{"id":77666,"date":"2020-09-29T11:29:33","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T08:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-09-29T11:29:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T08:29:33","slug":"3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"#3 uplifting lessons VCs learned during a crazy 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3b7269315c5\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3b7269315c5\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020\/#Theres_always_plenty_of_opportunities\" >There\u2019s always plenty of opportunities<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020\/#Disruption_can_equalize_the_playing_field\" >Disruption can equalize the playing field<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020\/#Better_ways_to_communicate_with_portfolio_companies\" >Better ways to communicate with portfolio companies<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#3 uplifting lessons VCs learned during a crazy 2020<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                                <i><span>Luca Bocchio, Irina Haivas, and Anis Uzzaman will all be joining me for \u201cInvestors unleashed: the bets they\u2019re making for 2021\u201d at <\/span><\/i><i><span>TNW2020<\/span><\/i><i><span>, October 1 &amp; 2. <\/span><\/i><i><span>Secure your online ticket now<\/span><\/i><i><span> and hear their take on how the funding landscape will develop in 2021!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span>2020 has been a whirlwind of a year (to say the least). However, there\u2019s one upside to challenging times \u2014 you can learn from them. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>A lot has been written about how businesses have had to adapt to the \u2018new normal\u2019 and how they\u2019ve managed to stay afloat. <span>But just focusing on startups doesn\u2019t give a full picture of what\u2019s h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening in the entrepreneurial world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>That\u2019s why I contacted a few VCs to get a quick glimpse into how their year has been, and what they\u2019ve learned during these trying times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Theres_always_plenty_of_opportunities\"><\/span><b>There\u2019s always plenty of opportunities<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span>Despite an economic slump in certain industries, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/anisuzzaman\/\"><span>Anis Uzzaman<\/span><\/a><span>, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> partner at <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pegasustechventures.com\/\"><span>Pegasus Tech Ventures<\/span><\/a><span>, feels there are a lot of opportunities to be had.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>His feeling is that Silicon Valley investors have generally been quite conservative during the pandemic, holding off from signing on the dotted line until things calmed down. But for Uzzaman and his firm, things haven\u2019t slowed down at all this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019ve been able to invest in industry-changing startups, such as the short video content platform <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/quibi.com\/\"><span>Quibi<\/span><\/a><span>,\u201d Uzzaman says. \u201cThey launched back in April-May, and since then the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> has been all over them and they\u2019ve been doing great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While Quibi is far from being Uzzaman\u2019s only investment this year, its success during the height of the pandemic illustrates that the world didn\u2019t come to a full stop as COVID-19 hit. Just as agile startups managed to navigate unpresented circumstances, plenty of VCs were ready to jump in the rough seas with them.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-featured_img wp-image-1320359 lazy\" alt=\"\" width=\"796\" height=\"310\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/09\/vc-panel-796x310.png\" data-lazy=\"true\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/09\/vc-panel-796x310.png 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/09\/vc-panel-280x109.png 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/09\/vc-panel-540x210.png 540w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/09\/vc-panel-270x105.png 270w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/09\/vc-panel.png 1440w\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/growth-quarters\/2020\/09\/29\/3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenextweb.com%2Fgrowth-quarters%2F2020%2F09%2F29%2F3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Investors Luca Bocchio, Irina Haivas, and Anis Uzzaman\" data-title=\"Share Investors Luca Bocchio, Irina Haivas, and Anis Uzzaman on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Investors Luca Bocchio, Irina Haivas, and Anis Uzzaman on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Investors Luca Bocchio, Irina Haivas, and Anis Uzzaman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Disruption_can_equalize_the_playing_field\"><\/span><b>Disruption can equalize the playing field<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/irinahaivas\/\"><span>Irina Haivas<\/span><\/a><span>, partner at <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atomico.com\/\"><span>Atomico<\/span><\/a><span>, also agrees that 2020 has been an incredibly busy time for VCs, and she thinks it\u2019s only going to get busier towards the end of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAll of us have remained very active and I think it\u2019s proven how adaptable human beings are,\u201d Haivas says. \u201cWe\u2019ve moved so quickly on to a new reality. In fact, we probably got to see more companies because we save on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Of course, it\u2019s difficult not being able to meet up with and work with people in person, but Haivas believes the disruption caused by COVID-19 has accelerated a change that she\u2019s seen coming for a long time.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019ve been bullish on Europe since the beginning because innovation comes from everywhere, not just the big hubs. Now it\u2019s becoming more and more obvious that it\u2019s getting increasingly distributed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Physical proximity and presence used to define many larger ecosystems, making it harder for startups outside the bigger hubs to access people and capital within them. But when everyone had to pivot to video conferencing, it opened up doors for founders in smaller hubs as it made physical presence less relevant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Coming from a smaller hub herself, Haivas definitely sees this as a positive development and hopes it will bring better solutions to more people.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Better_ways_to_communicate_with_portfolio_companies\"><\/span><b>Better ways to communicate with portfolio companies<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/luca-bocchio-0247a621\/\"><span>Luca Bocchio<\/span><\/a><span>, partner at <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accel.com\/\"><span>Accel<\/span><\/a><span>, has also felt the effects of going remote \u2014 but says he\u2019s also found it to have an unexpected positive impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bocchio is used to working closely with entrepreneurs and spending significant time with them. Since the pandemic hit, that\u2019s not been an option so Bocchio has been forced to find new ways to grow VC-founder relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI had to completely change how I interacted with my entrepreneurs, and quickly realized that it was becoming easier to interact more frequently with them. I\u2019ve been very hands-on, helping out with hiring new key people and focusing on key areas of businesses on a deeper level,\u201d Bocchio explains.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span>This requires much more frequent interaction, but with shorter time slots than what we were used to before. <span>And I\u2019ve personally enjoyed that, because I\u2019ve been able to spend more quality time with my entrepreneurs.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bocchio adds this has also improved how his firm shares \u2018best practices\u2019 between its portfolio companies \u2014 resulting in more structured materials, remote meetups, etc. Frequent check-ins have helped find the best solutions to the same hurdles most companies are facing at this time, and helped all the different businesses address specific issues and thrive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Now the question is, will this be the same in 2021? And what bets are investors making for 2021, are there particular industries they are bullish on? I\u2019ll ask them about that during our panel at TNW2020. Join us there!<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-post-pubDate\">\n                                    Published September 29, 2020 \u2014 08:29 UTC\n                                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script data-src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;appId=378011798897423&amp;version=v2.6\" id=\"socialSrcFacebook\" type=\"text\/template\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/growth-quarters\/2020\/09\/29\/3-uplifting-lessons-vcs-learned-during-a-crazy-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#3 uplifting lessons VCs learned during a crazy 2020&#8221; Luca Bocchio, Irina Haivas, and Anis Uzzaman will all be joining me for \u201cInvestors unleashed: the bets they\u2019re making for 2021\u201d at TNW2020, October 1 &amp; 2. Secure your online ticket now and hear their take on how the funding landscape will develop in 2021! 2020&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/growth-quarters?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/09\/2020-year-gq.png&signature=379fa94b23ea422f781aaf7081fc9705","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}