Partner Path Laura Hamilton and Wil Hagen

We are excited to sit down with Sara Choi, Partner at Wing VC! Prior to Wing, Sara co-founded the mobile data company Airfox. Since 2019, Sara has dedicated her efforts to investing in early-stage companies operating at the intersection of bio and data. During this episode, we discuss raising VC capital (versus not), the impact of a thematic focus, and the future trajectories of drug discovery.
Episode Chapters:
The American Dream - 1:15Founder Journey X 2 - 5:33Day 1 at Wing VC - 8:10Entry Stage Valuations - 12:55Sector Specialization - 14:30Data's Impact on Biology - 19:04Sourcing Superpower - 23:43VC Office Hours - 26:50Drug Development - 28:37Healthcare with Employers - 36:21Ending Questions - 39:10As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.

We are excited to sit down with Pete Mathias, Partner at Alumni Ventures. Prior to VC, Pete was the lead drummer in a rock band, Filliger, where he traveled the world for 14 years. Later in his career, Pete found his way into the venture world and focused on strategic technologies critical to the United States. During the episode, we discuss breaking into VC from a non-traditional background, a network-powered approach, and why software has eaten the world.

Episode Chapters:
From Graduation to Rockband - 1:30Discovering Venture Capital - 4:15VC with a Non-Traditional Background - 6:54Two Types of Investment Opportunities - 10:27"I am wet clay" - 13:36Investing in Nuclear Energy - 18:05Tips for the "Partner Path" - 25:20Is VC the Right Fit? - 27:45 Ending Questions - 28:58
As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback

We are excited to sit down with Alessio Fanelli, Partner and CTO at Decibel. Alessio grew up in Rome and made his way to the US as an engineer at 645 before landing at Decibel Partners, an early-stage fund focused on data, dev tools, and cyber security. During the episode, we discuss dropping out of school to start a company, the importance of open-source software, how to diligence pre-product market fit, and the next wave of large language models.

Episode Chapters:
Growing up in Rome - 1:20Learning to Code - 3:27Joining 645 - 7:10Partner & CTO @ Decibel - 10:42Open Source Software - 15:56Diligence as a Pre-PMF Investor - 26:10Challenging Open AI - 29:54 Now's the Time for Dev Tools? - 34:50Ending Questions - 36:17
As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.

Check out Alessio's podcast!

We are excited to sit down with Jeff Schumann, Co-Founder and CEO at Aware. Jeff started building technology at a young age (selling software to CBS and tracking Al-Qaeda) before founding Aware, a contextual intelligence platform for organizations. During the episode, we discuss intercepting terrorist communications, the employee voice as the most important asset, and why context is king.

Episode Chapters:
Early Entrepreneur Days - 1:25Working with the CIA - 6:10Modernizing the Tech Stack at Nationwide - 11:10Aware: Contextual Intelligence - 13:33Ask IQ (Chat GPT for the Enterprise) - 15:28Columbus: The Collaborative City - 24:17Living by your Values - 27:00Employee Privacy - 31:17Enterprise AI Adoption Trends - 35:50Ending Questions - 39:00
As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback

This week, join us with Maxime Bucaille from Draper Associates. Maxime began his career as a foreign exchange trader before becoming an operator at Airswap. His passion for blockchain continued when he joined Atari, a multi-platform gaming company. During the episode, we discuss raising $37M in two hours, mitigating centralized risk, and consumer adoption of virtual reality.

Episode Chapters:


Moving from Paris to NYC - 1:20FX Trader at BNP - 2:25Joining Airswap (3rd ever Decentralized Exchange) - 4:51Breaking down Draper Associates - 9:40Investing with Tim Draper - 14:57Crypto POV - 17:00Bullish on Bitcoin - 20:30Changing Consumer Behavior - 23:51The Future of the Metaverse - 26:55Coinbase: Leading the Way - 30:45 Ending Questions - 31:14
As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback

This week, we're sitting down with Arjan Singh, the Co-Founder of Jolie. Arjan's journey into the world of beauty and wellness began early on and grew as he collaborated with entrepreneurs in high school and honed his expertise in luxury, consumer, and fashion at BCG. In today's episode, we'll delve into the essentials of building a successful consumer brand, the underlying factors of skin and hair health, the significant impact of social influence, and the number one tool every founder should utilize.

Episode Chapters:
Passion for Beauty Wellness - 1:20The Power of Relationships - 3:32Starting Jolie - 7:40Developing a Shower Head - 11:46Changing Consumer Behavior - 14:26The Jolie Marketing Approach - 17:12Valuing Connections & Experiences - 21:10Product Messaging with Macro Economic Shifts - 24:15Will Jolie Raise Capital? - 28:48Ending Questions - 30:07
As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback.