251. Funding the Misunderstood Technical Founder, Self Evaluation as a Solo Capitalist, and Capital to Underwrite R&D risk vs. S&M risk (Farooq Abbasi)

Farooq Abbasi of Preface Ventures joins Nick to discuss Funding the Misunderstood Technical Founder, Self Evaluation as a Solo Capitalist, and Capital to Underwrite R&D risk vs. S&M risk. In this episode, we cover:

• Walk us through your background and path to VC
• Why did you launch Preface?
• What's the thesis at Preface?
• How do you define enterprise/infrastructure frontier enterprise?
• What's most different about your approach?
• Are the businesses you fund created and ideated by the founders or is it a collaboration between you and the founders or do you take concepts and bring them to future founders?
• What's your approach to sourcing?
• Because your model is different and the founder profile is a bit different than most...  in what unique ways do you provide value post-investment?
• You're a solo-capitalist...  How do you evaluate yourself and keep some checks/balances on your decisions?
• Did you put together an LPAC -- if so how big is the group, how often do you meet and when/where do they help?
• Are you actively investing in open-source startups?
• What are your thoughts on the Bifurcation in the VC industry... capital underwriting of R&D risk vs. S&M risk?
• What are your thoughts on biases in founder selection, data-driven predictors of founder success?
• What's been the greatest challenge in your VC career and how have you overcome it?
• You’re passionate about Diversity, having founded Diversity.vc in 2016. How are you practicing a more inclusive style of venture capital?
• Three data points...  hypothetical investment scenario