story, and I'm so pleased to make this show happen with Matt today. But before we |
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