David Fialkow of General Catalyst: Documentary Filmmaker to Venture Capitalist

02/22/22 • 28 min

Episode Summary:
Join us for episode 2 where we speak with Managing Director and Co-founder of General Catalyst Partners, David Fialkow. In this episode, we learn more about David’s journey from documentary filmmaker to venture capitalist and the common thread they share.
What is Uncovered:

David’s unique path to starting General Catalyst alongside his long time friend Joel Cutler
The importance of mentorship and following your passion
The lessons that Joel and David learned while starting their own travel company (last-minute travel)
The story behind David signing up and completing his first Ironman with only 90 days of training
Why David and Joel saw themselves as B entrepreneurs and how this realization was the impetus to starting GC Partners
What makes a successful VC firm and GC’s early wins
The common thread between founding a venture capital firm, a start-up, and creating documentary films.

Learn More About:
David Fialkow is a co-founder and managing director of General Catalyst, a venture capital firm that partners with founders from seed to growth stage to build companies that withstand the test of time. David's focus areas include financial services, digital health AI and data analytics, as well as leading General Catalyst’s XIR program. His portfolio of investments includes Casana, Catalant, Crossfit, CLEAResult (acquired by General Atlantic), Datalogix (acquired by Oracle), Datto (acquired by Vista Equity Partners), Highwinds (acquired by StackPath), NotCo, OGSystems (acquired by Parsons Corporation), PathAI, TrueMotion, and Vitrue (acquired by Oracle).

Before going into business, David studied film at Colgate University, earned a law degree from Boston College and made documentary films. David has raised millions in dollars in philanthropy to support kids’ programs by biking, running, climbing, and rowing. He and his wife Nina produce documentary films focused on social justice. Their film Icarus won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2018. His non-profit boards include Facing History and Ourselves, The Pan-Mass Challenge (former chairman), the Dean's Advisory Council at the MIT School of Engineering, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is chair of the Investment Advisory Committee of The Engine (launched by MIT).

Select Current Investments: Casana, Catalant, CrossFit, Elysium, NotCo, Outdoor Voices, PathAI, and TrueMotion

Alumni Investments: BBN Technologies (acquired by Raytheon), CLEAResult (acquired by General Atlantic), Datalogix (acquired by Oracle), Datto (acquired by Vista Equity Partners), Highwinds (acquired by StackPath), Index (acquired by Stripe), OGSystems (acquired by Parsons Corp.), Rue La La (acquired by GSI Commerce), Vitrue (acquired by Oracle)

Education: BA Fine Arts from Colgate University; JD from Boston College

General Catalyst: General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that provides early-stage and growth equity investments. They provide ongoing momentum that accelerates ideas, careers, and companies toward standout success. They create the ideal conditions for growth, surround clients with the right people, and offer mentorship based on deep experience.To date, General Catalyst has managed eight venture capital funds totaling approximately $3.75 billion in capital commitments.

Quotes from David Fialkow:

“Founders need empathy to drive their vision and dreams."
“Great firms are defined by great funds and great funds are defined by great companies”
“In order to win, you need people to win with, nobody is so good that they can do it on their own.”

David’s unique path to starting General Catalyst alongside his long time friend Joel Cutler
The importance of mentorship and following your passion
The lessons that Joel and David learned while starting their own travel company (last-minute travel)
The story behind David signing up and completing his first Ironman with only 90 days of training
Why David and Joel saw themselves as B entrepreneurs and how this realization was the impetus to starting GC Partners
What makes a successful VC firm and GC’s early wins
The common thread between founding a venture capital firm, a start-up, and creating documentary films.

Select Current Investments: Casana, Catalant, CrossFit, Elysium, NotCo, Outdoor Voices, PathAI, and TrueMotion

Education: BA Fine Arts from Colgate University; JD from Boston College

Quotes from David Fialkow:

“Founders need empathy to drive their vision and dreams."
“Great firms are defined by great funds and great funds are defined by great companies”
“In order to win, you need people to win with, nobody is so good that they can do it on their own.”

Previous Episode

Ian Rountree of Cantos: How to Start a VC Fund with a “Street MBA”

Episode Summary:
Our first guest of Season 3 is Ian Rountree, Founder of Cantos. Ian grew up the son of a Marine and a public school English teacher from South Florida. He was introduced to VC at an early age while visiting his aunt in the bay area who was married to a venture capitalist. Although Ian’s interest in venture capital came at an early age, his trajectory to starting Cantos zig zagged as he went from graduating with a degree in political science to then working in the nonprofit industry. Ian’s passion to solve big world problems at scale however led him back to business and finance and working at SoFi. This ultimately led him to what he calls earning a street MBA in VC, where he began to invest his savings in various startups, 11 to be exact, for which one made it big. The success of this company led him to starting his own VC fund. To learn more about Ian, his experience starting Cantos and fundraising be sure to tune into this episode and conversation.

What is Uncovered:

Ian’s path to starting Cantos
How Ian generated deal flow at SoFi and expanded his network for potential LPs
Ian’s first LP Commitment and how it felt to write a check on behalf of someone else
The parallels of starting a VC fund and being an early stage founder
The differences between being told ‘No’ from a LP or investor vs. a VC passing on startups
The VC 3.0 community and how it helps emerging managers

Learn more about:
Ian Rountree:
Ian started making angel investments in 2012 while on the early teams at SoFi and then Invisible Technologies. He founded Cantos in 2016 to continue backing world-positive startups at pre-seed and seed. In 2018 Cantos went all-in on "near frontier" startups across cutting edge hardware and wetware with a focus on billion-dollar opportunities in mitigating disease, climate change, poverty, conflict, and existential risk. Cantos manages roughly $50M across several entities, typically investing $500K to $1M, and prefers to be a startup's first investor.
Cantos:
Cantos is a first-round venture capital firm with $50 million under management that invests where the innovation curve casts previously intractable problems in new light –– where new technology might positively impact billions. At a time when venture capital has become synonymous with growth equity, we exist to take the first steps with founders on bold journeys that would have been impossible just years prior. That is, to return venture capital to its roots.
Areas of focus: Clean Tech, Bio + AI, and Aerospace

Next Episode

Abby Miller Levy of Primetime Partners: The Future of How We Age

Episode Summary:
In our third episode of Season 3, Matt joins forces with Marissa Millbury, VP at PJC, to speak with Abby Miller Levy, Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Primetime Partners. We learn more on how she went from wellness entrepreneur to founding Primetime Partners in 2020 which is focused on the trillion dollar global sector of Aging. A powerful conversation around this particular sector that is ripe for innovation.
What is Uncovered:

The catalyst behind Primetime Partners
Why Abby went from writing business plans for older adults to instead starting her own VC fund
The strategic steps she took to get Primetime Partners off the ground
What surprised her the most with fundraising
The staggering statistics around our aging population & the enormous amount of white space in this sector
The biggest challenges Abby has faced thus far with starting Primetime

Learn More About:
Abby Miller Levy:
Abby is the Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Primetime Partners. Abby has spent her career helping businesses and consumer brands grow as an operator, entrepreneur and advisor, most notably in the wellness sector. Prior to Primetime Partners, Abby was an executive at SoulCycle, where she oversaw business development and revenue growth outside the consumer studio business, with an emphasis on building new digital products as the Senior Vice President of Strategy & Growth. Abby has also been a Founder herself, teaming with Arianna Huffington to launch Thrive Global, a behavior change technology company focused on employee productivity and wellness. Abby served as President of Thrive Global and remains on the Thrive Board. Abby began her career at McKinsey & Company then led product development at OXO International. She is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School. Connect with Abby on LinkedIn.

Primetime Partners:
Primetime is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in, and builds from the ground up, companies that can transform the quality of living for older adults.

They support the founders and organizations that create meaningful new products, services and experiences in the under-served, trillion dollar global sector of Aging. They accelerate business growth through their direct-to-consumer marketing expertise, their strategic distribution partners, synergies across portfolio companies and an engaged network of advisors. Also core to their mission, is to unlock the talent and expertise of experienced older adults as founders and business builders. Follow on: LinkedIn.
Quotes from Abby:

"Don’t discredit anyone’s questions or criticism. I think it's really easy to say, ‘oh, they just don't get it.’ Or, you know, ‘screw them’ or whatever else it is, but actually, in the critiques is where you can learn the most. I felt that way when I fundraised in the past and I still feel like it raises your game to get that criticism and feedback.”
“The emotional reaction of being told no still takes getting used to, even if you have been successful and are prepared and know the stats of first time funds”
“Fifty percent of Americans are going to run out of money and no one's dealing with it or talking about it. There's only two million senior living beds in our country. How are people going to age in place? There are just tons of macro issues that entrepreneurs can help solve.”