CC034: Greg Robinson of 4490 Ventures // leading Series A/B rounds in underserved markets

Episode details

Interview starts: 6:38 Debrief starts: 43:48 Greg Robinson is the Managing Director of 4490 Ventures. 4490 Ventures is an early stage venture fund based in Madison Wisconsin that invests in Midwest, tech based companies. Founded in 2014, 4490 Ventures aims $5-8 million per investment, and their portfolio includes companies such as EatStreet, Abodo, and SwervePay. Before 4490 Ventures, Greg served as the Managing Director at Peninsula Ventures and also co-founded Cogent Technologies, an enterprise software company. In today's episode, he shares with us his insights into working in different areas of the country and how these various landscapes change the investment game. We discuss: - Ad: Improved methods to sourcing talent and finding new colleagues - Lessons learned from founding a successful company (10:05) - Differences in software investment today vs. then (13:10) - Operating experience in VCs (15:45) - VC experience from Bay Area to Wisconsin (17:25) - Expectations vs. reality when investing in software (25:23) - Investment strategy (31:50) - Adding a partner to the strategy (38:07) - 4490 name (40:20) - What sucks about podcasts (Upside Listener Survey) (41:20) - Classifieds: resources devoted to Midwestern startups (42:20) Learn more about 4490 Ventures: http://4490ventures.com/ Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm Take the listener survey: https://upside.fm/survey Check out the Midwest Startup Rankings: https://midweststartups.com/cities/ -- 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