350. Elevate Ventures’ Matt Tyner on the cost of innovation + the role of the investor in this next era of venture capital

Pitchbook reports that of venture capital deals in 2024, roughly 30% of them were down rounds or flat, meaning their valuation of the companies either went backwards or were the same round to round. It’s a trend that will continue, so how can entrepreneurs break the cycle? Matt Tyner, managing partner of America’s most active venture capital firm – Elevate Ventures, joins today to make sense of what’s ahead and how innovators can succeed. He gets into:  

• The current state of venture capital – and the criticality of taking a step back to understand where things sit today 
• Investors’ increased focus on profitability and not being able to cut your way to growth 
• Artificial intelligence as an enabler – not a vertical  
• Does the future include a shift to debt versus venture 
• The cost of innovation and the role of an investor in this era of venture capital 
• What the current conversation with portfolio companies looks like for Elevate Ventures 
• What Matt sees as emerging trends in agbioscience 
• The most important jobs to be done in the industry