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Manu Kumar

21 statements across 3 episodes · 5 bullish · 6 bearish · 2 people on the record · first statement May 23, 2016 by Manu Kumar · said 25 times in 7 episodes since 2016 · across every show →

On the record as a speaker too: Manu Kumar's record, appearances and statements → this page counts the times other people say the name.

Mentions by year

brought up most by Harry Stebbings (18), Henry Ward (3), Sumit Gajri (1), Rich Wong (1), Charles Hudson (1), Ann Miura-Ko (1)

tap a year for its mentions
00101202201620172018201920202021episodesmentions
012201620172018201920202021episodes it came up in
004182201620172018201920202021episodesmentions per episode
2021 1 mention in 1 episode
2020 3 mentions in 1 episode
2019 3 mentions in 1 episode
2017 16 mentions in 2 episodes 8 per episode
2016 2 mentions in 2 episodes 1 per episode

every mention, scene by scene, with the transcript →

Everything said about Manu Kumar, oldest first

May 23, 2016 positive
Disclosure
Kumar: I pitched Henry Ward on the original concept for eShares
“EShares is one of my portfolio companies. And in fact, it's a company that I co-founded. And in the case of that company I was talking with Henry Ward, who's, who's my co-founder in that company about his previous company that he was working on. And I just rea…”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 17:22 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016 neutral
Disclosure
Kumar: K9 Ventures shuns sector strategies for radical tech and markets
“I actually don't use a sector strategy. For me, it's really about, like, give me radically new technology and radically new market, and then let's talk about it.”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 19:37 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016 negative
Disclosure
Kumar: K9 Ventures refuses to invest using convertible notes
“And I walk away from deals all day long based on price and structure, so I also don't do convertible notes.”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 12:06 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016 negative
Assertion Supported
Kumar: Mid-2000s Sand Hill Road VCs avoided tech risk and operational backgrounds
“Most of the funds were trying to do investments that were three to four million dollars. They were not taking technology risk. A lot of the new people on Sand Hill at that time were not coming from a startup or an operating background.”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 4:26 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016
Disclosure
Kumar: I spend most portfolio support time on follow-on financing
“And that's probably what I spend most of my time on with my existing portfolio companies.”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 8:07 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016 bullish
Prediction Open · timeframe May 2046
Kumar: K9 Ventures is operating on a 30-year horizon
“I think when I got into it with a thirty-year timeline.”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 19:13 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016
Assertion Partly supported
Kumar: Coined the term pre-seed around 2013 as seed rounds grew
“I actually kind of coined the pre-seed term at one point in, I think in 2013, 2014 because I saw the seed market kind of evolving where it was becoming a two million to three million dollar round, and I was like, wait, these things are changing, and so there h…”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 9:06 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016
Disclosure
Kumar: K9 Ventures' first fund was $6.25 million
“So the first fund was about six and six and a quarter million which is super tiny as venture funds go.”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 5:14 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016
Insight
Kumar: Overpricing early rounds harms startups more than extra dilution
“My advice to them is to actually go for a slightly lower valuation, because whatever valuation they take is setting the bar for their next round of financing, and it's also setting the bar for what kind of exit they can have. And so trying to optimize that, I …”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 13:22 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
May 23, 2016
Prediction Held up
Kumar: K9 invests $400k-$500k initially and up to $4M per startup
“So my sweet spot is usually around 400 to 500,000 as an initial investment. But then I will go as high as about four million dollars into each company. So I do, I'll do 400 to 500,000 into the pre-seed. I might do 750 or a million into the seed, and then anoth…”
Manu Kumar May 23, 2016 ▶ 10:39 20VC: K9's Manu Kumar on His Approach To Risk, Valuation & Believing What Other People Don't
Jan 6, 2017 positive
Disclosure
Manu Kumar promised seed funding if Henry Ward solved stock certificates
“Manu and I were having lunch one day and he said, you know, I have this problem, this stock certificate problem. I would love for a company to exist to solve it. If you'll start the company, I'll invest in it.”
Henry Ward Jan 6, 2017 ▶ 3:22 20VC: eShares' Henry Ward on Why Portfolio Theory Is Wrong? Why Investors Will Never Take Market Risk & Why You have To Have A Line of Sight To A $Bn Outcome
Mar 23, 2020 negative
Opinion
Kumar: Multi-stage firms use seed checks as training wheels for new partners
“In a lot of cases, I feel that some of the multi-stage firms coming in and investing at the seed stage is not a function of a calculated strategy, but more of essentially providing a safe playground and training wheels for some of the new folks who are there.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 9:40 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Kumar: K9 Ventures will not raise valuations to chase competitive deals
“I have absolutely zero fear of missing out, and so if there's a company that is got multiple term sheets or offers even at the pre-seed stage and stuff like, I'm not going to be Chasing that deal and trying to move up in valuation in order to win that deal.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 12:37 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020
Prediction Held up
Kumar caps K9 Ventures at three to four investments annually
“So if I'm only making three or four new investments in a year, it's an incredibly tight filter to begin with.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 14:52 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020 negative
Opinion
Kumar: Late-stage mega rounds create unhealthy startups
“The mega funding rounds, the hundreds of millions of dollars coming into companies in the late stage. I think in a lot of cases, those lead to unhealthy companies”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 29:25 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020 negative
Insight
Kumar: Multi-stage seed checks are option value that harms struggling startups
“For a lot of these multi-stage firms, the capital that they put into a company in the early stages is just an option value. And if it's just an option value, then if things don't go well, that company is going to have an incredibly difficult time at raising ca…”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 8:12 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020
Disclosure
Kumar: K9 Ventures initial check size is $400K to $600K
“My initial range used to be between 400 to 600 K as an initial investment. I would say I'm probably closer to the higher end of that range today than I was earlier, but I've still tried to keep it very stable and disciplined.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 12:20 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020 positive
Opinion
Kumar: Early-stage startups should embrace remote teams
“And so now I, when I'm talking to companies that I would invest in, I'm totally comfortable with them having remote teams. And in fact, I advocate that they should have remote teams.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 24:22 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020
Assertion Partly supported
Kumar: K9 Ventures operates on a five-year fund cycle
“First my investment period is five years. So I only go out to market with a new fund every five years and not every two to three years.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 11:24 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020 positive
Insight
Kumar: Founder naivety is advantageous when starting companies
“Being naive when you're starting something is often a good thing. Because otherwise you wouldn't take the same steps that you did.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 28:59 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020
Insight
Kumar: Solo founder experience is critical for solo GPs trusting their gut
“And I think that experience of having been a solo founder is critical for me today being a solo GP, because I have to be comfortable in making a judgment call, effectively trusting my gut in a lot of cases.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 17:39 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
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