UVC: Jeffrey Paine from Golden Gate Ventures on the importance of research for VCs, the flawed approach of copy-cat founders, and the urgency to discuss the suppressed issue of entrepreneurs’ debilitating mental health
Understanding VC is a deep dive on how Venture Capitalists work. In this episode, I speak with Jeffrey Paine, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Golden Gate Ventures based in Singapore. This conversation brings to the fore some formerly unscrutinized aspects of the startup ecosystem which are always sidelined in the usual startup discourse. Jeffrey talks about the flawed approach of most copy-cat founders. He also speaks about a graver issue which pervades the industry and yet remains largely unacknowledged - a trend of worsening mental health and increasing loneliness in the lives of founders. Jeffrey endorses holistic coaching for founders in order to arm them with the tools to combat not just business issues but also emotional ones.
In this episode you will learn:
- What is the key quality required in an entrepreneur or VC entering 2022’s breakneck technology sector?
- Can speed of execution be an appropriate criteria when tracking a startup’s progress?
- How do VCs navigate the equivocality of a business’s input and output?
- What is the one hubris that usually afflicts entrepreneurs?
- How has abundant capital hampered the process of decision-making in startups?
- Why do most copy-cat founders end up chasing their own tails?
- Jeffrey’s estimation of the importance of mental health and skill coaching for founders and employees
- Why is there a staggering proportion of entrepreneurs who helplessly suffer from mental health issues? Is this a business-specific phenomenon or a fog hanging over all of society?
- Why is immunity to disappointments a superpower for founders when they are just starting off?
- Does a high management fee diminish the intangible incentives that are requisite for motivating a VC for calculated progress and returns?
About
Jeffrey Paine is a Co-founder and Managing Partner of Golden Gate Ventures, an early stage technology venture capital fund based in Singapore investing in Southeast Asia with over US$175 million under management investing in over 45 companies since 2012.
Jeff started and manages the Founder Institute in Singapore where he is currently overseeing its expansion in Southeast Asia, and Japan. Since 2010 the Founder Institute in Singapore has graduated over 100 companies. He is a recipient of the Founder Institute Director Award 2012 for “Greatest Ecosystem Impact” Worldwide (Singapore).
He is a Singapore native and graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration (Information Systems) from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Jeffrey Paine
Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Golden Gate Ventures
As one of the most active and respected startup ecosystem leaders in all of Asia, Jeff accelerated the development of the regional startup ecosystem with entrepreneurial experience from Silicon Valley, Dubai and Asia.
Jeff's beginnings were humble. A local Singaporean, he completed his studies in the US and returned to Singapore as a consultant in KPMG. His first dip into investments was with MPH Ventures.
In 2010, with considerable entrepreneurial and global experience in places such as the US, Dubai, and Asia, Jeffrey launched Founder Institute programme in Singapore. Under his leadership, numerous Founder Institute chapters have launched across Southeast Asia, China and Australia. This brought a little of the Silicon Valley spirit to entrepreneurs in these cities around the world and accelerated the development of the Singapore startup ecosystem.
Jeffrey uses his strong connections and unique perspective that he developed while leading his FI chapter to launch other startups throughout Southeast Asia. He believes that successful companies are not formed in isolation. Entrepreneurs need seed funding, experienced mentors, and a strong network of seasoned professionals and peers.
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