20VC: Spark's Nabeel Hyatt on Investing in Oculus and Cruise & What It Takes To Invest Ahead Of The Curve

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

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2016

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nabeel Hyatt is a venture partner at Spark Capital where he invests in entrepreneurs using that rare combination of design and technology to transform markets. He is currently on the board of Spark Capital’s investments in Cruise (acquired by General Motors), Fig, Harmonix, Postmates, Proletariat, and Thalmic Labs. Nabeel was previously cofounder and CEO of Conduit Labs, which was sold to Zynga in 2010, where he then became General Manager up through the IPO. Prior to that he was variously cofounder, head of product, and CEO at a variety of hardware and software companies including MIT Media Lab spin-out Ambient Devices, Teamtalk (BSkyB), and Interphase.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How did Nabeel make his way into the world of VC?

2.) What are the biggest lessons Nabeel can apply from his time in the trenches to being a VC at Spark? How has his investment strategy and decision making changed over time?

3.) What were the biggest takeaways for Nabeel as an observer and investor in Oculus?

4.) What is the story behind Spark's investment in Cruise (recently acquired by GM)? How did Nabeel come to meet Kyle and the team? What was the product like? How did it evolve?

5.) What does Cruise’s acquisition mean for the autonomous car industry? What are the inherent challenges for the industry as a whole? How will they be overcome and what timeline are you placing on the industry to come into fruition?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Episode:

Nabeel’s Fave Blog: AVC

Nabeel’s Most Recent Investment: Fig

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

If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the 20-minute VC with your host Harry Stevings at H. Stevings on Snapchat.
0:05.6	And following Bijan's episode on Monday, we returned to feature the fantastic Spark Capital.
0:10.4	And joining us today from Spark, I'm delighted to welcome Nabiel Hyatt, venture partner at Spark Capital,
0:16.0	where he invests in entrepreneurs at the intersection of design and technology to transform markets.
0:21.7	He's currently on the board of Sparks' investments in Cruise, which was recently acquired by General Motors,
0:26.7	fig, harmonics, postmates, proletariat and phalmic labs. Now, Bill was also previously co-founded
0:33.9	and CEO of Conduit Labs, which was sold to Zinger in 2010, where he then became
0:38.8	general manager up until their IPO. And prior to that, he was variously co-founder, head of product
0:44.4	and CEO at a variety of hardware and software companies, including MIT's Media Lab spin-out,
0:50.4	ambient devices, team talk and interface. But before we meet the main man, did you know
0:55.9	one in four married couples sleep in separate beds? If so, that's great for Lisa, and it means you can
1:02.0	get two incredible Lisa mattresses and really optimize your sleep. How will Lisa allow you to do this?
1:07.5	Well, all Lisa matches are made with the finest materials, with the result being a
1:11.3	beautiful mattress that feels different to the touch, offers a better night's sleep. And also,
1:16.2	Lisa mattresses have minimal motion transfer. So if you do sleep with your partner, then fantastic.
1:21.7	Otherwise, head over to Lisa.com forward slash VC and enter the promo code VC75 to get two matches for your separate sleeping.
1:29.5	And that's $75 with VC75 on Lisa.com forward slash VC.
1:35.5	Also, if you haven't signed up to the incredible Mattermark Daily by my good friend Nick Frost
1:39.7	at Thinker on Twitter, that really is a must for all the best VC and startup articles. But now it's time to
1:45.9	jump into the interview, so I'm thrilled to welcome Nabil Hyatt, venture partner at Spark Capital.
1:51.7	Three, two, one, zero. You have now arrived at your destination.
2:00.3	Nabil, such a pleasure to have you on the 20-minute VC.
	...

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