Ep. 17 - Hunter Walk: VC Investing, YouTube, The Bottom Up Economy (Partner @ Homebrew VC)
08/27/14 • 30 min
Hunter Walk: VC Investing, YouTube and The Bottom Up Economy (Partner @ Homebrew VC)
Ryan chatted with Hunter Walk, Partner at Homebrew Venture Capital, during Ryans’ recent trip to San Francisco. Homebrew is a seed stage investment firm, that focuses on the “Bottom-Up Economy.” Hunter calls his company a start-up, and instead of "writing code," he is "writing checks" to help founders build companies.
Hunter previously lead consumer product management at YouTube (Google). Hunter and Ryan discussed what it was like working at YouTube very early on in the company's history. They each talk about their love for platforms “that bet on people. And that give people the tools to create where their efforts can turn into dollars.”
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When reflecting on his time at YouTube, Hunter said with YouTube: “You can build a TV-sized audience without having to ask for approval from anybody wearing a suit. There are no gatekeepers. It doesn’t mean that everyone succeeds to the same success, for there’s near equal access for everybody.”
Please subscribe to The Influencer Economy on Stitcher and on iTunesRyan also asked Hunter about his blog, and how that effects deal flow (Thanks for the listener Edward for that question). Hunter says blogging does help his investment business, although he doesn't know to what extent. He also believes in paying it forward and that it's important to be accessible to entrepreneurs via the blog/Twitter.
Finally Hunter talked specifically what types of investments he likes to make. Hunter details how his investment philosophy was shaped by working on Google Adsense and while at YouTube. Getting down into a few of his investments, Hunter dives into his portfolio companies: Shyp and TheSkimm. He discusses why he bet on them and what types of companies he is looking for.
Hunter and Homebrew's info:
Homebrew’s website: www.homebrew.com
Hunter’s blog: www.hunterwalk.com
Hunter on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hunterwalk
Hombrew on Twitter: https://twitter.com/homebrew
Homebrew’s investments discussed:
The Skimm: Daily email newsletter that gives you what you need to know to start your day: http://www.theskimm.com
Shyp: Enabling users to simplify the process of shipping items basically anywhere in the world. http://www.shyp.com
Hunter Walk: VC Investing, YouTube and The Bottom Up Economy (Partner @ Homebrew VC)
Ryan chatted with Hunter Walk, Partner at Homebrew Venture Capital, during Ryans’ recent trip to San Francisco. Homebrew is a seed stage investment firm, that focuses on the “Bottom-Up Economy.” Hunter calls his company a start-up, and instead of "writing code," he is "writing checks" to help founders build companies.
Hunter previously lead consumer product management at YouTube (Google). Hunter and Ryan discussed what it was like working at YouTube very early on in the company's history. They each talk about their love for platforms “that bet on people. And that give people the tools to create where their efforts can turn into dollars.”
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When reflecting on his time at YouTube, Hunter said with YouTube: “You can build a TV-sized audience without having to ask for approval from anybody wearing a suit. There are no gatekeepers. It doesn’t mean that everyone succeeds to the same success, for there’s near equal access for everybody.”
Please subscribe to The Influencer Economy on Stitcher and on iTunesRyan also asked Hunter about his blog, and how that effects deal flow (Thanks for the listener Edward for that question). Hunter says blogging does help his investment business, although he doesn't know to what extent. He also believes in paying it forward and that it's important to be accessible to entrepreneurs via the blog/Twitter.
Finally Hunter talked specifically what types of investments he likes to make. Hunter details how his investment philosophy was shaped by working on Google Adsense and while at YouTube. Getting down into a few of his investments, Hunter dives into his portfolio companies: Shyp and TheSkimm. He discusses why he bet on them and what types of companies he is looking for.
Hunter and Homebrew's info:
Homebrew’s website: www.homebrew.com
Hunter’s blog: www.hunterwalk.com
Hunter on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hunterwalk
Hombrew on Twitter: https://twitter.com/homebrew
Homebrew’s investments discussed:
The Skimm: Daily email newsletter that gives you what you need to know to start your day: http://www.theskimm.com
Shyp: Enabling users to simplify the process of shipping items basically anywhere in the world. http://www.shyp.com
Previous Episode
Ep. 16 - Giving Back and Living a More Meaningful Life with Sloane Davidson
Sloane Davidson: Founder of The Causemopolitan
Sloane Davidson, the founder of The Causemopolitan, chatted with Ryan about her journey as a social entrepreneur and about her “giving philosophy” for life. Sloane is also the author the Giving Manifesto, and has pioneered the category of “Cause-Filled Living.” She is the real deal, and through her writing, helps people find more meaning in their business relationships and friendships. She details the launching of the Causemopolitan and how she writes her personal essays and grows her community.
Sloane is an new class of entrepreneur, who has defined her career on her own terms. One of her most memorable quotes from the podcast was: “The things I have done and not gotten paid for, have by far impacted me the most and made me feel alive. They have brought me the greatest connections and opportunities.” Sloane and Ryan discuss the upside of working on passion projects and pursuing work outside of your day-job. They agree that often these projects lead you to to more satisfaction and can shape your career in un-imaginable ways. Many times Sloane has re-booted and re-launched her professional live, through creating value for the world.
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Sloane was named a top influencer at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative and "Top Woman to Follow" on Twitter by Forbes. She has also raised more than $1.5 million dollars for non-profits, including creating the Gulf Coast Benefit, an effort to support Gulf Coast communities after the BP oil spill.
MOBILE: Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes: http://bit.ly/InflTune Subscribe to the podcast on Stitcher: http://bit.ly/InfstitSubscribe to The Causemopolitan: www.thecausemopolitan.com/signup
Giving Manifesto: - Listen to the episode for a discount code for a free copy! galore.cc
Sloane’s website: sloanedavidson.com
Sloane on Twitter: twitter.com/sloane
Learn from her email newsletter successes: us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2822bb515...d=de7d1607f7
Next Episode
Ep. 18 - Building Products, Networking and Mentoring w/ Brenden Mulligan (Founder of Cluster & Tripcast)
Brenden Mulligan details his journey from graduating Vanderbilt University, to designing and building products in San Francisco. Ryan chatted with Brenden at the Cluster Home Office in San Francisco, where Brenden is Founder and CEO. Brenden spoke with Ryan about his entrepreneurial career, starting in Chicago, where he built the website Artist Data after graduating college. He shares the story about its acquisition and his ultimate move to the bay area. He also speaks about about becoming a mentor with 500 Start-ups, what inspires his writing for TechCrunch, & how he built his network early on. Brenden has built many projects for fun and some became start-ups:s Photofile, Webbygram, and Morning Picks, and OneSheet. Cluster is a photo-sharing app. "Private spaces for you and your friends." is currently available on the iTunes and Andoid: https://cluster.co/ Tripcast - "A living travel journal for your friends back home" is on on iTunes and Android: https://tripcast.co/ ArtistData: http://www.artistdata.com/us/ Both Ryan and Brenden attended Vanderbilt University. #AnchorDown In this episode you’ll learn:
- The inspiration behind the photo-sharing start-up Cluster
- How working at Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring, helped Brenden's career
- How creating fun passion projects can turn into full-time jobs
- How to have meaningful conversations while networking
- How important mentoring is in the start-up community
- How to add value to your network and friends
- How Brenden is re-thinking how we share photos and interact with our friends online
- Much more.....
If you like this episode you’ll love
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