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Alex Nihanky

2episodes
1podcast

We have 2 summarized appearances for Alex Nihanky so far. Browse all podcasts to discover more episodes.

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2 episodes

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→ WHAT IT COVERS Three venture capital investors share essential career advice for early-stage VCs: slow down and appreciate limited deal opportunities, commit to long-term relationships, and practice active listening. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Career Math:** A VC investing at 42 writing 1.5-2 deals annually has only 20-40 deals remaining before retirement at 62-72, making each investment decision critically important and worth savoring. - **Relationship Strategy:** Play the long game in venture capital by maintaining loyalty and commitment to relationships rather than chasing short-term wins, titles, or comparing yourself to peers at other firms. - **Active Listening:** Stay silent in partner meetings until you can contribute non-obvious insights that broaden understanding. Challenge yourself internally by questioning what you would do differently before speaking up publicly. → NOTABLE MOMENT One successful investor remained completely silent in partner meetings for two full years, but when finally speaking, every contribution was so valuable that partners immediately took notice. 💼 SPONSORS [{"name": "American Arbitration Association", "url": "https://adr.org/tfr"}] 🏷️ Venture Capital Career, Investment Decision-Making, Active Listening

AI Summary

→ WHAT IT COVERS Three venture investors share career mistakes and lessons: Alex Niehenke on accepting feedback, Kyle York on investing outside expertise, Vince Hsieh on pattern recognition pitfalls. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Feedback receptivity:** Actively seek criticism from CEOs, partners, and employees about board performance, deal presentations, and interpersonal behavior to continuously improve, because people stop giving feedback when you stop listening to it. - **Investment discipline:** Avoid investing outside your core thesis and skill set areas where you can add value; random investments in unfamiliar categories like hot sauces or NFTs typically fail due to lack of domain expertise. - **Pattern recognition traps:** Guilt by association works both ways—rejecting deals because similar companies failed or backing deals because similar companies succeeded both lead to mistakes; assess each opportunity on individual merits given high outcome variance. → NOTABLE MOMENT One investor warns that distraction during critical meetings—from family issues or missed workouts—can cause you to miss a twenty billion dollar business opportunity that day. 💼 SPONSORS [{"name": "Ramp", "url": "ramp.com/partner/tfr"}, {"name": "American Arbitration Association", "url": "adr.org/tfr"}] 🏷️ Venture Capital Lessons, Investment Mistakes, Pattern Recognition

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