LA Venture Podcast: Lightspeed Ventures' Nicole Quinn on Getting Deals Done Quickly
On this week's episode of the LA Venture podcast, hear from Lightspeed Ventures' partner Nicole Quinn. The iconic Silicon Valley fund has $10 billion in assets under management. Quinn focuses onearly-stage consumer internet and fintech companies, with a portfolio that includes Calm, Goop, Lady Gaga's House, Rothy's, Zola and Girl Boss.
Quinn says "you can't be called Lightspeed and move slowly" and explains how they can get a term sheet done in two to three days. She also shares lots of insights on building an enduring brand that are applicable whether you're in the consumer space or creating an insurance company.
Key Takeaways:
- Lightspeed is laser focused on the consumer and startups.
- When Nicole goes to her team for an investment recommendation about a company, she tends to have more conviction around the companies that get high and low scores (1s and 10s), opposed to middle scores (5s and 6s).
- Metrics Lightspeed looks at to determiner year=-over-year growth include Seed: between three and five X, series A: three X and series B: two to three X.
"I think the rise of 'no code' [has] really only just begun." —Nicole Quinn
"We have two ears and one mouth, and we should be using them in that proportion." — Nicole Quinn
Nicole Quinn is a partner and Lightspeed Ventures. She spent eight years on the equity sales and research side of Morgan Stanley. There, she worked on IPOs for companies including Facebook, Groupon and Pandora. She earned a BSc in math and economics from York University in England, and an MBA from Stanford.
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