NextGen Newsletter - August 2023
NextGen is a 20+ year old community supporting each new generation of venture capital talent.
Hey y’all,
Hope everyone is having a great August! While the venture landscape has generally stayed slow, it feels like there are pockets of intense activity that are picking back up in areas like AI and climate. This is counterbalanced by an entire cohort of companies that are struggling to raise new capital with their current metrics. It’s wild out there - best of luck to those navigating this as we wrap up the summer!
In the meantime, there have been a LOT of big venture talent moves in the last month (including yours truly). Read on to get the latest!
Thanks,
Shawn and the NextGen Board
Investors You Should Watch 👀
Rising Star Highlight: Brittany Walker is a Principal at CRV, where she is focused on early-stage data infrastructure and AI/ML investments.
Alex Lim has left as Managing Partner at Blossom Capital and has rejoined as a General Partner at IVP.
Anjney Midha has joined as a General Partner at a16z.
Arash Ferdowsi has joined as a Visiting Partner at Pear VC.
Danel Dayan and Max-Julian Kaye have been promoted to Principal, and Becca Jones has been promoted to Vice President at Battery.
Katherine Power has joined as a Partner at Greycroft.
Roy Luo has been promoted to General Partner at Iconiq Capital.
Shawn Xu has been promoted from Chief of Staff to Partner and Harsh Dubey has been promoted from Analyst to Associate at Lowercarbon Capital.
Sofia Guerra has been promoted to Vice President at Bessemer.
Victor Lazarte has joined as a General Partner at Benchmark.
Content You Should Check Out 📚
AI and the Era of Ever-Evolving Employment: Thoughts on how AI will impact corporate constructs and communities of workers from Redpoint’s Meera Clark.
Preempting the Round: Reasons why founders should be wary of investors offering to pre-empt a round.
What Happens When Small and Large VC Firms Decouple: Reflection from Precursor’s Charles Hudson on VC no longer feeling like a relay race.
Why We’re Heading Into the “Perfect Storm” of Startup Closures: Predictions on a coming wave of shutdowns from Homebrew’s Hunter Walk.