In this segment, three venture capital professionals share key advice for those early in their careers. Larry Chang of Volition stresses the importance of choosing a path you find enjoyable and fun, not merely for happiness but because genuine passion fuels the relentless effort required to outcompete others. He also advises moving beyond resume-building to develop true competence, as the world ultimately rewards capabilities and sustained contributions to the economy. Ben Black, managing director at Katie Inventure, offers a contrarian warning: don’t become an investor without substantial operating experience. He reflects on his own accidental entry into VC after only three years as an operator, noting that this gap led him to focus on growth stages and made early-stage investing harder. He recommends spending a decade building companies first to gain the practical insight needed for effective investment. Mark Peter Davis of Interplay Ventures takes a philosophical approach, drawing on Howard Marx’s example to highlight the broader social function of markets. He argues that investors should see themselves as gatekeepers for innovation, allocating capital to improve society and quality of life, not just to chase returns. By reframing deals through this lens, investors can stay grounded and identify meaningful opportunities versus gimmicks. The episode concludes with a reminder to prepare thoroughly and invest confidently.
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Now onto the episode.
Welcome to the podcast about venture capital, where investors and founders alike
can learn how VCs make decisions and reach conviction. Your host is Nick Moran, and this is the
full ratchet. Welcome back to TFR. On today's special segment, we ask guests for the most
important piece of advice that they'd share with folks early in their venture career.
Here's the segment called Key Advice. On today's special segment, we have Larry Chang of Volition.
Larry, if you could share one piece of advice with a young new investor, what would you tell them?
Tough question in this day and age. I do think a couple of thoughts. I think it's
ultimately important to do something that you enjoy and you find fun. And I know that sounds
a little bit tripe, but maybe the reasoning is not, which is when you're in school, you may not
realize how competitive the world really is. It's really hard to win a competitive world for the other
people you're competing against, like what they do more than you do. You just won't put in the time
and energy and it won't be your passion. It won't come from the place inside you. I don't say
like do something that you enjoy or find fun because I want you to be happy. Like that's not my
driver, although I would. My driver is that's what's going to make you competitive and that's what's
going to help you win. And so if you're going to pick a path that you're doing for some alternate
reason, boy, it's hard to compete in the win in that dynamic. And so I do encourage that. I think
a lot of folks coming out of school also, they're trying to build a resume, which I get there's
pressure for around that. But what's more important than a resume is competence. And ultimately the
world is not going to care about your resume. They're going to care about your capabilities and your
competence. And some people never get off the resume track. Like you got to settle in at some
point and build some of this valuable in the economy. That usually takes sustained effort and time
on building some confidence. So those would be a couple of thoughts. On today's special segment,
we have Ben Black, managing director of a Katie Inventure, CIO of Power Law Corp and founder
of Raise Global. Ben, if you could share one piece of advice with a young new investor, what would
you tell them? Don't become an investor. My personal mistake and I see it all of the time out
there is like super high quality people going into venture without enough operating experience.
You know, I think that I was that myself. Like I was only an operator for like three years. And
then I got swooped into venture. And not by plan. I was like an accidental venture capitalist.
And I think that not having deep operating experience is why I ended up doing growth stage in
that early stage over time. And I just think that like if you're going to be in VC, man, and you
haven't spent 10 years building companies, as I think it's really hard to do without that experience.
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On today's special segment, we have Mark Peter Davis of Interplay Ventures. Mark, if you could
share one piece of advice with a young new investor, what would you tell them?
I think the thing that a lot of people in a lot of industries miss, I heard Howard Marx be
recently at a little event I was at, and what I found a bit magical and a bit validating was,
for those who don't know, Howard Marx is one of the greatest, biggest, most successful public markets
players in the game. His company Oak Tree, I believe, has $250 billion or so of assets under
management, and in his storied career, I believe he has bought the bottom of the market five times,
including putting $10 billion into the market in 2008. If you're not thinking highly enough
about the name, I'm setting right now, stop, read about them, and then come back around,
I have my mind a contemporary of Warren Buffett at that level. I heard him talk. What was very
illuminating for me was he talked about the perspective on his role, without even thinking about it,
not in the context of the micro trade, in the context of the macro-social impact. What he is doing,
is he's looking at some of his trades in the context of the social function of the market as like
part of our broader society. He knew to buy because he believed one of the functions of the market
is to actually keep charlatans out of the public ecosystem. When charlatans are getting funded,
the market's too rich, and it's not performing its social function. That was a signal for him
that we were at a peak, and there was a trade to be made. I think there's a similar parallel
to keep in mind with venture. Early stage investors are thinking about how to buy equity
in companies and get a 10 or 20 or 30x on the deal. That's the trade, the micro trade we're thinking
about. Having a perspective on deals allends to think about them in their ability to advance
society. Remembering that that is what we are. We are gatekeepers for innovation,
not coming through capitalism's a tool, not coming through for us to make money. In theory,
we're all going to die. We're irrelevant. What we're doing is we're supposedly allocating capital
efficiently to make our descendants lives better. Is this company you're about to write a check-in too?
Going to really improve society, make quality of life better, and therefore be paid and compensated
in create a big market opportunity. Or is it a gimmick? There have been plenty of gimmick
trades that are paid, but reframing it from a social role, taking on the social stewardship
responsibility of what a VC is in society. I think it's a very powerful lens to keep you grounded
on not just investing, but why we're doing this.
That will conclude this installment of Investor Stories. If you're enjoying the program and would
like to see it continue, take a moment and leave a five-star review in iTunes. Okay, that will wrap
things up for today. Until next time, over-prepare, choose carefully, and invest confidently. Thanks for joining me.
[Music]
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
Larry Chang advises young investors to pursue work they genuinely enjoy because passion drives the competitiveness needed to succeed in a tough world.
Larry Chang emphasizes that building real competence matters more than crafting a resume, as the economy values sustained skills over credentials.
Ben Black warns against becoming an investor without deep operating experience, suggesting at least 10 years of company-building is crucial for success.
Mark Peter Davis encourages investors to view their role as social stewards, considering how deals advance society rather than just seeking financial returns.
Mark Peter Davis illustrates this by referencing Howard Marx, who used market social functions to time trades, paralleling venture capital’s gatekeeping role for innovation.
Summary:
In this segment, three venture capital professionals share key advice for those early in their careers. Larry Chang of Volition stresses the importance of choosing a path you find enjoyable and fun, not merely for happiness but because genuine passion fuels the relentless effort required to outcompete others. He also advises moving beyond resume-building to develop true competence, as the world ultimately rewards capabilities and sustained contributions to the economy.
Ben Black, managing director at Katie Inventure, offers a contrarian warning: don’t become an investor without substantial operating experience. He reflects on his own accidental entry into VC after only three years as an operator, noting that this gap led him to focus on growth stages and made early-stage investing harder. He recommends spending a decade building companies first to gain the practical insight needed for effective investment.
Mark Peter Davis of Interplay Ventures takes a philosophical approach, drawing on Howard Marx’s example to highlight the broader social function of markets. He argues that investors should see themselves as gatekeepers for innovation, allocating capital to improve society and quality of life, not just to chase returns. By reframing deals through this lens, investors can stay grounded and identify meaningful opportunities versus gimmicks.
The episode concludes with a reminder to prepare thoroughly and invest confidently.
FAQs
Competence refers to the actual skills and abilities you can apply to create economic value, built through sustained effort and time. A resume only lists credentials, which the world doesn't reward as much as demonstrated capability.
Start by working in an operating role at a startup—ideally one that is early-stage—to learn the realities of scaling, hiring, and product execution. Aim for at least 10 years in such roles to build the deep insight needed for venture success.
He lacked deep operating experience, having only three years as an operator. Growth-stage investing relies less on hands-on operational insight than early-stage, making it a better fit for someone without that background.
Marks sees markets as having a social role, like keeping charlatans out of public ecosystems. When charlatans get funded, it signals a peak. In venture, this parallels assessing whether a deal genuinely advances society or is just a gimmick.
Ask whether the company genuinely improves quality of life and creates a big market opportunity, not just a short-term pay-off. If it's a gimmick, it may still pay, but it won't fulfill the social stewardship role of venture capital.
It means doing thorough due diligence before any investment, being selective about which opportunities to pursue, and then committing fully once you've made a decision. This approach reduces risk and builds conviction.
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