Jack Altman of Alt Capital has led quite a life in Silicon Valley. He’s gone from angel investing to founding a venture-backed company (HR platform Lattice), back to angel investing today, taking on outside capital as an institutional investor at Alt Capital. Jack sits down with Nick Chirls, GP at Asylum Ventures & Beezer Clarkson, LP at Sapphire Partners, to discuss learnings from his impressive career arc, including how to build a reputation by avoiding zero sum games, making decisions quickly as a founder, the differences in investing your own money and someone else’s, how to build a track record as an angel, and being a generalist both inside and out of the office. Plus, having just welcomed his third child into the family, Jack discusses the importance of ruthless prioritization - how to say no to the low value-add dinners and meetings if it means you get to be home for bedtime.
Learn more about Sapphire Partners: https://sapphireventures.com/sapphire-partners/
Learn more about OpenLP: https://openlp.sapphireventures.com/
Learn more about Asylum Ventures: asylum.vc
Learn more about Alt Capital: https://www.altcap.com/
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CHAPTERS:
00:00-Introduction
02:59-Nick’s new fund, Asylum Ventures, is Live!
07:22-The Burning Question
11:02-Jack Altman Introduction
12:55-Ruthless prioritization: Balancing Work & Family
16:40-The Best Idea You Say No To
19:21-Working with a Wide Scope of Founders
22:07-Building a Reputation in Venture
25:03-Venture is Noisy: Speak Softly but Carry a Big Stick
27:52-The Other Altman
30:42-From Founder to Angel to Institutional Investor
38:11-Fundraising Strategy
42:10-Investing Your Own Money vs LP Capital
45:52-Outro