Take-Aways from April 23 VC/Tech Deep Dive Webcast

In the VC/Tech Deep Dive, we had over 100 investors join over the 90 minutes (which could have gone for hours) debating but often “violently agreeing” in the take-aways noted below. John Backus shared slides on Venture as an asset class, referring to data for Q1 2020 but also for past few decades. Family office principals Toren Kutnick and Kolya Miller shared their current investment perspectives, still excited about venture. Paul Yook of LifeSci noted health-tech is getting even more attention, with recent closings. Jeff Anderson of Manus Bio explained synthetic biology. Ben Topor of Catalyst shed light on the Israeli VC scene and secondary opportunities.  

VC Deep Dive_ Pic.png
VC Returns.png

Take-Aways:

  • Investments today are likely to generate some of the best returns

  • Kolya Miller sees a number of rounds at more reasonable valuations, some re-priced downward by 20-40%

  • Yet some companies buck the trend such as Manus Bio, which just closed a lead investor the prior week. COO Jeff Anderson said that synthetic bio could be the winner in a number of categories, including cannabis

  • Ben Topor made a case for secondaries, with higher discounts in Israel given lower supply of secondary funds.

  • Some cautioned against secondaries involving companies valued over $1B, noting WeWork could be a “falling knife”

-Mark Sanor