Arteen Arabshahi is a VC at Karlin Ventures, where he specialises in enterprise software, commerce platforms, and marketplaces. Prior to Karlin Ventures, Arteen spearheaded the launch of Built In LA, an online community for digital entrepreneurs and innovators. However, his passion for startups flourished while helping run operations at Excelerate Labs, now Techstars Chicago. In today's incredible interview we delve into the best strategies for contacting any VC you want, how to make the approach, how to deal with the emotional and psychological pressure of starting a company and the rise of marketplaces. When not with startups, Arteen sits on the board of TEDxVenice Beach and is a supporter of TWLOHA, a non-profit raising awareness and support for those struggling with mental health. As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC, Arteen and Karlin Ventures on Twitter right here! In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Arteen made the jump into the world of Venture Capital, from originally wanting to be a plastic surgeon!! How did Arteen approach VCs when applying for positions? What did Arteen say in those emails to achieve such a high response rate? What tools did Arteen use to ensure he got the VCs real email address? Does Arteen agree with the traditional routes into Venture: Startup Founder, Consultant, Investment Banking? Why is Arteen so excited about marketplaces? Are there any in particular that Arteen is doubling down on? How big a market does a market have to be to get Arteen excited? What would Arteen advise founders potentially struggling from self doubt or lacking in confidence? What mental health tools would Arteen recommend to help with this? The biggest red flags for Arteen when being pitched to? Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Email Address Tools: Rapportive Arteen's ProductHunt Collection Arteen's Fave Book: Fightclub Arteen's Marketplace Investments: Laurel & Wolf, ShipHawk Arteen's Fave Newsletter: Ben Evans Blog, Strictly VC Artene's Most Recent Investment: Policy Genius  

David Wu is a General Partner at Maveron, which he joined in 2012 to help identify new investments in Web companies that have the potential to become leading consumer brands. He sourced and led Maveron's investment, Eargo and Darby Smart, also serving on their board. David is very much founder focussed and you’ll often find him coaching entrepreneurs at top Bay Area incubators such as Y Combinator, AngelPad, 500 Startups, and Stanford’s StartX and was previously EIR at Redpoint Ventures. His close ties to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial community have led him to invest personally in over 30 start-ups, including Practice Fusion, Postmates, Tile, Jaunt VR, and SeatMe. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How David made his move into the world of venture capital? How David perceives the current seed funding environment? What makes Stanford the breeding ground of tech unicorns that it is? How to create a bay area style culture? What is the most frequent problem David sees startups encounter and how do they overcome it? How can entrepreneurs know which funding source to go for? Crowdfunding, VC, Angel? Why should startups take seed VC money over angel money? What is the difference? What are the key traits required to be a great founder? How can products with early adopter usage transition to a mass market product? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: David's Fave Books: Game Of Thrones David's Most Recent Investment: Jott As always you can follow Harry, David, The Twenty Minute VC and Maveron on Twitter right here!