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Interview starts: 5:40
Debrief starts: 32:25
Catharine Dockery is the founding partner of Vice Ventures, an NY-based early stage venture firm focusing on companies working in "vice" industries such as cannabis, alcohol, sex techs, psychedelics, harm reduction drugs, and online gambling. Founded in 2019, Vice Ventures aims to challenge conventional investing and works specifically with companies normally excluded form investments due to vice clauses.
A neuroscience and finance double major from NYU , Catharine has an impressive finance background, including experience working at the New York stock exchange and Citigroup, contracting at a PR firm for hedge funds, working with Andy Dunn's investments, and running her own blog.
We discuss:
- AD: Finding experienced employees for your new business with Integrity Power Search (4:12)
- Past experience working for Andy Dunn, trading high yield debt, and running her own blog (6:22)
- Vice clauses in investing: starting with Bev and Recess (10:50)
- Investment thesis and gauging intellectual honesty (14:43)
- Juul and harm reduction-like companies (17:13, 20:33)
- PR for Vice Ventures (19:13)
- Bad PR for vice companies (22:39)
- Portfolio theory (23:29, 28:08)
- Heading a controversial fund (23:56)
- Investing with Marc Andreessen (31:31)
- Raising for the fund (25:37)
- eSports, online gambling, and a sophisticated rum (26:54)
Learn more about Vice Ventures: https://www.viceventures.com/
Follow Vice Ventures on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vice_ventures
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This episode is sponsored by Integrity Power Search, the #1 full stack high growth startup recruiting firm between the coasts. They partner with venture capitalists, private equity groups and CEOs to build amazing teams for the world’s most disrupting companies.
Learn more about or get in touch with Integrity Power Search: https://upside.fm/integrity
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