Alumni Ventures partner Ron Levin contrasts the emotional and operational demands of founding a startup versus investing in one.
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”
Opinion
Levin: Leading VCs create great companies rather than just picking them
“Some of those investors are not just great pickers. They have the ability to create great companies. Because they put their full weight behind them.”
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. …”