Raising a $25M Fund, Implementing a Narrow Investment Thesis, and Hawke Ventures’ Unique Portfolio Construction Strategy, with Drew Leahy
Justin Gordon talks with Drew Leahy, Managing Partner at Hawke Ventures, an early stage consumer and B2B marketing technology fund. He is also the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Hawke Media.
Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Drew Leahy, Managing Partner at Hawke Ventures (@hawkeventures), an early stage consumer and B2B marketing technology fund. He is also the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Hawke Media. Prior to Hawke, Leahy was Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder of SnapSuits.com, a tech-forward men’s fashion e-retailer with over $2M+ in revenue. Drew was also Entrepreneur-in-Residence at memBrain in Los Angeles, making investments with tech and entertainment angel investors Ken Hertz and Liz Heller.
He is a data-driven, product focused entrepreneur and VC, motivated by the thousands of softwares that power brands. He has extensive experience in consumer mobile & web, b2b SaaS, social media, video, apparel, and entertainment verticals.
His product mantra: Vision (big), Execution (small), Test (thorough), Revise (smart). Repeat. He obsesses over conversion rate optimization, which is part art, part science.
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Website: Hawke Ventures & Hawke Media
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drewleahy/
Twitter: @hawkeventures
Email: drew@hawkemedia.com
Drew’s first podcast episode with Justin in 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8w_JjvSokc
Show Notes
- The journey from closing Hawke Ventures’ first $5.6M fund to raising a $25M fund
- How Drew is thinking about building out their team & how different firms approach the platform role
- How Hawke Ventures leverages the relationship with Hawke Media
- What Hawke Ventures is looking for in potential portfolio companies with their lead check fund
- Hawke Ventures’ unique portfolio construction strategy and the value of a narrow investment thesis
- Evaluating companies’ alignment with their thesis and what it means to hustle alongside their founders
- Some of the stories behind Hawke Ventures’ portfolio companies and how their “tracker checks” work
- What makes them repeat-invest in a company
- How their diversity-focused Venture Scout Program came about
- Drew’s thoughts on the current VC market
More About the Show
The VITALIZE Podcast, a show by VITALIZE Venture Capital (a seed-stage venture capital firm and pre-seed 400+ member angel community open to everyone), dives deep into the world of startup investing and the future of work.
Hosted by Justin Gordon, the Director of Marketing at VITALIZE Venture Capital, The VITALIZE Podcast features interviews with a variety of VCs, angel investors, and founders, with a particular focus on the future of work.
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