American Made: Thinking Outside the Box in Venture Capital with Angela Tran, General Partner at Version One Capital

Originally released on October 4th 2023, this episode of The CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast is part of our renewed focus on highlighting exceptional conversations within the American Innovation Economy. Join us as we revisit these insightful discussions and shine a light on the ongoing innovation that shapes our industry.

Angela Tran didn’t set out to be a venture capitalist; she wanted to be an engineer. However, she's leveraged the skills she learned as an engineer to help build Version One Ventures with partner Boris Wertz, a venture capital firm that has invested in some of today's biggest start-ups. Angela uses her background to approach problems from a unique perspective to find and invest in companies in their very earliest stages. She looks for founders who are driven by problems they themselves have experienced- and who will stop at nothing to solve them. 

Open to Opportunities 

Angela's journey toward her current role involved embracing every opportunity that came her way. She never turned down meetings, believing that each encounter could lead to valuable connections. Angela emphasizes the significance of the people she has met along the way and the  pivotal role they have had in shaping her career. 

Know Your Mission 

Angela and Boris share a strong inclination toward mission-driven founders who strive to address immediate problems. d She observes that many founders tend to focus on macro trends and problems that lack the imperative for change. In the absence of reliable metrics during early-stage investments, Angela and Boris instead concentrate on assessing the potential impact a company can have on the world. They focus on  “who” and “why now” principles.

Think outside the box

When she first met Boris, Angela created a dataset to try to uncover what startups would be successful. While it didn’t work- Boris appreciated her out-of-the-box thinking.. When approached by entrepreneurs, Angela is drawn to individuals who exhibit that same determined drive to solve problems in innovative and captivating ways.

CIBC Innovation Banking is a trusted financial partner to entrepreneurs and investors. Get in touch with our team at cibc.com/innovationbanking