Vinay Iyengar
@VinIyengar
building @anansicapital, alum @harvard, he/him 🏳️🌈
Some people grind for years - sourcing deals, helping founders, building community - in order to break into VC. And others choke a homeless man to death on the subway. SMFH. thefp.com/p/exclusive-da…
ChatGPT's analysis on whether OpenAI is overvalued today, especially compared to Google's financial profile.
The advent of smartphones/cloud computing transformed the taxi and food delivery industries from fragmented, regional, low margin to tech-forward, consolidated, high margin industries. AI is creating a similar dynamic today in services industries (legal, accounting, RIA, MSP).
Most voted-up comment on TechCrunch's article breaking news of Uber's Series A investment back in 2011:
Lucky to have had a courtside seat to watch @maneetks and the @backbone team build the future of gaming. They are the absolute 🐐s
9,347 part iterations, 32 research studies, and 1,167 days later, I’m proud to introduce Backbone Pro. The last gaming product you’ll ever need. What's the future of gaming? For 3 years, we’ve obsessed over this question, and built a team from Apple, Meta, and Google. Our…
Only ~10 companies are founded every year that drive meaningful returns. Brand name VC coverage is exceptional. The only way to win against them is focus on geos outside the Bay (Canva) or non-consensus categories (Chewy). Either way, you gotta be contrarian and correct!
There's a well-known expression in venture capital: "Only a handful of companies per year actually matter" I thought it would be interesting to go back and find the Series A deals that actually "mattered" each year with the benefit of hindsight: 👇
I'm super bullish on AI rollups and their potential to digitize the "real economy." My deep dive on the space is below. If you're building an AI rollup, I'd love to chat! vinayiyengar.com/2025/01/17/the…
Congrats @villi!!! I'm lucky to have you as a mentor and friend. One of the kindest, most thoughtful investors out there. Happy to see good people winning.
Today I am thrilled to announce @Category_VC, an early stage venture firm conceived to provide unparalleled strategic and technical support to founders building enterprise software startups. I am also excited to announce Category Ventures I, our $160 million debut fund dedicated…
I'm hosting a small, invite-only happy hour in SF for builders interested in AI for social impact (e.g. applications in areas like healthcare, climate, and education). Comment your email below if you'd like to join!
I know nothing about crypto but I know @davidjhlee is a once-in-generation entrepreneur. Excited for what’s to come. Congrats king!
1/ Announcing $3.6M raised to launch Level, the first stablecoin protocol powered by restaked dollar tokens Our Deposits Program is also live - deposit USDT on Level’s website to start earning Level XP and secure a spot on the waitlist to mint lvlUSD in the coming weeks
A Kerala-born, Houston-raised brown boy has the top hip-hop song in the world right now! I never thought this day would come. Big ups to @Hanumankind1 for putting South Asian hip-hop on the map.
One of the best fundraising hacks: founders write the full investment memo and send it to VCs in advance. This format is way more consumable than a data room, saves associates hours, removes unnecessary calls/emails, and can expedite fundraising processes by 2+ weeks.