🧬 Kittu Kolluri - Neotribe Ventures - Part 1 | Entrepreneurship as a First-Generation Immigrant | Working & Growing at Silicon Graphics | Learning From Mistakes & Pride of Ownership | The Dangers of Company Microcultures

Part 2 of 3.
My guest for this week’s episode is Kittu Kolluri, Founder and Managing Director of Neotribe Ventures, an early- and growth-stage venture capital firm investing in companies that solve hard technical problems and disrupt non-traditional industry sectors. Neotribe is led by a team of serial entrepreneurs with a track record of supporting and advising startups from seed round to IPO. As a Silicon Valley veteran with a career spanning three decades, Kittu has had numerous roles before his time at Neotribe Ventures. Some highlights include working as an engineer at Silicon Graphics, co-founding Healtheon/WebMD, being the founder and CEO of Neoteris, and investing in over four dozen successful companies as a general partner at NEA.
Join us as we sit down with Kittu to talk about Healtheon’s origins, mission, and culture, and how he applied learnings from that experience with Neoteris. He talks about the important difference between leadership and management, talks about the dot com bubble and its similarity to the AI trend of today, and talks about fundraising in a down economy. He also speaks on feeling shifts in the market, finding a “new normal” in the economy, and how he ended up in venture capital. Please enjoy my conversation with Kittu Kolluri.
Find Our Guest, Kittu Kolluri, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kittukolluri/
https://www.neotribe.vc/
Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com
Timestamps:
00:20 Intro
01:11 Episode starts, Healtheon’s origins, mission, and culture
03:38 Starting Neoteris and focusing on creating a culture to be proud of, co-authoring a culture statement
07:03 The difference between leadership and management, leaving Healtheon
08:40 Comparing the dot com bubble and the current AI trend, talking down-market conditions
12:15 Neoteris’ origins, raising money during a down economy, the importance of a CEO’s confidant
15:25 The isolation of being a CEO, attracting a great team, and discovering product/market fit
19:02 Feeling shifts in the market, capital being cheap for nearly 30 years, finding a “new normal”
23:37 Leaving Juniper Networks to do venture capital at NEA, interviewing many people to find a fit
27:34 Finding a rubric of success in venture capital, the value of authenticity and intellectual curiosity
30:27 Outro
Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
Healtheon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healtheon
Neoteris https://www.computerworld.com/article/2572211/netscreen-to-buy-neoteris-for--265-million.html
Naming Your Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/naming-your-startup
NetScreen Technologies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetScreen_Technologies
Juniper Networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniper_Networks
NEA https://www.nea.com/
Top VC Firms for Biotech https://www.excedr.com/blog/top-vc-firms-for-biotech
Fully-Diluted Capitalization & Why It’s Important https://www.excedr.com/resources/fully-diluted-capitalization
Funding https://www.excedr.com/category/funding
Negotiating a Term Sheet https://www.excedr.com/resources/negotiating-a-term-sheet
Leasing Options: Lower Monthly Payments vs. Lower Total Lease Cost