Shauntel Garvey's guest appearances

Shauntel Garvey

Getting Smart Podcast

NGPF Podcast

Venture Unlocked: The playbook for venture capital managers

Michael Horn

Ryan Craig

Paul Merriman

Jo Boaler

Adam Carroll

Warren Buffett

Diane Tavenner

Jean Chatzky

Andy Rachleff

Brian Garrett

Renata Quintini

Leo Polovets

Ron Lieber

Rachel Schneider

Ted Benna

OwlTail

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.  Our guest today is Shauntel Garvey, co-founder and general partner of education tech focused Reach Capital. She has a long history investing in ed-tech companies stemming back from her time at NewSchools Venture Fund. What I love about the Reach team is how thoughtfully they’ve constructed their firm and partnership which by far is one of the most diverse in all of venture. Currently Reach has $300 AUM and has invested in companies such as Mystery Science (acq by Discovery Education), Nearpod, Outschool, ClassDojo, and Epic.Shauntel did her undergrad at MIT, and got a MA in Education and MBA from Stanford.Listen to our conversation to learn more about how she’s seen the EdTech market evolve over the last few years and particularly since the pandemic, why they are active with portfolio companies after typical seed funds are, and how she thinks about investing thesis. A message from our sponsorFrank, Rimerman + Co.’s history is closely intertwined with that of Silicon Valley. With humble beginnings similar to so many start-ups, Frank, Rimerman was formed with a desire to serve the entrepreneurial and venture communities of the Valley and the determination to think outside-the-box.When it comes to venture funds, we work with almost 500 VC groups from over 20 states across the USA. We have worked with over 350 fund groups throughout their first year, making us one of the leading providers in the country to emerging managers.No one wants to be bored at work. That’s why we chose to work with some of the most innovative and creative people – people who are changing the world around us every day. Their excitement fuels our passion and determination to grow and serve this special community.Frank, Rimerman + Co, Passion Works Here.www.frankrimerman.comIn this episode we discuss:01:29	Shauntel’s journey into VC03:12	The decision to start Reach from NewSchools04:39	Why they decided to go with a larger partnership in Fund 107:14	The challenges of raising a sector specific fund for a sector not well understood at the time09:50	Pitching impact focused LPs vs return focused LPs11:51	How sector-specific managers answer the question about being too narrow16:18	Why despite being as seed fund, Reach stays with their companies throughout their lifecycle20:06	How they think about hiring at Reach21:51	How Reach looks at talent development as a part of its legacy23:41	Things firms can do early to build a generational legacy25:51	Developing and evolving an investment thesis28:24	Creating systems to allow for proactive outreach and investment30:03	Building strong a back office and operations32:50	Shauntel’s greatest learning as an investor33:55	What she’s learned from her misses36:42	The investor she aspires to be more likeMentioned in this episode:* Reach CapitalWe’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Shauntel! Follow @SamirKaji and give your insight and questions using the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop a direct message on Twitter.Podcast Production support provided by Agent Bee Agency This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

Follow me <a href="https://twitter.com/Samirkaji" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@samirkaji</a> for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape. Our guest today is <a href="https://twitter.com/SLP_EDU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shauntel Garvey</a>, co-founder and general partner of education tech focused <a href="https://twitter.com/reachfund" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Reach Capital</a>. She has a long history investing in ed-tech companies stemming back from her time at NewSchools Venture Fund. What I love about the Reach team is how thoughtfully they’ve constructed their firm and partnership which by far is one of the most diverse in all of venture. Currently Reach has $300 AUM and has invested in companies such as Mystery Science (acq by Discovery Education), Nearpod, Outschool, ClassDojo, and Epic.Shauntel did her undergrad at MIT, and got a MA in Education and MBA from Stanford.Listen to our conversation to learn more about how she’s seen the EdTech market evolve over the last few years and particularly since the pandemic, why they are active with portfolio companies after typical seed funds are, and how she thinks about investing thesis. A message from our sponsor<a href="https://www.frankrimerman.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Frank, Rimerman + Co.</a>’s history is closely intertwined with that of Silicon Valley. With humble beginnings similar to so many start-ups, Frank, Rimerman was formed with a desire to serve the entrepreneurial and venture communities of the Valley and the determination to think outside-the-box.When it comes to venture funds, we work with almost 500 VC groups from over 20 states across the USA. We have worked with over 350 fund groups throughout their first year, making us one of the leading providers in the country to emerging managers.No one wants to be bored at work. That’s why we chose to work with some of the most innovative and creative people – people who are changing the world around us every day. Their excitement fuels our passion and determination to grow and serve this special community.Frank, Rimerman + Co, Passion Works Here.<a href="http://www.frankrimerman.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.frankrimerman.com</a>In this episode we discuss:01:29	Shauntel’s journey into VC03:12	The decision to start Reach from NewSchools04:39	Why they decided to go with a larger partnership in Fund 107:14	The challenges of raising a sector specific fund for a sector not well understood at the time09:50	Pitching impact focused LPs vs return focused LPs11:51	How sector-specific managers answer the question about being too narrow16:18	Why despite being as seed fund, Reach stays with their companies throughout their lifecycle20:06	How they think about hiring at Reach21:51	How Reach looks at talent development as a part of its legacy23:41	Things firms can do early to build a generational legacy25:51	Developing and evolving an investment thesis28:24	Creating systems to allow for proactive outreach and investment30:03	Building strong a back office and operations32:50	Shauntel’s greatest learning as an investor33:55	What she’s learned from her misses36:42	The investor she aspires to be more likeMentioned in this episode:* Reach CapitalWe’d love to know what you took away from this conversation with Shauntel! Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/Samirkaji" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@SamirKaji</a> and give your insight and questions using the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you’d like to be considered as a guest or have someone you’d like to hear from (GP or LP), drop a <a href="https://twitter.com/Samirkaji" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">direct message on Twitter</a>.Podcast Production support provided by <a href="https://agentbee.agency/podcasting" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agent Bee Agency</a> This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://ventureunlocked.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ventureunlocked.substack.com</a>

Shauntel Garvey of Reach Capital on EdTech, raising a sector focused fund, and the importance of being an active seed investor beyond the A round

Jennifer Carolan

Thanks to Jennifer Carolan and Shauntel Garvey for joining me on the NGPF Podcast recently. NGPF got its start in the Reach Capital offices so I am eternally grateful to Jennifer and Shauntel. Not only did they provide us with space (a table) but they also provided the wise counsel and guidance that we needed. In this podcast, they provide insights into the life of a venture capitalist, what they look for in start-up edtech companies and then share a few war stories from several of their portfolio companies, including Nearpod and Newsela. Enjoy!

Thanks to Jennifer Carolan and Shauntel Garvey for joining me on the NGPF Podcast recently. NGPF got its start in the Reach Capital offices so I am eternally grateful to Jennifer and Shauntel. Not only did they provide us with space (a table) but they also provided the wise counsel and guidance that we needed. In this podcast, they provide insights into the life of a venture capitalist, what they look for in start-up edtech companies and then share a few war stories from several of their portfolio companies, including Nearpod and Newsela. Enjoy!

Speaker Series: Reach Capital's Jennifer Carolan and Shauntel Garvey discuss trends in educational technology

In this episode, Tom is talking education venture funding with Shauntel Garvey! Shauntel is a partner and co-founder of Reach Capital, an impact-focused edtech venture fund that was spun out of non-profit NewSchools Venture Fund, in 2015. Since then, they have deployed about $95 million in 61 investments, including some well-known startups such as ClassDojo, Ellevation, NearPod, and Newsela — all while maintaining a focus on education and workplace innovations. Join the conversation to learn more about Reach Capital, how they have evolved since branching out from NewSchools, the amazing companies in their portfolio, what a typical investment process looks like, and all about return, growth, and impact when it comes to venture funding.   Key Takeaways: [:10] About today’s episode. [:45] Tom welcomes Shauntel Garvey to the podcast. [:53] How did Shauntel get to MIT? [2:50] Why did Shauntel decide to go to Stanford and pursue a dual education MBA? [4:01] Was Shauntel aware of how many extraordinary people have gone through this same program when she was going through it herself? [4:49] Shauntel shares about when she first learned about NewSchools Venture Fund and what led her to become involved. [6:35] How and when Shauntel and her co-founder (of Reach Capital) decided to branch out from NewSchools and start their own venture fund. [8:22] About the second fund they’re currently investing in with Reach Capital. [9:04] How Reach Capital has evolved from NewSchools, going beyond K-12 funding. [9:55] Can you run a viable venture fund, looking for both impact and return? How does Reach Capital try to maximize both of those? [11:38] The meaning behind the name “Reach Capital.” [12:08] How Reach Capital is looking to bring more diverse founders into edtech and why Shauntal believes it is so incredibly important. [14:40] Shauntel walks listeners through the venture process in a typical investment. [18:26] What does it mean to lead deals? And do they like to lead deals at Reach Capital? [19:00] After making the investment with a company, what does their relationship look like going forward? How do they continue to support them? [20:54] How many companies in Reach Capital’s portfolio is Shauntel actively involved in? [21:26] The hardest part of Shauntel’s job currently. [21:50] Lightning round of the cool companies in Reach Capital’s portfolio! Shauntel speaks about the incredible work of Abl, BetterLesson, ClassDojo, AdmitHub, Desmos, Ellevation, Hone, Newsela, PeopleGrove, Schoolzilla, Tynker, Nearpod, Outschool, Epic!, and Riipen. [32:12] The gaps Shauntel is currently seeing in education where there’s an opportunity to make a big difference. [35:34] With Reach Capital, do they try to create spaces that can bring together public and philanthropic investments as well as private investments? [37:29] Infrastructure challenges and the inequities that have been amplified during the pandemic. [38:30] Tom thanks Shauntel for joining the Getting Smart Podcast!   Mentioned in This Episode: Shauntel Garvey Reach Capital NewSchools Venture Fund ClassDojo Ellevation Nearpod Newsela Abl BetterLesson AdmitHub Desmos Hone PeopleGrove SchoolMint Schoolzilla WriteLab Julia Freeland Fisher Tynker Outschool Epic! Riipen  Getting  Smart  Podcast  Ep. 264: “Ryan  Craig  on  Putting  America  Back  to  Work” Raise Your Hand Texas NSBA  Getting  Smart  Podcast  Ep. 274: “Rachelle  Dene  Poth  on  Charting  a  New  Course”   Get Involved: Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com. Find the  Getting  Smart  Podcast  on  iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe.   Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered? To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include ‘Podcast’ in the subject line. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

In this episode, Tom is talking education venture funding with Shauntel Garvey! Shauntel is a partner and co-founder of Reach Capital, an impact-focused edtech venture fund that was spun out of non-profit NewSchools Venture Fund, in 2015. Since then, they have deployed about $95 million in 61 investments, including some well-known startups such as ClassDojo, Ellevation, NearPod, and Newsela — all while maintaining a focus on education and workplace innovations. Join the conversation to learn more about Reach Capital, how they have evolved since branching out from NewSchools, the amazing companies in their portfolio, what a typical investment process looks like, and all about return, growth, and impact when it comes to venture funding. Key Takeaways: [:10] About today’s episode. [:45] Tom welcomes Shauntel Garvey to the podcast. [:53] How did Shauntel get to MIT? [2:50] Why did Shauntel decide to go to Stanford and pursue a dual education MBA? [4:01] Was Shauntel aware of how many extraordinary people have gone through this same program when she was going through it herself? [4:49] Shauntel shares about when she first learned about NewSchools Venture Fund and what led her to become involved. [6:35] How and when Shauntel and her co-founder (of Reach Capital) decided to branch out from NewSchools and start their own venture fund. [8:22] About the second fund they’re currently investing in with Reach Capital. [9:04] How Reach Capital has evolved from NewSchools, going beyond K-12 funding. [9:55] Can you run a viable venture fund, looking for both impact and return? How does Reach Capital try to maximize both of those? [11:38] The meaning behind the name “Reach Capital.” [12:08] How Reach Capital is looking to bring more diverse founders into edtech and why Shauntal believes it is so incredibly important. [14:40] Shauntel walks listeners through the venture process in a typical investment. [18:26] What does it mean to lead deals? And do they like to lead deals at Reach Capital? [19:00] After making the investment with a company, what does their relationship look like going forward? How do they continue to support them? [20:54] How many companies in Reach Capital’s portfolio is Shauntel actively involved in? [21:26] The hardest part of Shauntel’s job currently. [21:50] Lightning round of the cool companies in Reach Capital’s portfolio! Shauntel speaks about the incredible work of Abl, BetterLesson, ClassDojo, AdmitHub, Desmos, Ellevation, Hone, Newsela, PeopleGrove, Schoolzilla, Tynker, Nearpod, Outschool, Epic!, and Riipen. [32:12] The gaps Shauntel is currently seeing in education where there’s an opportunity to make a big difference. [35:34] With Reach Capital, do they try to create spaces that can bring together public and philanthropic investments as well as private investments? [37:29] Infrastructure challenges and the inequities that have been amplified during the pandemic. [38:30] Tom thanks Shauntel for joining the Getting Smart Podcast! Mentioned in This Episode: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shauntelpoulson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shauntel</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shauntelpoulson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Garvey</a> <a href="https://www.reachcapital.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Reach</a> <a href="https://www.reachcapital.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Capital</a> <a href="https://www.newschools.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">NewSchools</a> <a href="https://www.newschools.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Venture</a> <a href="https://www.newschools.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fund</a> <a href="https://www.classdojo.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ClassDojo</a> <a href="https://ellevationeducation.com/home/default" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ellevation</a> <a href="https://nearpod.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nearpod</a> <a href="https://newsela.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newsela</a> <a href="https://www.ablschools.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Abl</a> <a href="https://betterlesson.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BetterLesson</a> <a href="https://www.admithub.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AdmitHub</a> <a href="https://www.desmos.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Desmos</a> <a href="https://honehq.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hone</a> <a href="https://www.peoplegrove.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PeopleGrove</a> <a href="https://www.schoolmint.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SchoolMint</a> <a href="https://schoolzilla.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Schoolzilla</a> <a href="https://medium.com/@reachfund/writelab-acquired-by-chegg-c0206581c188" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WriteLab</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-freeland-fisher-4162466/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Julia</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-freeland-fisher-4162466/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Freeland</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-freeland-fisher-4162466/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fisher</a> <a href="https://www.tynker.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tynker</a> <a href="https://outschool.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Outschool</a> <a href="https://www.getepic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Epic</a><a href="https://www.getepic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">!</a> <a href="https://www.riipen.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Riipen</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Getting</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Smart</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Podcast</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Ep</a><a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">. 264: “</a><a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Craig</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> on</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Putting</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> America</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Back</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> to</a> <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Work</a><a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/podcast-ryan-craig-on-putting-american-back-to-work/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">”</a> <a href="https://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Raise</a> <a href="https://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Your</a> <a href="https://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hand</a> <a href="https://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Texas</a> <a href="https://www.nsba.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">NSBA</a> <a 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282 - Shauntel Garvey on Edtech Impact Investing