Elizabeth Yin is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Hustle Fund.
Hustle Fund is a venture capital fund investing in founders at the pre-seed and seed stages. They also have Angel Squad, a vetted community of angel investors, who get radical access to Hustle Fund's deals and investor education.
Takeaways
Learnings from working for Tony Hsieh (LinkExchange and Zappos).
Being in Silicon Valley provides a unique environment for networking and learning from peers. Why Canadian founders should consider spending time there.
How Toronto's tech ecosystem has changed over the last few years.
Differences between Canadian and American founders.
A great angel investor is someone who understands their purpose and has a clear portfolio construction strategy.
Things that Hustle Fund looks for in founders at the earliest stages.
What it was like raising Hustle Fund I.
If you have the desire to start a business, now is the best time in history to pursue that opportunity.
Chapters
00:00 Getting into Tech and Working at Google
04:16 Learning from Tony Hsieh
07:24 Starting LaunchBit
08:30 What Made LaunchBit Different
12:15 Working at 500 Startups
14:35 Starting Hustle Fund
17:40 The State of Pre-Seed Market
20:48 Geography and Investing in Toronto
23:16 Mindset of Toronto Founders
26:46 The Importance of Being in Silicon Valley
30:12 Qualities of a Great Angel Investor
35:25 The Purpose of Angel Squad
43:42 Favorite Book: Buy Back Your Time
45:45 Excitement for 2024
47:24 Dealing with Hard Times
47:52 Recognizing Privilege and Gratitude
49:18 The Opportunities of the Post-Pandemic World
50:46 Inspiration and Encouragement
My podcast supporter!
Fasken's Emerging Tech and Venture Capital practice is comprised of 80+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. We're deeply involved in the startup ecosystem and have worked closely with founders from startup to scale-up to exit. Our team is a leading Canadian law firm for VC financings and tech M&A and act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale-up innovation-based companies and entrepreneurs in Canada.
Given this experience we understand market trends and can assist in guiding your company forward as you scale – we take a holistic and strategic approach to helping our clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, M&A, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond. We are excited to help the next generation of unicorns!
