Jon Sakoda of Decibel on building your fund with founders by your side - Venture Unlocked 005

Jon Sakoda is the Founding Partner at Decibel, a venture firm that was created in partnership with Cisco (but independent in nature) in 2018 to invest in early-stage companies. Hear how Jon, who describes himself as a “recovering entrepreneur,” started his first company, Imlogic, Inc. which was eventually acquired by Symantec, and then joined New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in 2006 where he served as a partner for 12 years. During his time at NEA, NEA clearly established itself as the largest venture firm in the world and had raised a $2.5B fund well before the current mega-fund boom. In this episode, Jon and I cover the following topics:* Jon’s trajectory from being a technical operator to a VC. * The bundling and unbundling of venture capital, and what we should see going forward. * Do VC’s really add value? What leads to the belief by founders that they might not?* The role of Cisco and how it helps them differentiate and punch above their weight in helping founders. * How traditional economic LPs view corporate LPs and how GPs can navigate the discussions.* What new GPs often underestimate when starting a fundMentioned in this episode:* Decibel website, and their partnership with Cisco.I’d love to know what you took away from my conversations with Jon Sakoda; Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on Twitter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com