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On this week's L.A. Venture podcast, we meet Phil Sanderson — one of the founders and managing director of the venture capital firm Griffin Gaming Partners. Griffin is a $250 million fund investing in the global expansion of gaming, and is based in Santa Monica.
Sanderson has been investing in some of the most innovative gaming entrepreneurs for the last 23 years — including Discord, Thriller, Pandora and Phoenix Labs. Griffin invests in early and late stage, infrastructure and content companies in the gaming industry worldwide.
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At Griffin, Sanderson is partnered with Peter Levin, who led digital initiatives at Lionsgate. The two are exploring the relationship between Hollywood and the gaming industry, especially with the recent boom of digital collectibles in the form of NFTs.
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Sanderson says gaming is "at the forefront of a lot of innovation." He likes to deal in extremes, and structures his life around the principles of setting goals, having a great team, and being flexible and adaptable and having fun.
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In this episode, hear how Sanderson views the future of gaming, why he thinks the gaming industry is in its golden age, what it's like working with top innovators, why he disagrees with the idea gaming is hit-driven, and how he manages to run 240-mile ultramarathons in his free time.
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<em>"I think it's becoming what I call 'the new enterprise software'. There's just so many exits."</em></p><p>
<strong>Phil Sanderson </strong>is one of the founders and the managing director of Griffin Gaming Partners. <br/>
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On this week's episode of the L.A. Venture podcast meet Austin Clements, co-founder of Slauson & Co, a L.A.-based pre-seed and seed-stage venture firm focused on sustainable economic inclusion. The firm is backed by PayPal, Ashton Kutcher, will.i.am, True Capital Management and Alpaca VC. Previously, Clements was at TenOneTen Ventures. He was also the founding chair of Pledge L.A. and the managing director of Grid110 South L.A.
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Clements has created his newest endeavor with Ajay Relañ, founder of #HastagLunchbag and co-founder of Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen. Relañ has previously partnered with Issa Rae, creator of HBO's hit show "Insecure" and the musician Nas.
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Their fund aims to invest in founders from underrepresented backgrounds, tools and platforms that support small businesses and culturally relevant tech. As Black co-founders, it's important to Clements and Relañ to create community for underrepresented groups in the VC space, and they do so by leading investments on startups run by Black and Brown creators.
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Hear Austin talk about how race impacts his business models, how his previous work has prepared him for this role, and how he hopes to make an impact on people of color trying to break into the venture industry.
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<strong>"I feel like there's just some misconception. Like people feel like if you're doing this or looking at founders from underrepresented backgrounds, that it's charity work. And and I was trying to make the argument that it's not. It's an opportunity. And what I think will ultimately happen is firms like mine will produce really great results and then ultimately inspire other people to get involved."</strong>
</p><p><strong>Austin Clements </strong>is the co-founder of Slauson & Co, the founding chair of Pledge L.A. and was the managing director of Grid 110 South L.A.<br/></p><p><em>dot.LA Engagement Intern Colleen Tufts contributed to this post.</em></p><p><em></em><em>Want to hear more of L.A. Venture? Listen on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/la-venture-venture-capital-vc/id1471701230" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/la-venture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stitcher</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2syPj1jttbIHjHIEwSrApH" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you get your podcasts.</em></p>
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On this week's episode of the L.A. Venture podcast, hear from Chang Xu, partner at Basis Set Ventures, a $140 million fund focused on AI and automation - technology that transforms the way people work.
<p>Basis Set Ventures focuses on four pieces: infrastructure, collaboration, automation and autonomy. Chang spends a lot of time on infrastructure, and she breaks it down into four themes: raise the ceiling, lower the floor, open space and data privacy. <br/></p><p>By raise the ceiling, Chang says there's<em> "</em>always going to be better and more secure and faster fundamental building blocks for infrastructure to the tune of database systems and streaming data and...infrastructure as code." </p><p>Lower the floor is about no code and low code, which, for example, could allow for not-trained people to build their own apps without relying on software developers. Chang predicts a proliferation of tools that she says will enable "people to create regardless of their technical abilities and their starting point."<em></em></p><p>When I heard "open source" I figured she meant "free." But, Chang says, open source "<em></em>is almost table stakes for how infrastructure is discovered, bought and sold today." </p><p>Lastly, Chang says they see "data privacy as a really large tailwind and emerging space" because it is tackling the challenge of adhering to privacy regulations, but at the same time innovating fast, while taking advantage of the growing amounts of data companies are amassing.<em></em></p><p>Chang and her partners aren't just stuck on tech, they're also keenly interested in what makes a lasting and impactful founder. She says her firm's research has revealed that "successful founders are humble operators, agile visionaries and seasoned executives. And the less successful founders...are passionate outsiders, overconfident storytellers and stubborn individuals."<em></em></p><p>This interview goes deep into machine learning optimization (ML Ops), what Chang learned from her many years at Upfront, like how to craft a good narrative and practical advice for startups on how to form a board. </p><p>Not incidentally, Chang is L.A.-based, though the Basis Set operates out of San Francisco.</p><p><strong>Chang Xu</strong> is a partner at Basis Set Ventures. Previously, she was a principal at Upfront Ventures, the oldest and largest SoCal-based early stage venture capital firm. Prior to joining Upfront, she was a founder and operator. She was the first product manager at the Minerva Project. She co-founded and was the COO of Onion Math, an edtech startup in China that has raised $90 million to date. She started her career at BCG where she advised clients across technology, retail, healthcare and private equity. She holds an MBA and AB in Applied Math and Computer Science, both from Harvard. <a href="https://www.basisset.ventures/team" target="_blank">(bio from Basis Set).</a><a href="https://www.basisset.ventures/team" target="_blank"></a></p><em><em>dot.LA Sr. Podcast Producer & Editor <a href="https://dot.la/u/laurelmoglen" target="_self">Laurel Moglen</a> contributed to this post.</em></em>
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