The Exchanges

Q What did you say in the email? How did you broach it?

A It was, it was, uh, it was interesting. So it was about a 150 emails, um, I would say probably 20 or 30 of them were, like, very personalized, where it was like, okay, I know this person's story, I did my research on them, and, you know, I'll maybe throw in an anecdote or two in the subject line, um, Um, and then the, the actual email itself was really, really short and standard, and it was like, you know, uh, this is who I am, uh, this is my, you know, my only relevant background, uh, do you have any opportunities for an undergrad this coming summer, and I'll work for free. Um, and it was, uh, it was well-received, probably got about 30 replies, led to about 10 interviews, and long story short, I built a relationship with, uh, a guy named Troy Henikoff, who is managing director of Techstars Chicago, um, Um, and at the time it was called Accelerate Labs, and they were looking for somebody to kind of join their operations team for, for the subsequent summer, and, you know, went through just the traditional interview process, ended up getting that opportunity, and I moved to Chicago the following year for, uh, for four months, and did, did the, uh, did the, what is now Techstar Chicago, um, and was kind of on the operations team there, and so helped do everything from, uh, on one end of the spectrum, I would help the 10 companies that we had go through the class with things like …

AI assessment note: “this is who I am, this is my relevant background, do you have any opportunities”

Q What did you say in the email? How did you broach it?

A It was, it was, uh, it was interesting. So it was about a 150 emails, um, I would say probably 20 or 30 of them were, like, very personalized, where it was like, okay, I know this person's story, I did my research on them, and, you know, I'll maybe throw in an anecdote or two in the subject line, um, Um, and then the, the actual email itself was really, really short and standard, and it was like, you know, uh, this is who I am, uh, this is my, you know, my only relevant background, uh, do you have any opportunities for an undergrad this coming summer, and I'll work for free. Um, and it was, uh, it was well-received, probably got about 30 replies, led to about 10 interviews, and long story short, I built a relationship with, uh, a guy named Troy Henikoff, who is managing director of Techstars Chicago, um, Um, and at the time it was called Accelerate Labs, and they were looking for somebody to kind of join their operations team for, for the subsequent summer, and, you know, went through just the traditional interview process, ended up getting that opportunity, and I moved to Chicago the following year for, uh, for four months, and did, did the, uh, did the, what is now Techstar Chicago, um, and was kind of on the operations team there, and so helped do everything from, uh, on one end of the spectrum, I would help the 10 companies that we had go through the class with things like …

AI assessment note: “this is who I am... do you have any opportunities... and I'll work for free.”

Q And then your favorite app that you're using at the moment, what can't you live without on the phone?

A Um, this is a cop-out, because it's not a tech app, and it's not like a, you know, it's not like a, you know, where your traditional answer, but, um, New York Times released this article and an app alongside it a while ago, which was 36 questions that lead to falling in love with somebody, um, and I've just been obsessed with the questions. I think they're really fascinating, so, like, I'm not, like, I'm not in a relationship, I'm not, you know, really actively looking for one or anything, but I just love using these questions with my friends, so it's things like, is there something you've dreamed of doing for a long time and haven't done it yet? Why not? You know, things like that, um, and it's just been awesome to, like, build deeper relationships with my friends around that, so I've, I've been using that a lot.

AI assessment note: “New York Times released this article and an app alongside it a while ago”

Q And how did you manage to get the emails of these kind of top-tier VCs? Did you just cruel the web for them looking at their blogs and their VC pages, or did you use any tools?

A Yeah, no, I mean, it was all just, yeah, it was all just me kind of looking around. I think, um, You know, I think these days, it's not that hard to find people's email addresses, right? Like, at the end of the day, like, I think probably, you know, 80 to 90% of people, it's just their first name at, you know, the domain, right? Or it's their first name initial and their last name. Um, so I think that was kind of my standard. Um, the two things that if I were doing it now, I would do differently. One is, uh, Uh, I think Reportive, the Gmail plugin is awesome. I'm not like an investor or anything. I just love, uh, the fact that you can plug in an email and you can automatically know if it's right, because if they pull up, you know, the person's LinkedIn and social profiles and things like that. You know that the, the email address is, is, is correct. So, so that's actually a bit of a fact check that I, that I'll use now sometimes, even when I reach out to founders. Um, the other thing that, you know, if I were to do it again, if I were to send all those emails again, uh, I probably wasted about 50 emails on the info emails of, uh, of VC funds. Whereas, like, I, I, at that point, again, like, super naive, no, no foot in the door at any of these places, uh, I was like, oh, I'll just email their info. Um, But I realized, you know, later on that, obviously.

AI assessment note: “it was all just me kind of looking around... first name at, you know, the domain”

Q And, and I'd love to talk about, kind of, your focus now at Carlin Ventures, and you, you seem to really be excited about marketplaces. Why, why are you so excited about marketplaces, and are there any in particular that you're looking into?

A Yeah, absolutely. So, um, just the, the quick high level on Carlin Ventures in general, our focus is mostly enterprise software and marketplaces. We, we've done a few other things, some ad tech, some commerce, uh, platforms and things like that. Um, but, but really enterprise and marketplaces are the core focus and, um, typically investing between two 50 K up to about a million and a half late seed, early series a, um, in terms of marketplaces, I think I think what we love about marketplace is the fact that we're, we're kind of boring in the sense that we just love to see old kind of antiquated industries get disrupted. Um, and I think a marketplace approach to that is, is the best way to do so, right? So, you know, streamlining industries like, um, some of our investments have streamlined industries like interior design or, uh, gift cards and shipping and stuff like that. And so I think, I think for us, um, seeing that is just really inspiring, right? Where it's like these, these industries that have been around for, you know, Decades or hundreds of years or whatever that may be, and there hasn't been an improvement in, like, the efficiency or the process and, like, just the experience, right? I think a lot of times the common thread is, like, you know, when there's three different stakeholders and you cut out the middle stakeholder and just make it, you know, a platform onlin…

AI assessment note: “we just love to see old kind of antiquated industries get disrupted.”

Q And how did you manage to get the emails of these kind of top-tier VCs? Did you just cruel the web for them looking at their blogs and their VC pages, or did you use any tools?

A Yeah, no, I mean, it was all just, yeah, it was all just me kind of looking around. I think, um, You know, I think these days, it's not that hard to find people's email addresses, right? Like, at the end of the day, like, I think probably, you know, 80 to 90% of people, it's just their first name at, you know, the domain, right? Or it's their first name initial and their last name. Um, so I think that was kind of my standard. Um, the two things that if I were doing it now, I would do differently. One is, uh, Uh, I think Reportive, the Gmail plugin is awesome. I'm not like an investor or anything. I just love, uh, the fact that you can plug in an email and you can automatically know if it's right, because if they pull up, you know, the person's LinkedIn and social profiles and things like that. You know that the, the email address is, is, is correct. So, so that's actually a bit of a fact check that I, that I'll use now sometimes, even when I reach out to founders. Um, the other thing that, you know, if I were to do it again, if I were to send all those emails again, uh, I probably wasted about 50 emails on the info emails of, uh, of VC funds. Whereas, like, I, I, at that point, again, like, super naive, no, no foot in the door at any of these places, uh, I was like, oh, I'll just email their info. Um, But I realized, you know, later on that, obviously.

AI assessment note: “it was all just me kind of looking around”

Q So would you argue with the statement that there's a defined route into the VC industry and that it's kind of investment banking, consultancy, or startup founder, and that's the only way to get in? Would you disagree with that?

A Um, I mean, I think, you know, regardless of my opinion, I think it's definitely, I, I'm an anomaly in the sense that I, I, I'm approving, I'm a proven disagreement with that, but I think that that's, you know, the status quo. I think probably like 80%, um, is it just, I'm making that number up, but something like that, um, Is kind of, that's, that's the formula, right? But I think that if you talk to many kind of, you know, non-partner level VCs, a lot of them will say they somehow fell into it. Um, but definitely there are some that, you know, kind of did the banking consulting around. And I, and I for sure, um, came into it with a, with a different kind of perspective, but also a different level of experience, right? Like I didn't do the, the two years at McKinsey or Bain or, um, You know, Goldman Sachs. So there are definitely some skill sets that I am weaker in than some of my counterparts because I didn't do that. Um, but then there are some things that I'm stronger in because I, I also didn't do that. So I would say that, you know, that formula definitely helps get you in the door. Um, but there's also a lot of people who come with that background. So there has to be something on top of that. And so in some scenarios, it could be, you know, your, your X factor could be the fact that you didn't do that. And it's like, wow, how did you Get in this room without that, uh, an…

AI assessment note: “I'm a proven disagreement with that, but I think that that's... the status quo.”

Q So would you argue with the statement that there's a defined route into the VC industry and that it's kind of investment banking, consultancy, or startup founder, and that's the only way to get in? Would you disagree with that?

A Um, I mean, I think, you know, regardless of my opinion, I think it's definitely, I, I'm an anomaly in the sense that I, I, I'm approving, I'm a proven disagreement with that, but I think that that's, you know, the status quo. I think probably like 80%, um, is it just, I'm making that number up, but something like that, um, Is kind of, that's, that's the formula, right? But I think that if you talk to many kind of, you know, non-partner level VCs, a lot of them will say they somehow fell into it. Um, but definitely there are some that, you know, kind of did the banking consulting around. And I, and I for sure, um, came into it with a, with a different kind of perspective, but also a different level of experience, right? Like I didn't do the, the two years at McKinsey or Bain or, um, You know, Goldman Sachs. So there are definitely some skill sets that I am weaker in than some of my counterparts because I didn't do that. Um, but then there are some things that I'm stronger in because I, I also didn't do that. So I would say that, you know, that formula definitely helps get you in the door. Um, but there's also a lot of people who come with that background. So there has to be something on top of that. And so in some scenarios, it could be, you know, your, your X factor could be the fact that you didn't do that. And it's like, wow, how did you Get in this room without that, uh, an…

AI assessment note: “I'm a proven disagreement with that, but I think that that's, you know, the status quo.”

Q And, and I'd love to talk about, kind of, your focus now at Carlin Ventures, and you, you seem to really be excited about marketplaces. Why, why are you so excited about marketplaces, and are there any in particular that you're looking into?

A Yeah, absolutely. So, um, just the, the quick high level on Carlin Ventures in general, our focus is mostly enterprise software and marketplaces. We, we've done a few other things, some ad tech, some commerce, uh, platforms and things like that. Um, but, but really enterprise and marketplaces are the core focus and, um, typically investing between two 50 K up to about a million and a half late seed, early series a, um, in terms of marketplaces, I think I think what we love about marketplace is the fact that we're, we're kind of boring in the sense that we just love to see old kind of antiquated industries get disrupted. Um, and I think a marketplace approach to that is, is the best way to do so, right? So, you know, streamlining industries like, um, some of our investments have streamlined industries like interior design or, uh, gift cards and shipping and stuff like that. And so I think, I think for us, um, seeing that is just really inspiring, right? Where it's like these, these industries that have been around for, you know, Decades or hundreds of years or whatever that may be, and there hasn't been an improvement in, like, the efficiency or the process and, like, just the experience, right? I think a lot of times the common thread is, like, you know, when there's three different stakeholders and you cut out the middle stakeholder and just make it, you know, a platform onlin…

AI assessment note: “we just love to see old kind of antiquated industries get disrupted”

Q can check them out at www.hiringscreen.com. But without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, here is Artin Arab Shahi. You have now arrived at your destination. Artin, welcome to the 20 Minute VC. I can't tell you how excited I am to have you on the show. Let's start off at the beginning, and can you give us a brief walkthrough of how you made your way into the VC world?

A Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I think I actually have a bit of a unique path to venture. Uh, I think a lot of people kind of follow a slightly more traditional path, and I, and I, uh, was fortunate or lucky enough to, to kind of stumble into this world, um, a little haphazardly, but so the, uh, the story around, around my background was, uh, I, I think, uh, I guess to start from the beginning, I spent the majority of my life thinking I was going to be a plastic surgeon. Um, so, so I grew up in Arizona, um, where, um, There's a lot of, uh, entrepreneurs and a lot of small business, um, but tech didn't really fully exist, right? I mean, Tucson, Arizona, where I'm from, um, has a lot of business. Like I said, my parents are small business owners and stuff like that. Um, so I'd always been entrepreneurial, but never really got into tech until later, uh, later in life. And so, uh, the story for me was, uh, a path through, uh, through a few different phases. Um, started college in the Bay Area, um, So the irony is that when I was in the Bay Area, I was pre-med in biology and had no ambition of going to Silicon Valley, um, but I was at college at Santa Clara University, um, and then actually ended up transferring back to Tucson, Arizona, and went to the U of A, uh, where I did finance and entrepreneurship as a double major, and spent a couple years doing pre-med as a minor.

AI assessment note: “I spent the majority of my life thinking I was going to be a plastic surgeon.”