lystn

Ajay Kamat ( https://www.pear.vc/ajay-kamat ) is a Partner at Pear ( https://www.pear.vc/ ) , one of the premier early stage venture capital funds in Silicon Valley. Prior to Pear, Ajay founded Wedding Party ( https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/04/instacart-makes-its-first-acquisition-with-acqui-hire-of-app-maker-wedding-party/ ) , which was acquired by Instacart ( https://www.instacart.com/ ). Pear was founded by Mar Hershenson ( https://www.pear.vc/mar-hershenson ) ( https://www.crunchbase.com/person/pejman-nozad ) and ( https://www.crunchbase.com/person/pejman-nozad ) Pejman Nozad ( https://www.pear.vc/pejman-nozad ) , who were early investors in Dropbox ( https://www.dropbox.com/home ) , Lending Club ( https://www.lendingclub.com/loans/personal-loans?gclid=CjwKCAiA8ejuBRAaEiwAn-iJ3js0brhKzV1Z5q34L6RPRFB9dgBdvIvGazmDnDqASgITDu0qBuPJjBoCECIQAvD_BwEaparam2=GzB011zA003zAC11x14zLP1zapartnerID=80019areferrerId=490425autm_campaign=B011%3ALending+Club+-+%5BE%5Dautm_content=312048777992autm_medium=cpcautm_source=googleautm_term=lending+club ) , Zoosk ( https://www.zoosk.com/ ) , Addepar ( https://addepar.com/ ) , Path ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(social_network) ) and many others. Some of Pear's notable investments include DoorDash ( https://www.doordash.com/ ) , Philz Coffee ( https://www.philzcoffee.com/ ) , Instaread ( https://instaread.co/ ) , and Memebox ( https://us.memebox.com/ ). You can follow Ajay on Twitter Here ( https://twitter.com/ajaykam ). If you would like to follow your host, Mike, for updates on the show, you can follow @mikegelb ( https://twitter.com/MikeGelb ) and the show @ConsumerVC ( https://twitter.com/ConsumerVc ) In this episode you will learn: * Ajay's journey from biomedical engineering to founding Wedding Party ( https://techcrunch.com/2015/08/04/instacart-makes-its-first-acquisition-with-acqui-hire-of-app-maker-wedding-party/ ). Some of the lessons Ajay learned from being a founder and how it has influenced him as a venture capitalist. The importance of grit when founding a company. * The importance of complementary skills and vetting co-founders. The reason why he switched from being a founder to a venture capitalist. * What qualities Ajay looks for from founders at the pre-seed and seed level? How he evaluates startups building products in markets that don't exist yet? * The advantages of being in Silicon Valley. How he thinks about customer acquisition costs in today's age. * What industry consumer verticals he's excited about the most? One company that he is excited to be an investor in? One piece of advice for founders of consumer companies? If you would like to *follow along* you can *click “Subscribe”* on the *Apple podcast app or whichever platform you are listening on*. If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to also leave a review. You are also to see all episodes here and learn more at www.theconsumervc.com ( http://www.theconsumervc.com/ ) and follow Mike on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/MikeGelb ) or Instagram ( https://www.instagram.com/mikegelb/ )