venture capital

Don’t Wait for the IPO: How Tech Employees Actually Get Liquid

Feb 25, 2026

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4 min read

Don’t Wait for the IPO: How Tech Employees Actually Get Liquid

“Nobody is going to take care of you. Nobody.”

Walter Thompson

venture capital

The Day You Raise Money Is the Day You Stop Focusing on Technology

Feb 10, 2026

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4 min read

The Day You Raise Money Is the Day You Stop Focusing on Technology

“You're probably gonna fail, but you should probably try to do it.”

Walter Thompson

venture capital

From Seed to Growth: What African Founders Need to Know

Feb 2, 2026

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4 min read

From Seed to Growth: What African Founders Need to Know

"I love founders who are coachable."

Walter Thompson

venture capital

How to Prove You’re Building a Venture-Scale Company

Nov 24, 2025

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10 min read

How to Prove You’re Building a Venture-Scale Company

“The one question I would want to know is: how big do you want to build this?”

Walter Thompson

Cyan Banister

When Founder-Investor Fit Feels Like Fate (Recorded live in San Francisco)

Nov 14, 2025

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5 min read

When Founder-Investor Fit Feels Like Fate (Recorded live in San Francisco)

If you don’t believe in synchronicity, you will by the end of this episode.

Walter Thompson

+21

Feb 26, 2025

•

3 min read

Why PR Comes Before PMF

“PR should be done at the very beginning, right from the very start.”

Walter Thompson

survey

+22

Dec 23, 2024

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3 min read

Mercury Raise 2024 Survey: Founder Challenges, Fundraising Trends, and the AI Hype Cycle

“The peer connection that founders have? It’s almost trauma bonding.”

Walter Thompson

startup

+17

From PhD to CEO: Sahil Agarwal of Enkrypt AI Shares Essential Lessons for Aspiring Founders

Dec 10, 2024

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3 min read

From PhD to CEO: Sahil Agarwal of Enkrypt AI Shares Essential Lessons for Aspiring Founders

"Don't pitch a technology. Pitch a story."

Walter Thompson

+17

Oct 31, 2024

•

3 min read

Starting up in stealth

"It’s much harder to be mediocre at a small startup," says TigerEye CEO/co-founder Tracy Young.

Walter Thompson

emerging investor

+21

“When I was in the Bay Area, I realized that talent has no ZIP code.”

Oct 22, 2024

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3 min read

“When I was in the Bay Area, I realized that talent has no ZIP code.”

TheVentureCity’s Laura González-Estéfani on building outside Silicon Valley

Walter Thompson

+21

"To get something off the ground, it takes everything."

Oct 1, 2024

•

3 min read

"To get something off the ground, it takes everything."

From tech worker to tech founder: Lessons from Naveen Rao (VP Generative AI, Databricks)

Walter Thompson

500 global

+18

Making the leap: Entrepreneurial insights for tech workers and immigrants

Aug 23, 2024

•

3 min read

Making the leap: Entrepreneurial insights for tech workers and immigrants

"You're going to have to be creative," says Stoovo CEO/co-founder Hantz Févry.

Walter Thompson

+22

“Our strategy is not investing to buy... it is not our end goal.”

Aug 14, 2024

•

3 min read

“Our strategy is not investing to buy... it is not our end goal.”

Exploring early-stage trends with Kevin Weber, managing partner, Amex Ventures

Walter Thompson

startup

+18

Aug 6, 2024

•

3 min read

“When we started, AI wasn't a thing.”

VAST Data CEO/founder Renen Hallak on early-stage customer discovery + acquisition

Walter Thompson

+14

Transcript | S2E2: Drew Glover of Fiat Ventures: Capital-Efficient Growth and Discovering Diverse Talent

Jul 12, 2024

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3 min read

Transcript | S2E2: Drew Glover of Fiat Ventures: Capital-Efficient Growth and Discovering Diverse Talent

"A lot of founders... assume that all money is good money."

Walter Thompson

+17

S2E1: Inside Intel Ignite with VP & GM Tzahi Weisfeld (UPDATED)

Jul 9, 2024

•

3 min read

S2E1: Inside Intel Ignite with VP & GM Tzahi Weisfeld (UPDATED)

"In order to fit the program, you need to be willing to come and learn."

Walter Thompson

PLG

+15

Why I'm doing this podcast (and why you should listen)

Jun 27, 2024

•

3 min read

Why I'm doing this podcast (and why you should listen)

Here are the three goals I've set for Fund/Build/Scale.

Walter Thompson

dheeraj pandey

+16

Transcript | Episode 10: Two repeat founders share long-term strategies for building sustainable startups

Jun 27, 2024

•

3 min read

Transcript | Episode 10: Two repeat founders share long-term strategies for building sustainable startups

“Whatever you don't have, you can always find it in someone else.”

Walter Thompson

devops

+16

Episode 10: Two repeat founders share long-term strategies for building sustainable startups

Jun 18, 2024

•

3 min read

Episode 10: Two repeat founders share long-term strategies for building sustainable startups

Advice from Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra and DevRev CEO Dheeraj Pandey

Walter Thompson

entrepreneurship

+14

Episode 9: From research to reality with Sorcero CEO Dipanwita Das

Jun 7, 2024

•

3 min read

Episode 9: From research to reality with Sorcero CEO Dipanwita Das

"My TAM calculation was a bit amateur in the early years."

Walter Thompson

entrepreneurship

+13

Transcript | Episode 9: From research to reality with Sorcero CEO Dipanwita Das

Jun 7, 2024

•

3 min read

Transcript | Episode 9: From research to reality with Sorcero CEO Dipanwita Das

"Someone we know suggested we use the frame, 'minimum lovable product.'"

Walter Thompson

entrepreneurship

+14

Transcript | Episode 8: Securiti CEO Rehan Jalil on scaling to $1M ARR (and beyond)

Jun 7, 2024

•

3 min read

Transcript | Episode 8: Securiti CEO Rehan Jalil on scaling to $1M ARR (and beyond)

"That million-dollar mark may not be sufficient if it took a long time."

Walter Thompson

entrepreneurship

+18

Transcript | Communicating your vision with May Habib (CEO, Writer) and Gaurav Misra (CEO, Captions)

May 6, 2024

•

3 min read

Transcript | Communicating your vision with May Habib (CEO, Writer) and Gaurav Misra (CEO, Captions)

"Start by putting pen to paper and just creating a first version of something."

Walter Thompson

artificial intelligence

+11

Transcript | Episode 5: Breaking into enterprise sales

Apr 17, 2024

•

3 min read

Transcript | Episode 5: Breaking into enterprise sales

Guests: Maria Latushkin (GVP, Albertsons) and Jack Berkowitz (CDO, Securiti)

Walter Thompson

entrepreneurship

Transcript | Episode 4: Fundraising from both sides of the table

Apr 3, 2024

•

3 min read

Transcript | Episode 4: Fundraising from both sides of the table

Guests: Jorge Torres (CEO/co-founder, MindsDB) and Vijay Reddy (AI Start investor, Mayfield)

Walter Thompson

venture capital

Don’t Wait for the IPO: How Tech Employees Actually Get Liquid

The Day You Raise Money Is the Day You Stop Focusing on Technology

From Seed to Growth: What African Founders Need to Know

How to Prove You’re Building a Venture-Scale Company

When Founder-Investor Fit Feels Like Fate (Recorded live in San Francisco)

Why PR Comes Before PMF

Mercury Raise 2024 Survey: Founder Challenges, Fundraising Trends, and the AI Hype Cycle

From PhD to CEO: Sahil Agarwal of Enkrypt AI Shares Essential Lessons for Aspiring Founders

Starting up in stealth

“When I was in the Bay Area, I realized that talent has no ZIP code.”

"To get something off the ground, it takes everything."

Making the leap: Entrepreneurial insights for tech workers and immigrants

“Our strategy is not investing to buy... it is not our end goal.”

“When we started, AI wasn't a thing.”

Transcript | S2E2: Drew Glover of Fiat Ventures: Capital-Efficient Growth and Discovering Diverse Talent

S2E1: Inside Intel Ignite with VP & GM Tzahi Weisfeld (UPDATED)

Why I'm doing this podcast (and why you should listen)

Transcript | Episode 10: Two repeat founders share long-term strategies for building sustainable startups

Episode 10: Two repeat founders share long-term strategies for building sustainable startups

Episode 9: From research to reality with Sorcero CEO Dipanwita Das

Transcript | Episode 9: From research to reality with Sorcero CEO Dipanwita Das

Transcript | Episode 8: Securiti CEO Rehan Jalil on scaling to $1M ARR (and beyond)

Transcript | Communicating your vision with May Habib (CEO, Writer) and Gaurav Misra (CEO, Captions)

Transcript | Episode 5: Breaking into enterprise sales

Transcript | Episode 4: Fundraising from both sides of the table

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