Ron Levin discusses why syndicating alongside tier-one venture investors adds significant value beyond capital selection.
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Levin: U.S. immigration and tariff barriers will benefit overseas startups
“To the extent that immigration policies are changing, tariff policies, a lot of things that are kind of becoming barriers for innovation in the U.S., in my opinion, are going to help overseas startups as well”
Insight
Levin: More people are cut out to be investors than entrepreneurs
“And I think they're probably in all honesty, more people that are cut out to be investors than there are entrepreneurs”
Insight
Levin: VC herd behavior carries valuable signal, not just noise
“I would not discount the fact that there is a race among VCs to know who is investing in what, because there's a lot of signals and not just noise in that.”
Opinion
Levin: Early-stage startups paying fundraising intermediaries is a negative signal
“Well, as an investor, certainly at the very early stages to me, it's somewhat of a negative signal. If I see that they've hired and are actually paying, whether it's an investment bank or you know, usually these are more boutique type of operations.”
Insight
Levin: True first checks usually come from friends, family, or angels
“The truth is that, you know, the first check in are usually the friends and family or the angel investors that are willing to take a bet because they know the founder personally. And, you know, those are the really the high risk investors that are willing to g…”
Insight
Levin: VCs Brag About Deck Volume to Signal Selectivity to LPs
“Well, I think they're trying to, in many ways, show their for one, show their LPs that they're being selective. And secondly, I mean, it's also true. I know as an investor, I get loads of inbound and we get so many decks from linked over LinkedIn, over email. …”