Byron Ling's guest appearances

Byron Ling

Fitt Insider

The Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing I Brands

Mark Gainey

Jason Karp

Matteo Franceschetti

Soraya Darabi

Andrew Dudum

Brett Thomas

Helaine Knapp

Dan Gluck

Brian Reilly

Avrum Elmakis

Adrian Aoun

Sadie Lincoln

Eamonn Carey

Elizabeth Yin

Ashley Mills

OwlTail

Today I’m joined by Byron Ling of Canaan Partners.    In this episode, we discuss Byron’s investments in companies like Mirror, Ro, Papa, and Uniform Teeth. His insights on building a consumer brand in the healthcare space. And what we should look out for as fitness, wellness, and healthcare converge.    About Byron    Byron is a Partner at Canaan focusing on consumer and digital health investing. His investments include Papa, Ro, Uniform Teeth, Kin Euphorics, and Bravo Sierra. He was previously an investor at Primary Venture Partners, leading investments in companies such as Mirror and K Health. Prior to venture capital, he was an early employee at Gilt Groupe, helping scale the flash sale e-commerce company from product-market fit through the growth stage. Byron holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Economics from Case Western Reserve University.   More from Fitt Insider    Fitt Insider is a weekly newsletter and podcast about the business of fitness and wellness.    From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.    Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, Apple, Peloton, Goldman Sachs, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing.    Website:  http://insider.fitt.co

Today I’m joined by Byron Ling of Canaan Partners.  In this episode, we discuss Byron’s investments in companies like Mirror, Ro, Papa, and Uniform Teeth. His insights on building a consumer brand in the healthcare space. And what we should look out for as fitness, wellness, and healthcare converge.  About Byron  Byron is a Partner at Canaan focusing on consumer and digital health investing. His investments include Papa, Ro, Uniform Teeth, Kin Euphorics, and Bravo Sierra. He was previously an investor at Primary Venture Partners, leading investments in companies such as Mirror and K Health. Prior to venture capital, he was an early employee at Gilt Groupe, helping scale the flash sale e-commerce company from product-market fit through the growth stage. Byron holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Economics from Case Western Reserve University. More from Fitt Insider  Fitt Insider is a weekly newsletter and podcast about the business of fitness and wellness.  From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.  Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, Apple, Peloton, Goldman Sachs, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing.   Website:  <a href="http://insider.fitt.co/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://insider.fitt.co</a>

59: Byron Ling, Partner at Canaan

Thank you again Courtney Nelson for introducing me to our guest today, Byron Ling.Byron is a partner at Canaan. Canaan is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionaries with transformative ideas. Byron invests in consumer companies that are reinventing the way we shop, entertain and educate ourselves. Some of his investments include Roman, Papa, and Bravo Sierra. He was previously an investor at Primary Venture Partners and, prior to the venture world, was an early operator at Gilt Groupe. It was great chatting with Bryon about his diligence process and the effects COVID has on the early stage investing ecosystem, so without further ado, here's Byron.One book that inspired Byron personally is The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. One book that inspired him professionally is Who: The A Method to Hiring by Geoff Smart.You can follow Byron on both Twitter and Medium @byronling1. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter @mikegelb. You can also follow for episode announcements @consumervc.In this episode we discuss -What attracted him to early stage startups and consumer? After Gilt Groupe, what compelled him to head into venture capital? What’s his due diligence process at the seed and Series A? What are the milestones that an entrepreneur has to accomplish at each of those stages? What does he focus on the most at each stage - market size, traction, founding team, product-market fit, founder market fit?What are a few qualities in a founder that he looks for? **How does he think about early traction? How can a founder de-risk product market fit? Difference between opportunistic vs thematic investors, where does he sit on the spectrum?How is he thinking about coronavirus as it relates to consumer investing? Is he shifting strategy away/towards companies/verticals? Are you pausing investments in a particular space? Is he concerned about some current portfolio companies' ability to raise? How is he adjusting to new work protocols (remote working, etc) and if so, is that having an impact?What macro consumer trends is he focused on? What is one thing that he would change about venture capital? What’s one piece of advice for founders of consumer startups?

Thank you again Courtney Nelson for introducing me to our guest today, <a href="https://www.canaan.com/team/byron-ling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Byron Ling</a>. <a href="https://www.canaan.com/team/byron-ling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Byron</a> is a partner at <a href="https://www.canaan.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Canaan</a>. Canaan is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionaries with transformative ideas. Byron invests in consumer companies that are reinventing the way we shop, entertain and educate ourselves. Some of his investments include Roman, Papa, and Bravo Sierra. He was previously an investor at Primary Venture Partners and, prior to the venture world, was an early operator at Gilt Groupe. It was great chatting with Bryon about his diligence process and the effects COVID has on the early stage investing ecosystem, so without further ado, here's Byron.One book that inspired Byron personally is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307237702?camp=1789&amp;creativeASIN=0307237702&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=xm2&amp;tag=theconsumervc-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Audacity of Hope</a> by Barack Obama. One book that inspired him professionally is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EL6RWY?camp=1789&amp;creativeASIN=B001EL6RWY&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;linkCode=xm2&amp;tag=theconsumervc-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Who: The A Method to Hiring</a> by Geoff Smart.You can follow Byron on both Twitter and Medium @byronling1. You can also follow your host, Mike, on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeGelb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@mikegelb</a>. You can also follow for episode announcements <a href="https://twitter.com/ConsumerVc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@consumervc</a>.In this episode we discuss -<ol><li>What attracted him to early stage startups and consumer? After Gilt Groupe, what compelled him to head into venture capital? What’s his due diligence process at the seed and Series A? What are the milestones that an entrepreneur has to accomplish at each of those stages? What does he focus on the most at each stage - market size, traction, founding team, product-market fit, founder market fit?</li><li>What are a few qualities in a founder that he looks for? **How does he think about early traction? How can a founder de-risk product market fit? Difference between opportunistic vs thematic investors, where does he sit on the spectrum?</li><li>How is he thinking about coronavirus as it relates to consumer investing? Is he shifting strategy away/towards companies/verticals? Are you pausing investments in a particular space? Is he concerned about some current portfolio companies' ability to raise? How is he adjusting to new work protocols (remote working, etc) and if so, is that having an impact?</li><li>What macro consumer trends is he focused on? What is one thing that he would change about venture capital? What’s one piece of advice for founders of consumer startups?</li></ol>

Byron Ling (Canaan) - Analyzing Teams, Why It Might Be Harder to Raise a Series A vs. Seed during COVID, and Why Distribution is as Important as Product