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Startup Signals: How VCs Evaluate Deals with Westwood Ventures

Watch this on-demand presentation with Westwood Ventures’ Managing Partner and fellow UCLA alumni Edward Tsai (BS ’02, MS ’04) and Alumni Ventures Senior Partner Dan Burns to explore how VCs evaluate deals. They covered the key aspects of Alumni Ventures’ investment “Scorecard” and had a fireside chat discussing special signals VCs look for as well as recent trends like AI.

Alumni Ventures was ranked the #1 most active VC in the US in 2022 (Pitchbook 2022), has over $1B raised, and has achieved top quartile VC DPI performance from 2016-2020. Westwood Ventures is Alumni Ventures’ fund for the UCLA alumni community.

During the session, we discussed:

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    How does one evaluate the potential of a startup?
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    What do VCs look for in a deal?
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    What should people look for before joining or investing in a startup?

Note: You must be accredited to invest in venture capital. Important disclosure information can be found at av-funds.com/disclosures. 

About your presenters

Edward Tsai
Edward Tsai

Managing Partner, Westwood Ventures & Blockchain Fund

Edward has 15+ years of investment experience in the U.S. and China, including a successful track record with investments such as Cruise Automation (acq. by GM), Life360 (IPO), Palantir (IPO), and Brave Software. In addition, Edward has served on the limited partner advisory committees at Cendana Capital and Ten Eleven Ventures, and he has deep operating experience at tech and cybersecurity companies. Most recently, he was Director of Investments at enterprise security company Qianxin, where he led $700 million in fundraising, ran multiple M&A deals, and managed a large investment portfolio. As Assistant GM for Qianxin, he also incubated their cybersecurity spinout fund Security Capital. At 360, he led International Investments and Strategic Development. He started his venture career as Vice President at DCM, a global early-stage VC firm managing $4 billion. He holds BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from UCLA, where he is a Kauffman Fellow (class of ’15).

Dan Burns
Dan Burns

Dan is a Senior Partner with Alumni Ventures in the Boston Office. He has over 27 years of experience working with accredited investors in public markets. The majority of his career has been spent with families developing and implementing financial plans. Dan is a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine where he received his Bachelors Degree in History and captained both the indoor and outdoor track teams.

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