It's a great episode for other angel investors who want to learn the mistakes and lessons that Francis has learnt so far. But also for founders who want to learn how and what they can do to impress an angel investor. Full episode here: youtube.com/watch?v=jJIYq3BT…

Liz Christo shares her insights on industries ripe for disruption: - Construction and manufacturing, where legacy technology creates openings for AI-driven solutions - Vertical software, where smaller, focused markets can lead to massive wins like Procore

🚀 On this episode of The OpenVC podcast, we speak with Joakim Achren, one of Europe’s most accomplished gaming investors. He founded Next Games, which grew to 160 employees, went public, and ultimately was acquired by Netflix. youtube.com/watch?v=LC2oRPQN…

Liz Christo, General Partner at Stage 2 Capital, shares a key insight: a strong seller with great fundamentals and work ethic can excel across industries—as long as they understand the right sales motion. Her advice? Don’t overvalue industry experience. Focus instead on finding talent who know the motion, whether its PLG inbound leads or enterprise deals.

Chon discuss how he went from starting a quant fund to working in VC, advice for founders and emerging managers, how Skydeck has differentiated itself from all other programs, and more. Full episode here: youtube.com/watch?v=1atJiWjF…

Liz Christo, General Partner at Stage 2 Capital, highlights two key pitfalls founders face after raising a big Series A: 1️⃣ Ramping spend too quickly under pressure to hit aggressive growth targets 2️⃣ Overvaluing industry experience in sales hiring

Liz Christo on how AI and automation has led to really high volume of really bad emails getting sent

What Makes Stage 2 Capital Different? 1️⃣ Pod model: Every deal has two partners—one with a go-to-market background and one with a finance/VC background 2️⃣ Operator-powered LPs: With over 800 CROs, CMOs, and GTM leaders as LPs, Stage 2 offers founders direct access to talent referrals, introductions, advisors and more

What milestones VC want to see

What Venture Capital Can’t Replace: Lessons from an Operator. 1️⃣ Team dynamics: The sense of working as a tight-knit group towards a single, shared goal. 🤝 2️⃣ Monumental wins: Achieving big, ambitious goals with a faster feedback loop than what’s typical in venture capital.