In 2023 I decided to develop an outbound deal sourcing motion. To do this, I had to create critical themes I wanted to explore. More established Venture Capitalists have stables of operators in which they have invested that can point them to earlier-stage innovations that are solving pain points.

How does an emerging manager without decades of investing experience find these opportunities without this embedded industry-specific operator network? I say go for the pain.

In 2023 with inflation on the rise, de-globalization themes, and the Great Re-Shuffling, it is easy to find industries dealing with significant inefficiencies. Subscribing to industry publications is an easy way to understand what executives are dealing with daily clearly.

Building an investment thesis and discussing it within your network Is a great way to start. Over time your knowledge of space will compound as you talk to more people.

I have spoken extensively about theme and thesis-driven investing with Alex Houghtilin at Access Venture Partners and Nevin Raj at Grata.

Where you find the pain, you will find companies trying to solve it.

Happy Hunting!