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Venture Capital Space
Recorded: July 10, 2025 Duration: 0:22:57Space Recording
Short Summary
In a recent discussion, industry leaders highlighted the upcoming U.S.-India Business Trade Agreement, which promises to enhance trade and investment opportunities, particularly in energy and defense sectors. The conversation also touched on the trend of Indian companies relocating to the U.S. for manufacturing, as well as innovative initiatives like Balaji's startup hub aimed at nurturing young entrepreneurs.
Full Transcription
Thank you. Music Music
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Music
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Music Music All right, we are back.
Looks like there are some technical difficulties.
App just crashed, looks like, closed out the space. So we'll try and get our speakers back on here and continue our conversation here.
So give me a minute.
I'll try and get our other speakers back on real quick and get going.
And while I'm working on that, Christopher, if you want to share anything that you're
working on, anything you're excited about in the space, I'd love to get your feedback
and to hear what you're excited about and what you're working on right now. Or Ravi, if you want to chime in on that same question, would love to hear about that.
Sure. I think it's, you know, the question that I asked him, because, you know, the, because I,
as you know, I also work on energy and sunrise opportunities, right?
So especially this, you know, spent by Trump and the whole war, whatever the drama between Trump and Elon Musk.
And it definitely has a very strong impact on the EV sector and especially investments, returns.
EV is going very big in parts of East Africa,
definitely South Asia.
I mean, India is going very, very big.
And I don't know if you guys were following
some of the conversation.
There was an interesting, you know,
speech by the Indian Minister for Energy and Gas.
And India has been balancing this outright
because you're looking at this huge need
for the country to grow,
but the country can only grow
if it meets its energy needs.
And one thing that I'm extremely excited about and waiting for is really the BTA,
which is the U.S. and India Business Trade Agreement.
It's no longer an FTA.
I don't know if you guys know the difference,
but it's going to be a little more focused on the business opportunity
mainly in light with
mainly in light with the
UK which is an FTA between UK and India
so we are looking at some
I don't know if you guys are following that piece
because I think the market will definitely react in a positive way
because people are eagerly waiting for India and U.S.
to really from a market perspective.
Some highlights of this is going to be very much India importing more oil and gas.
As you know, that is the new sentiment here.
So and that's really catering to the energy needs.
Second is going to be India, U.S. getting into space and defense.
So lots of deals, not just in terms of buying equipment, but also joint co-creation of AI-powered defense future.
I think the drone announcement, I don't know if you saw that today, that came out.
I think that'll be another very big opportunity because that's the new warfare.
The third thing I'm looking at, of course,
is also, you know, you're looking at Meditech. I think U.S. is saying that many Indian, you know,
companies exploring setting up factories in Midwest because it's very clear that it cannot
be on the supply chain depending on China or anybody else. I think that's been a very clear
pivot by Trump and the administration that we need to manufacture
basic pharmaceuticals and really bring down the prices.
So these are opportunities because I really,
for me, something which is interesting
is because I did see kind of a non-tech,
non-AI space almost going down,
especially from an investment perspective.
I don't know, Chris, maybe you have a better insight in Chicago.
But this is where I'm seeing that some smart manufacturing
that are coming up on space tech, defense tech, pharmacy,
you know, food tech.
I definitely see a big blow, and I've spoken to a few people
who have been invested in clean tech, green tech,
who are looking at relocating to probably Europe
and maybe other parts of the world.
So we will see.
So that was my question to Sam was really, because I don't know what is the sentiment
in the West Coast, right?
But definitely, even yesterday's meeting, I was here for this AI US India Summit at
the Indian Mission.
You know, so people are very heavy on the AI piece.
The other areas was definitely, you know, not sounding very, very optimistic.
And this, you know, I would say this erratic or some very strange behavior,
it's not going very well with people who are really seriously considering investing in USA
and long-term investment because 20 years ago it was the opposite
where people from here invested out in India but now you have serious companies looking at
setting up shop you know manufacturing and others which is very new 24 years that's a new thing for
me too so that's something which I'm working on so now I'm going for this which is in Manhattan where a group of about 15 you
know angels and some VCs are looking at really kind of boosting I don't know
but definitely boosting this space which is mutually benefiting you know
India investing in US and US investing India, more private money than any other money.
So that's the focus that I have right now.
Awesome.
We definitely appreciate that take, Ravi.
I appreciate everybody for coming back and sticking with us.
Rob, I see you in the audience.
If you want to just go ahead and request, I'll have a wolf accept you back as a speaker.
So thanks, everybody, for joining back with us. Robbie, appreciate your takes.
Chris, if you wanted to add on to that or if you want to share anything that you're excited about that you're working on right now and share with the audience, we'd love to hear it.
Yeah, I think it sounds like you asked a question while I don't know if you know, you get on stage, there's like a 10 minute, 10 minute, like it feels like 10 minutes, like a 10 second delay or some kind of delay. So if you ask the question, I missed it when I was coming up. But to be totally transparent, I'm not looking for new investments right now. So I'm not like watching trends per se. I can tell you just because I'm very involved with Chicago,
the biggest trend that we have here is quantum. There is a huge, huge push and investment for
putting big quantum companies. One of them is CyQuantum. That's going to be the anchor
on the South side of Chicago. There's a huge swath of land that is being converted for a campus down there.
And that is a major, major push from not just the local level,
but also the state level.
Our governor, J.B. Pritzker, whose background and his family is mega billions.
It was either the, I think it's the Hilton family.
You know, they've got the Hilton Hotel dynasty.
So they've got a lot of money and he's been driving to bring more quantum to Illinois.
And there's a bunch of reasons for that too, because we've got some huge research, not
just universities and institutions, but also some kind of quasi-government like, oh God, what are the two that we have here that
are really big? Anyway, there's some big physics research institutions here in Illinois, dating
back to the Manhattan Project, where we built the bomb. So quantum is something that we're
putting mega, hundreds of millions and billions of dollars into bringing here because they really see that as a potential industry of the future for Chicago and for Illinois.
Stuff that I'm working on, though, is really more just in supporting, one, our founders.
So I'm spending tons of time working on stuff to help early stage founders be more prepared and build their businesses better.
And the other thing I'm trying to do, which is directly and indirectly related to that,
is we need more angels. And so most of my time now is really split between those two things.
I'm not deploying, so I'm not actively looking for new investments, but things always slip through.
So the things that I'm investing in, I would not
say are like, there's no, I don't look for trends. I look for really good investors,
excuse me, look for really good founders to make investments in. So I'm making, I'm writing some
checks here and there, but they're, they're all over the place. Cause I'm, I'm pretty agnostic
to what I invest in. I'm just more geo-focused to Chicago founders. So I've got some interesting
things that I've, I've written checks into, both primary or I should say like initial checks, as well as follow on through I have a syndicate.
We just did a syndicate deal a couple months ago that was for a company I was the first check in six years ago that is totally crushing it in fintech. So anyway, that's probably less interesting to hear one-off companies. I'm
certainly happy to talk about any ones that I'm in, but I'm not really tracking trends per se.
So Chris, you talk about just Chicago a lot and how you really just focus on that.
So you don't venture outside of Chicago at all with the different founders you invest in?
So you don't venture outside of Chicago at all with the different founders you invest in?
Not exactly.
I've backed 180 founders at 100 companies, and 80% of those are here in Chicago.
So there is this 20% delta.
And that's really because I get interesting stuff sent to me from friends that are all over the place, whether they're co-investors or institutions I'm involved with, like Kellogg or Booth or lots of different partners that I work with and places that I
speak at. So if I get some of those inbound and something looks really interesting, I'll write a
check if it's super compelling. I'm writing less of those today because I went so big during 2020.
I'm writing way fewer checks than I did back then.
And they're smaller for now
until I get some more of these exits.
Being an angel, I don't have a fund.
So a lot of what my focus has been on
is supporting the portfolio I have
and starting to do a little bit more with the syndicate,
although I've still only done 10 deals with that.
But for the most part, my filter,
my thesis is Chicago startups.
So somebody just comes directly to me and they're out of Chicago.
I'm just going to send, I have a canned email saying,
hey, you should start thinking about angel investing before you exit.
But if it's really compelling and it comes through a trusted relationship
and they're like, look, this is a once in a lifetime kind of thing,
you've got to look at it, then I will take a look at those even now when I'm not really deploying.
Very neat.
It is neat that you just focus on that one city.
I'm sure that provides just a unique alpha just from the relationship aspect and being
able to bring people together when you know everybody.
Rob, are you on stage right now yeah i'm up here i'm not quite sure what the topic is because of the
disconnection but i'm up here we appreciate you guys sticking with us through the dysfunction
today just part of the spaces you know we alex finn talks about it all the time he get to elon
please fix spaces so maybe one day but rob we were just talks about it all the time. He get to Elon, please fix spaces.
So maybe one day, but Rob, we were just kind of going around the panel and I was just asking
the different panelists, you know, what are you working on right now that you're excited
about and anything you wanted to share with the audience?
Yeah, right now, honestly, the number one thing I'm working on is we're moving offices.
So that's been just, you know, physical moving, right now, honestly, the number one thing I'm working on is we're moving offices. So that's been just, you know, physical moving, right?
Uh, logistics, but we're really excited about that.
Um, we're expanding our space in Orange County.
Uh, that's going to allow us to expand our team and just better resources.
Um, just availability for clients.
Uh, you know, we want to be a hub for people coming in and out too
because we work with people all over.
But I do, to Chris's point on working with,
I do love that because I mean still,
80, 90% I'd say of what we do is right in our own backyard
just because you can foster those relationships,
meet up, go grab dinner, a drink, talk ideas.
And that's part of why,
you know, this whole remote world, we're actually, I'm moving the opposite direction. I'm trying to create a space that young people, creatives, tech, they want to come into. I think Orange County,
where I'm based, there's a lack of that. It's a lot of just old money, real estate, finance, wealth management.
You know, obviously, Bay Area, Northern California has the tech scene up there,
but there's just not a lot in terms of marketing, AI, tech.
And then, yeah, project, I'd say it's actually a project that we're working on
that spun out of our marketing agency. So we built a product as a need to better serve our clients.
And it's actually spun out into its own business.
That is a SaaS tool that we're working to deploy
and actually sell directly to other agencies similar to ourselves. So some agent tech stuff in there,
pulling out just data quickly, optimization, and then actual tools for content production, etc.
So yeah, that's been really fun. And just a whole different ballgame, right? Because it goes from
more in the service lane and now your product, right?
So yeah, most excited about that and just continuing to meet new people. So yeah, I mean,
I know I've already connected with the speakers up here, but anybody listening to always trying
to expand my network. You know, if you're in my area, please, by all means, shoot me a LinkedIn
message, pretty accessible. Like I said, I always like to meet new people,
trade ideas and learn from others doing things
in different areas or different ways.
Awesome, appreciate you sharing that, Rob.
One more.
Sorry, Rob, did you read about Balaji
buying this island outside Singapore
to do exactly what you're saying,
to bring all the young startups?
I don't know if you saw that. No, I where was that uh where was that at you know Balaji near Singapore he's oh wow okay
small island which is to create like uh you know it's like uh bringing all the young yeah
entrepreneurs taking them to yeah yeah I'll send you I'll DM that to you okay yeah because uh
honestly a mentor of mine he's like go go find all the 17, 18, 19, 20-year-olds, right,
that have just been living with these computers and AI.
And then, you know, you think about over the last five years,
it's like they've been graduating, college degrees, XYZ,
just utilizing AI, chat GPT, et cetera, right?
So, yeah, we're definitely leaning into that,
leaning into local communities,
excuse me, universities,
and just giving people a fun, exciting place to be,
a nice office setting, right, for our team
and leaning into our local community,
like Chris mentioned.
One thing I'd like to add here real quick
before we wrap up, I'd like to get your
guys' take on this, especially, you know, Rob and Chris, you guys talking about your,
you really just focus on your, your general vicinity, you know, right around you as far as
investment. So Chris, I'll pass this to you first, and then you can add in what you'd like with your
hand raise as well. But do you guys focus at all on any kind of founders clubs or social clubs or anything like that where you meet people or you network?
Or are you guys kind of at a point where you're established where you don't need to?
But I guess for people starting out, is that something you would recommend?
What are your thoughts on that?
Yeah, the first thing I'll say to follow up on that,
I don't have enough money to buy an island, but that's what Lofty really is about the community.
We call it the Lofty family. And I posted up in the Nest, the Lofty camp, which is part of what
we do for Lofty week, which is coming up in a month. That's not for the outside world. This
is just, if anybody wants to see some of the stuff stuff we do. And last year we had 40 of our founders
and mentors and partners and co-investors and stuff go out and do clamping and just like build
relationships. So it's not so much that I go and spend time at different places where these people would be.
I do that anyway because I speak at and mentor and judge and stuff.
We have great business schools here in Chicago with Kellogg Booth
and even like DePaul and Loyola and University of Illinois down south
does stuff in the city and UIC.
So we have a fantastic pipeline and I do quite a bit with them.
And I actually partner with
and you could say sponsor
over 25 nonprofits
that are based in Chicago,
some of those being the universities.
And it just gives us great access
and support.
And it's really like
an all boats rise kind of thing
because we're helping young students.
The other part that I wanted to say was not only do we have our 180 founders, but we've just about a year ago started piloting a fellowship program where we bring in very young people.
And the first one is a Matsuyoshi-san fellow. I've been mentoring for four years, five years now.
years, five years now, started in COVID. He's a rising junior at Stanford. And we're going to be
inviting a rising sophomore in high school in Chicago to be the second fellow. And it's really,
the fellows have all three, or excuse me, the first three of the four criteria that I look for
in founders, but they're missing the fourth, which is what I call problem founder fit. They
haven't found that problem yet that they want to dedicate the next decade or more of their life to. So we plug them
into our community to help them incubate as individuals. So when they have that problem,
they want to solve, they're already ahead of the game because they've built relationships with
other co-found, other people that are in their milieu with founders, potential investors,
advisors, et cetera, and hopefully get some of their creative juices flowing.
So that's kind of how I approach community building.
Yeah, and then to your question, yeah, just about local.
I mean, it's actually funny.
Sam and I met through LinkedIn, and that's kind of what I do focus on is,
you know, it's just easier.
It's more accessible when you're in
the same area. Right. Um, and I think you have more things in common. It's a little bit easier
to get more yeses. And I mean, my approach is Sam was an interesting person. We're in the same area.
I reached out to him on LinkedIn and said, Hey, would you be down to trade ideas? Like we grabbed
coffee three years ago. I want to say we didn't do anything together for
maybe 12 months at least and then you know deal came along he remembered our conversation um and
went from there you know and so you know you can talk about you know you root for the same teams
the weather right you're you're there for the same reasons right why? Why is that, you know, you unlock that conversational component.
And then I think it's not that I only want to stay in my local. By doing that, you're just
broadening your network. And then inherently, you get connected to other places, because those people
that you're meeting are connected to different places, right? So now all of a sudden, all right,
you're heading to this place, this place, this place, but it's because of all of the additional people that you met locally, right? So yeah, it's just, I think it accelerates
community building. It's just, again, it's easier. You're there, right? Pretty simple. Yeah.
Awesome. Well, I appreciate your guys' takes and thank you to everybody in the audience. It looks like we built up the audience again here. So I appreciate everybody for joining us. We are back every Thursday at the same time, 5 p.m. Eastern. We usually have different panelists, so you can get some new takes, new ideas, people from different industries.
industries. We do have some of the same panelists on from time to time. They kind of come back and
it's nice. It's nice to have familiar faces as well. So if you're in the audience, thanks for
being here. Go ahead, give our speakers a follow. They post a lot of good content about what they're
doing, what they're learning. So go ahead, click the speaker's profile, then give them a follow.
We would really appreciate that. They support us on the spaces, and you supporting them is a nice way to say thank you.
So again, thanks everybody for joining us. We'll be back next week
5 p.m. on Thursday, and I'll pass it to Wolf, and if
you have any thoughts, you can close us out here.
Thanks everyone for joining this space
even though it got rugged.
I'll see you all next week.
