20VC: The Ultimate Episode For Emerging Managers: How To Determine How Big A Fund To Raise, What Is The Right Closing Strategy With LPs & Why We Will Not See The Eradication of Pre-Seed with John Fein, Founder & Managing Partner @ Firebrand Ventures

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

🗓️ 7 October 2019

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John Fein is the Founder and Managing Partner @ Firebrand Ventures, one of the leading early-stage funds in the midwest with a portfolio including the likes of ScaleFactor, Replica, Dwolla and more fantastic companies. As for John, prior to founding Firebrand, he was the Managing Director of Techstars based in Kansas City and before that spent close to 9 years at OptumRx where he managed multi-billion dollar large-scale programs for the $15B pharmacy benefit manager division of UnitedHealth Group.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How John made his way into the world of venture from scaling a pharmaceuticals business to almost $2Bn in revenue and how that led to founding Firebrand?

2.) What was it like for John raising the first fund for Firebrand with no existing network of LPs or high-net-worth individuals? How did John approach his closing strategy? How did he decide the amount of money to raise for the fund? How did Techstars Founder, David Cohen change and impact his thinking here? Was John surprised by how long the fund took to raise?

3.) What does John know now that he wishes he had known at the beginning of the fundraise for the first fund? Does it ever get easier? What does John believe are the biggest challenges in managing your own fund? What does he do to mitigate them? How does running your own fund differ from operating in a venture partnership?

4.) "Seed" is so confused in meaning today so what does "seed stage" really mean to John? Does John agree with Harry that we are seeing the eradication of the pre-seed stage? Where does John believe is the ideal insertion point? Does John believe that ownership can be built over time? How does John think about reserve allocation?

5.) How does John think about the relationship-building process with founders? Is John worried by the compressed fundraising timelines we are seeing today? What can investors do to build trust with founders quickly? What signs impress John in the early days of getting to know the founder? What are some common red flags for John?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

John's Fave Book: Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna

John’s Most Recent Investment: The Minte

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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the 20 minute VC in another week in the land of venture with me, Harry Stebbings.
0:03.9	You can find me on Instagram at H. Stebbings, 1996 with 2Bs. All guest suggestions get a personal
0:09.1	response from me there. However, to the episode today, and there are a couple of criticisms one
0:13.2	could make of 20 VC. One is that we're insanely West Coast focused and should feature some of
0:17.9	the amazing managers outside of the bay. You might remember we had Bradfeld on the show last week, and thanks to Brad's intro here,
0:23.9	I'm delighted to welcome one of those amazing managers this week from the Midwest,
0:27.5	and so with that I'm thrilled to welcome John Fine, found and managing partner at Firebrand Ventures,
0:32.3	one of the leading early stage funds in the Midwest, with a portfolio including the lights of
0:36.0	scale factor, replica,
0:41.7	dweller, and many more incredible companies. As for John, prior to founding Firebrand,
0:45.6	he was the managing director of tech stars based in Kansas City, and before that, spent close to nine years at Optum RX, where he managed multi-billion dollar large-scale programs
0:50.3	for the $15 billion pharmacy benefit manager division of United Health Group.
0:55.0	But before we head into the show today, five weeks, that's all the time that stands between
0:58.7	you, your online business and the holiday season. Will you have the marketing budget to boost
1:03.2	your best ads? How about your inventory supply? Can it keep up with shopper demand on Cyber Monday?
1:08.4	If you're starting to sweat, Clearbank's here to help.
1:13.7	They offer fast, affordable investments for online businesses.
1:15.9	Just fill out a 20-minute term sheet today.
1:16.5	What a name.
1:21.1	Within 24 hours, you could be approved for $10,000 to $10 million in funding.
1:24.6	And the best part is, they can top you up with more when you need it most.
1:25.7	Time is running out.
	...

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