DeepTech Series Ep # 3: What to Look for in a Deep Tech Founder—with Greg Castle of Anorak Ventures

Deep tech founders are either technically gifted or great at building a business. But it's seldom both, at least in the beginning.

 

So, what should venture investors pay attention to when we’re choosing founders in these disruptive technologies?

 

Greg Castle is Founder and Managing Director at Anorak Ventures, a firm that invests in early-stage deep tech startups.

 

An entrepreneur and corporate marketer turned VC, Greg has invested in 120 companies, including Oculus, Flexport and Mux.

 

On this episode of Boost VC, Greg joins us to explore how his view of venture investing has changed since he wrote his first check, explaining what he looks for in a founder and how he evaluates deep tech startups differently.

 

Greg shares his mixed feelings about the VR market right now and how he benefits from having a partner to engage in conviction-based decision-making.

 

Listen in for Greg’s advice on where to deploy capital in deep tech and learn how Anorak chooses founders who apply disruptive technologies to business problems in any industry.

 

Topics Covered

 

How Greg got into venture capital

• Curious person who advocates for people he believes in
• Got lucky in first few personal investments, e.g.: Oculus

 

The most important lessons Greg has learned as a VC

• What high-functioning teams and companies look like
• Not to take it personally when things don’t go as planned

 

What Greg pays attention to when he’s choosing founders

• How they interact with cofounders, react to feedback
• Punctuality at meetings, preparedness and responsiveness

 

The questions Greg asks himself before he invests in a startup

• Do I believe in the founder?
• Do I believe in the market?

 

How Greg evaluates deep tech companies differently

• Move forward with presumption that anything’s possible
• Consider if technically gifted person can build business

 

Greg’s mixed feelings about the VR market right now

• Viable platform where developers make real money
• Frustrated by lack of competition, Meta fumbling the ball

 

Greg’s thoughts on Apple entering the VR/AR market

• ‘Nobody can make a product cool like Apple can’
• Not well-positioned in immersive gaming (primary use case)

 

The Anorak investment thesis

• Handful of technologies will have outsized impact on future
• Find teams leveraging those technologies, industry agnostic

 

Greg’s advice on where to deploy capital in deep tech

• Always comes down to people
• Build out ecosystem of investors, founders

 

How Greg thinks about scale in venture investing

• Find great people in areas that are not your strengths
• Scale of funds = $15M to $25M per partner

 

How Greg benefits from taking on a partner

• Need to explain yourself to thought partner
• Can still move quickly when he needs to

 

Greg’s biggest accomplishments before age 20

• Building group of friends in college
• Still works with many of them

 

Greg’s definition of success

• Confident and comfortable in your own skin
• Content with what you have

 

Connect with Greg Castle

 

Anorak Ventures https://www.anorak.vc/

Anorak on Medium https://anorakvc.medium.com/

Anorak on Twitter https://twitter.com/AnorakVentures

Anorak on LinkedIn https://www.li