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Hello Reader,
At Sure Ventures, my strategy is to build a focused portfolio of 15 to 20 startups per fund. The philosophy behind this concentration is the commitment to founders that every investment is important. This approach requires that VCs like me have the necessary intent, bandwidth, and skill to actively support founders in their journey toward building a successful business.
A fund with 75 companies is considered highly diversified, a style that is seen as controversial because it departs from the traditional approach to VC investing. While I personally favor a concentrated portfolio, I respect and frequently co-invest with my peers who opt for diversified strategies.
In my latest episode, I debated Steve Kim, an active limited partner at a family office, regarding his strong belief in highly diversified investments. Although I wasn’t converted, I certainly gained a better understanding of the risk-reward dynamics in the current market.
– Gopi Rangan, Host of the The Sure Shot Entrepreneur podcast
Startup Corner: Firstshift
Firstshift, an intelligent demand-planning platform built for modern retail supply chains, recently announced a partnership with Alloy.ai, enabling customers to bring real-time Point-of-Sale (POS) data directly into Firstshift’s AI-driven planning workflows. This integration allows brands to unify retail sales data with demand forecasting, improve replenishment accuracy, and anticipate shifts in consumer behavior with far greater precision.
It’s a powerful example of how AI is reshaping supply chain operations and how startups like Firstshift are leading the charge.
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New Podcast: Start early, stay consistent
My guest in episode 179 is Steve Kim, partner at Verdis Investment Management. Steve shares a deeply analytical view of how LPs evaluate and support emerging managers. After a career in telecom and networking during the early internet era, Steve moved to investing and helped create a family office that later evolved into a data-driven LP platform. Steve believes emerging managers are essential to the venture capital industry because they write the earliest checks — where valuations are lowest and compounding potential is highest. While Verdis is data-driven, Steve emphasizes that interpreting data is the real edge, not simply collecting it. He also challenges traditional VC norms, emphasizing that early-stage venture is a highly skewed asset class, and diversified portfolios offer better long-term outcomes than concentrated ones. Verdis backs new managers consistently and only steps away when strategy drifts.
Steve’s message to emerging managers: start early, stay consistent, and stick to your strategy.
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Connected Insights: VCs who are deeply connected to the founders they serve will win
Alex Edelson, founder of Slipstream Investors was my guest in episode 113. Alex emphasizes that emerging managers succeed when they are deeply connected to the founders they serve and when their strategy emerges from lived experience rather than theory.
Key insights from the interview:
- Your edge comes from where you’ve spent your career. Managers who invest in ecosystems they already understand outperform.
- Founder access matters more than fancy frameworks. LPs want to see that founders pick you, not the other way around.
- Authenticity compounds. Put yourself at the center of the community you want to back; the rest follows.
Like Steve Kim, Alex paints a consistent picture: LPs are drawn to emerging managers who are trusted by founders, grounded in a clear edge, and committed for the long haul.
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Community Involvement: International Baccalaureate (IB)
Podcast guest Steve Kim highlighted the International Baccalaureate (IB) as a nonprofit he’s deeply passionate about.
The IB is a global education foundation with a mission to “develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world.” It serves nearly 1.95 million students across 6,000+ schools in 160+ countries, offering rigorous, globally minded programs for learners aged 3–19.
Steve supports IB because its mission aligns with values he champions: curiosity, critical thinking, global citizenship and compassion and service. For Steve, IB represents the kind of long-term, mission-driven work that strengthens communities.
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