Ep164 - Chris Hitchen (Managing Partner - Possible Ventures) on investing in the possible

The Startup Playbook PodcastInsights and lessons from the world's best entrepreneurs and investors Twitter Facebook YouTube Instagram Ep164 – Chris Hitchen (Managing Partner – Possible Ventures) on investing in the possible May 26, 2022 rohitbhargava Podcast My guest for Ep164 of The Startup Playbook Podcast, was Chris Hitchen the Co-founder & Managing Partner of Possible Ventures. Possible Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund that invests in frontier technology. Their approach in investing early, with a high cadence and investing globally has resulted in an incredible portfolio of over 100 startups which includes the likes of Sport NFT trading card startup Sorare. Possible Ventures was one of the earliest backers of the company writing a $50K cheque into company that had 5 people and 1 team signed on hailing from the 3rd division of the Belgian League with a company valuation of 2.3M Euros pre-money. Fast forward 2.5 years and Sorare is now worth over $4B Euros, providing an incredible return on their initial investment. In this episode we cover a lot ground diving into topics like: Chris’s background as a founder and operatorHis journey as an investor from writing angel cheques to running syndicates to their co-operative fund modelPossible’s investment strategy on betting early and with high cadence into frontier techLessons from investments and his belief in backing founders that have an authenticity of mission Investing in what’s possible, not just what’s probable and much more! Timestamps  3:44 – Chris’s background4:40 – Lessons from Chris’s background in sports science8:47 – Chris’s early career as a founder and operator11:14 – The advantage of the Micro fund model13:33 – Chris’s early investments 21:21 – What’s changed from Chris’s days as an Angel Investor to running Possible Ventures26:41 – How Chris’s approach to early stage and high cadence investing affects their approach to ownership in companies when they invest29:40 – Speed and backing your gut when making decisions on hiring and investing35:23 – Lessons from investing mistakes and why resilience and authenticity of mission is important when investing40:01 – Chris’s approach to building conviction in early stage frontier tech startups like Psylo47:30 – The story behind Possible Venture’s seed stage investment in Sorare52:13 – Possible’s investment model and structure57:02 – Investing in the possible and how founders can articulate their values and mission Our partners A big thank you to Simon Betschel and Josh Ismin for their help with this interview. Also a big thank you to our partners for this episode. Lawpath Lawpath’s Legal Advice Plan gives you access to lawyers on demand for one low monthly fee. Create legal documents, sign online and have a lawyer on-call to help you through any legal need for a fraction of the cost.  Lawpath has helped Australian businesses save over $100 million in legal fees, and are offering Startup Playbook listeners up to 20% off their most popular legal plans. Visit lawpath.com/playbook for your exclusive discount and discover an easier way to get your legals sorted. Scendar  We’re Scendar, an accounting and advisory practice better described as Finance as a Service (FaaS). We’re focused on founders, funders and startups. Clients that are ever-changing and adapting. We like fast movers. And as you might have guessed, we’re not your basic accountancy. We can take care of tax and the books whilst building a syndicate fund and a multimillion dollar exit strategy.  At Scendar, we’re empowered by our client’s potential. Find out more at Scendar.com Dovetail Studios  Dovetail Studios operates a venture studio and VC to transform ambitious ideas into unstoppable businesses. On top of being a renowned product development partner for startups like Afterpay, they also operate a VC fund to invest in early-stage companies that go through their venture studio program. So if you’re a non-technical, early-stage founder looking for a talented team to help supercharge your success, check out dovetailstudios.com Links Mentioned  Chris’s Links  Chris on LinkedInChris on TwitterPossible Ventures LinkedIn People mentioned Simon Leicht – Possible VenturesThyra Seitz – Possible VenturesWill Anderson – Possible VenturesSimon Betschel – Possible VenturesJosh Ismin – PsyloNicolas Julia – SorareAdrian Montfort – Sorare Companies mentioned: Possible VenturesPsyloMarvel FusionSorareEntrepreneurs First Feedback/connect/say hello: Rohit@startupplaybook.co @RohitBhargava7 (Twitter) /rohbhargava (LinkedIn) @rohit_bhargava (Instagram) My Youtube Channel Credits: Music: Paycheck Other channels: Don’t have iTunes? The podcast is also available on Spotify, Soundcloud & Stitcher Audio Player. Find all links to the podcast here. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/startupplaybook/164_Ep164_-_Chris_Hitchen_Managing_Partner_-_Possible_Ventures_on_investing_in_the_possible.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed Subscribe: RSS admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. 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