Funding Insights, Importance of Vulnerability, and the New York Ecosystem with Charlie O'Donnell

In this episode of Make Sense, I sit down with Charlie O’Donnell, founder and general partner of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. He also publishes a weekly newsletter called Next NYC and his thoughtful writings on his blog thisisgoingtobebig.com. We discuss the startup ecosystem and the differences between NY and Silicon Valley cultures, the state of funding, understanding risk-taking, and the importance of failures and vulnerability in entrepreneurship.

Note: Charlie is not making new investments right now and is an investor coach for venture professionals.

00:00 Introductions

01:25 Crystal Ball: Predictions for The Future

05:13 AI investment Opportunities

08:36 VCs Investing in Internal Operations

13:45 Scarcity of Growth Funding For Climate Companies

22:13 Bringing Vulnerability into Entrepreneurship

31:48 Is Slowing Down Imperative For Critical Thinking

37:56 The Openness of the New York Ecosystem

44:41 To Stay or To Go - The State of Substack

53:00 Where to find Charlie Make Sense is a weekly series dedicated to talking about startup stories from the past, hysterical or mind-numbing blunders, how to do better. We also discuss how tech impacts us and how we can raise the bar when it comes to the ethics, morals, and standards in the tech industry.