20VC: Why Great Founders Are Both Visionary & Stubborn, The Investment Mindset Shift From Angel To VC & How To React When The 'S*** Hits The Fan?' with Jesse Middleton, General Partner @ Flybridge Capital Partners
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC
4.4 • 637 Ratings
🗓️ 31 August 2016
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jesse Middleton is a General Partner @ Flybridge Capital Partners. Prior to joining Flybridge, Jesse was an early executive at WeWork, one of the fastest growing and most valuable startups in history. He co-founded WeWork Labs in 2011, and ran WeWork X, M&A, startup investments, business and digital product development as well as inside sales during his five-year tenure at the company. Prior to WeWork, Jesse was the co-founder and CEO of Backstory, a venture backed startup. Jesse also has experience as a prolific angel investor having invested in the like of Fitmob (acq by ClassPass) YourTrove acq by LiveNation and inDinero, who you might remember we had Jessica Mah, Founder @ inDinero on the show.
In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Jesse made the transition from operator with WeWork to General Partner @ Flybridge?
2.) At what stage does founder vision transition to become stubbornness? How does Jesse approach the situation of telling a founder when it is not working?
3.) How does Jesse's investment mindset shift from making the move from angel to VC with fiduciary responsibility?
4.) How does Jesse look to develop pattern recognition as a new entrant to VC? How important a role does mentorship play for Jesse?
5.) What are the characteristics Jesse looks for in a founder that suggest an innate problem solver? How does Jesse deal with problems when the 'shit hits the fan?'
Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:
Jesse’s Fave Blog and Newsletter: Purple, The Skimm
Jesse’s Fave Book: Leadership & The Challenge of Self Deception
Jesse’s Most Recent Investment: Squire
As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Jesse on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Snapchat here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So starting this one a little bit differently today, because intros are hard and they're hard to make fun and different every time. |
| 0:05.6 | So I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you like from intros and what you don't like from an intro. |
| 0:09.8 | So let me know on at H. Stebbings on Snapchat. |
| 0:12.9 | But to today's episode of the 20 minute VC, you might remember we had Jeff Bus Gang at Flybridge on the show a couple of weeks ago. And today I'm very excited to be joined by |
| 0:21.1 | Jeff's new partner at Flybridge, Jesse Middleton. And prior to joining Flybridge, Jesse was an early |
| 0:25.9 | executive at WeWork, one of the fastest growing and most valuable startups in history. He co-founded |
| 0:31.1 | WeWork Labs in 2011 and ran WeWorkX, M&A, startup investments, business and digital product development, as well as |
| 0:39.2 | inside sales during his five-year tenure at the company. And prior to WeWork, Jesse was the co-founder |
| 0:43.8 | and CEO of Backstory, a venture-backed startup. Jesse also has extensive experience as a prolific |
| 0:49.3 | angel investor, having invested in the likes of FitMob, acquired by Class Pass, Your Trove, acquired by Live Nation, |
| 0:56.2 | and Indanero, who you might remember we had Jessica Marr, founder Indanero on the show previously. |
| 1:00.9 | However, before we bring Jesse on, if you're halfway through the week and already in need of the weekend, |
| 1:05.7 | then buy an Eve and take a proper rest. |
| 1:08.2 | Eve are the makers of that great mattress that will give you the perfect sleep. |
| 1:11.6 | With three-layer technology and next generation memory foam, it comes packaged in a beautiful box and arrives the day after you order. |
| 1:18.6 | Also, they offer a 100-night trial so you can ensure the bed is perfect for you with free return pick-up, so there really is no risk. |
| 1:25.6 | So head over to eavematress.co.uk. Enter 20 20 VC for 50 pounds off and they'll be with you the next day. However, it's now |
| 1:32.8 | time for me to shut up and to hand over the mic to Jesse Middleton, general partner at Flybridge |
| 1:37.5 | capital partners. Three, two, one, zero. You have now arrived at your destination. |
| 1:47.2 | Jesse, so fantastic to have you on the 20 minute BC. |
| 1:50.1 | Thank you so much for joining me today. |
| 1:51.8 | It's fantastic to be here, and thank you so much for inviting me. |
... |
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