The Dart Board with Daniel Dart

Rock Yard Ventures
  • 5.0 (13)
  • TECHNOLOGY

Daniel Dart is the founder and General Partner of Rock Yard Ventures, a seed-stage venture firm focused on tech across core industries. Join Daniel as he sits down with some of the world's greatest investors, operators, and entrepreneurs as they pull back the curtain on tech, venture, and business.

  1. Sheel Mohnot | Better Tomorrow Ventures - On the asset that chooses you, why specialization wins, and doing hard things worth writing about

    4D AGO

    Sheel Mohnot | Better Tomorrow Ventures - On the asset that chooses you, why specialization wins, and doing hard things worth writing about

    Meet Sheel Mohnot, co-founder and GP at Better Tomorrow Ventures. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, before entering venture, Sheel lived on $1 a day in India doing microfinance work, built and sold two companies, and co-founded Thistle, a healthy food delivery business now generating north of $100M in revenue. He started investing out of his own pocket before raising a proof-of-concept fund in 2017, then launched BTV and is now on their third fund. In this episode, we get into why the contrarian and right trope only tells half the story of how venture actually works, how Sheel thinks about portfolio construction after going from 80 companies to 30, why specialization lets you win deals you have no business winning on price alone, what 2021 did to emerging markets and whether it ever comes back, and the mentor who told him that doing hard things and writing about them might just be the greatest hack in the game.

    36 min
  2. Steve Sloane | Menlo Ventures - On the bifurcation of venture, making your great ideas count, and why passion follows mastery

    APR 22

    Steve Sloane | Menlo Ventures - On the bifurcation of venture, making your great ideas count, and why passion follows mastery

    Meet Steve Sloane, Partner at Menlo Ventures. In this episode, we talk about all things venture. From his early days in the ecosystem as a YC-backed founder, to joining Menlo Ventures as an associate and working his way up to partner, and now leading their secondary strategy, Steve has seen every side of this business. We get into why the middle of the venture market is such a brutal place to invest right now, how Menlo uses secondaries to get into the best assets when the front door is closed, what velocity and proof points actually mean when Steve is sizing up a founder, his contrarian take on one of the hottest sectors in venture, and why passion follows mastery, and not the other way around.

    43 min
  3. Ethan Choi | Khosla Ventures - On robotics having its GPT-3 moment, going from metrics to founders, and faith as a foundation

    APR 9

    Ethan Choi | Khosla Ventures - On robotics having its GPT-3 moment, going from metrics to founders, and faith as a foundation

    Meet Ethan Choi, Partner at Khosla Ventures. Ethan's path to one of the most storied firms in venture is a unique one. His father was an orphan in post-war Korea, grew up on the streets, and eventually immigrated the family to Sydney. Ethan grew up in Australia, attended BYU, served a church mission, and bought a one-way ticket to the US with no network. In this episode, we get into why robotics is having its GPT-3 moment right now, why Ethan flipped from 80% metrics to 90% founder and what that actually means in practice, what survival looks like in the coming SaaS carnage, and how faith is his foundation.

    46 min
  4. LIVE from FT26 with Bill Gurley - Career pivots, the AI boom and venture bubbles, and why the industry still favors the young

    MAR 31

    LIVE from FT26 with Bill Gurley - Career pivots, the AI boom and venture bubbles, and why the industry still favors the young

    The Dart Board x FUTURE TITANS is proud to present Ron Biscardi of iConnections in conversation with Bill Gurley, longtime Benchmark partner and one of the most influential venture capitalists of the past two decades. Recorded live at the FUTURE TITANS Emerging Manager Summit, Bill discusses the themes behind his new book Running Down a Dream and the idea that great careers often begin when someone gives themselves permission to pursue what they truly care about. In this conversation, Bill reflects on the career pivots that shaped his path—from engineering to Wall Street to venture capital—and shares lessons for founders and investors navigating today’s market. We also discuss the current AI boom, why real technological revolutions often come with bubbles and speculation, the growing concentration of capital in venture, and why the industry still tilts toward young investors willing to out-hustle the competition.

    25 min
  5. LIVE from FT26 with Seth Levine - Lessons from building a $4B venture firm, the power of emerging managers, and the future of capitalism

    MAR 24

    LIVE from FT26 with Seth Levine - Lessons from building a $4B venture firm, the power of emerging managers, and the future of capitalism

    The Dart Board x FUTURE TITANS is proud to present Jeff Perry of Carta in conversation with Seth Levine, partner and co-founder of Foundry, a Boulder-based venture firm managing over $4 billion across multiple funds. With more than 25 years in venture, Seth shares the lessons he learned building Foundry from an emerging manager into one of the industry’s most respected firms. Recorded live at the FUTURE TITANS Emerging Manager Summit, Seth discusses why venture is ultimately an influence business, how emerging managers should think about building partnerships and scaling themselves, and why entry valuation rarely determines the outcome of a great investment. We also explore the challenges facing emerging managers today, the growing concentration of venture capital, and Seth’s perspective on how capitalism itself is evolving.

    30 min
  6. LIVE from FT26 with Mike Chalfen - On being a Solo GP, having the courage to look dumb, and why trying to see every deal is the path to madness

    MAR 17

    LIVE from FT26 with Mike Chalfen - On being a Solo GP, having the courage to look dumb, and why trying to see every deal is the path to madness

    The Dart Board x FUTURE TITANS is proud to present Mike Chalfen of Chalfen Ventures, one of Europe’s most iconic venture investors and a pioneer of the solo GP model. Investing since the early days of the internet, Mike shares the lessons that shaped his approach to venture and why he ultimately chose to build his own firm. Recorded live at the FUTURE TITANS Emerging Manager Summit, we discuss how emerging managers should define their investment swim lane, why early-stage companies often don’t benefit from formal boards, and the one metric Mike believes every investor should track: promises made versus promises fulfilled. We also explore portfolio concentration, making non-consensus bets, and why trying to see every deal in venture is, in Mike’s words, 'the path to madness.'

    23 min
  7. Bill Gurley | Benchmark – On finding your dream job, obsessive learning, and why passion beats the resume arms race

    FEB 5

    Bill Gurley | Benchmark – On finding your dream job, obsessive learning, and why passion beats the resume arms race

    Meet Bill Gurley, longtime general partner at Benchmark and one of Silicon Valley’s most respected thinkers on markets, technology, and careers. In this conversation, Bill reflects on his unconventional path into venture capital, the ideas behind his new book on finding and thriving in your dream job, and the patterns he’s observed across elite performers—from Bob Dylan to legendary coaches and founders. We talk about obsessive learning, building frameworks, going where the action is, and why doing what you love is the ultimate competitive advantage. We also explore AI’s impact on careers, the danger of the “safe path” mindset, how parents can better support their kids’ ambitions, and why clarity of thought—through reading, writing, and synthesis—matters more than ever. Whether you’re a founder, investor, or early in your career, this episode offers timeless lessons on learning faster, thinking deeper, and building a life of purpose.

    51 min
  8. Mike Knoop | Zapier, Arc Prize, Ndea AI Lab — On why scaling LLMs won’t reach AGI, the future of program synthesis, and maximizing the rate of innovation

    JAN 21

    Mike Knoop | Zapier, Arc Prize, Ndea AI Lab — On why scaling LLMs won’t reach AGI, the future of program synthesis, and maximizing the rate of innovation

    Meet Mike Knoop — co-founder of Zapier, co-founder of Arc Prize, and co-founder of the NDEA AI Lab. In this wide-ranging conversation, Mike shares his journey from building one of the most capital-efficient SaaS companies ever to taking big swings at the frontier of artificial intelligence. We dive into why scaling language models alone won’t get us to AGI, how benchmarks like ARC expose the limits of today’s systems, and why program synthesis may be the missing piece. We close with what it means to build technology that truly expands human potential, innovation, and adaptation.

    44 min
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5
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Daniel Dart is the founder and General Partner of Rock Yard Ventures, a seed-stage venture firm focused on tech across core industries. Join Daniel as he sits down with some of the world's greatest investors, operators, and entrepreneurs as they pull back the curtain on tech, venture, and business.

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