Webinar
Masterclass Live! Venture Capital 101
Watch an on-demand Venture Capital 101 presentation covering key documents, stages, and the basic principles of venture capital investing. The presentation is open to all alumni and friends of Cornell and is led by Triphammer Ventures’ Managing Partner Brian Keil
See video policy below.
Post Webinar Summary
Brian Keil and Wesley Yiu hosted an informational webinar to discuss the basics of venture capital and provide insights into the venture capital industry. They outlined how venture capital funds operate, focusing on investing in private, pre-IPO companies with high growth potential. The speakers emphasized the importance of innovation in technology, products, and business models, highlighting that successful investments can yield significant returns, although a majority of startups may not succeed. They also detailed Triphammer’s unique approach as a co-investor, leveraging relationships with leading venture capital firms and the Cornell community to access high-quality deal flow. The presentation covered the venture capital lifecycle, including sourcing, evaluating, and managing investments, and touched on current investment themes such as AI and healthcare.
Triphammer Ventures is Alumni Ventures’ fund for Cornell alumni and friends of the community.
During this session, we will discuss:
- HomeThe stages of venture capital
- HomeKey aspects of investing (theme-building, sourcing, and winning deals, etc.)
- HomeImportant documents involved in investing
- HomeExamples of what to look for when evaluating deals
Note: You must be accredited to invest in venture capital. Important disclosure information can be found at av-funds.com/disclosures.
About your presenters
Brian is a seasoned venture capitalist with over 20 years of investing experience across a range of industries. Before joining Alumni Ventures, Brian was the Managing Director for New York Ventures, the venture capital arm of the State of New York. Prior to that, he was VP of Strategy & Corporate Development at Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio) and a Managing Director at the Peacock Fund, the venture capital arm of NBC Universal. Before joining the Peacock Fund, Brian worked at GE Capital and Bain & Co. Brian holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School and a BS in Industrial Engineering from The University of Southern California.
Wesley has a background in both technology and investing. Previously, he served as a product manager at BlackRock Solutions. While at BlackRock, he helped grow and scale their enterprise risk analytics platform, including facilitating the on-boarding of a $300 bn AUM client. He later transitioned to a traditional investment role where he worked as an investment strategist for the fixed income division of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which manages over $400 bn in AUM across macro and credit strategies. He is also the author of the blog The Unofficial VC. Wesley received his BS from the College of Engineering at Cornell University.