Steve Schlafman
Principal at early-stage venture capital, RRE Ventures
Discussion
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
Hi! I'm Steve Schlafman, VC at NYC-based RRE Ventures. Over the last five years I've been involved in more than 200 financings ranging from Seed to Series B and a variety of sectors including marketplaces, healthcare, media, hardware and SAAS. Before I started investing I held a variety of Business Development, Strategy and Finance roles at Microsoft, The Kraft Group / The New England Patriots, Massive and Stickybits / Turntable.fm. Fire away!
upvotesharetweet・
Harry Stebbings
@harrystebbings · Podcast Host @ The Twenty Minute VC
@schlaf thanks so much for joining us today, I would love to hear how you have gone about building such a successful personal brand in a relatively short space of time? What have been the most successful channels and tactics? Anything that has surprised you in the personal branding space? Always welcome on @twentyminutevc big fans of yours here!
Sumeet Shah
@pe_feeds · Principal, Brand Foundry Ventures
@harrystebbings @schlaf @twentyminutevc As someone who's been on 20MinVC, I endorse this, as do a few other awesome VCs we both know, Schlaf!
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@harrystebbings @twentyminutevc I've been building my personal brand for 15+ years. These things don't happen overnight. I generally believe it's best to treat everyone with respect, share useful information, don't spam too much, and keep an open mind. I also try to test different mediums and not just twitter. I really wish I blogged more but I'm a bit self conscious believe it or not. I think you just need to be real and use the mediums that play to your strengths. That's what I've tried to do. I've found that I can't be someone other than myself. My dad always used to tell me that it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a second to destroy it.
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@jordan_gonen If I could go back to college I'd get a dual degree in computer science and health administration.
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@jordan_gonen I'd get a dual degree in computer science and health administration.
Jeremy Levenson
@jeremy_levenson · EverTrue, Customer Support Engineer
Any advice/skills for young professionals recently out of college looking to make themselves more marketable to early stage companies who are generally hiring employees with more experience?
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@jeremy_levenson Hey buddy. Good to hear from you. Here's the advice that I give to college students and folks that are just starting their careers:
Curious: always ask why does do things work the way they do.
Ethical: treat everyone the same and don't cut corners.
Consistent: always give the same effort in everything you do.
Work Hard: put in the time. Work an extra hour each day. Show up early. Go home late.
Take initiative: go above and beyond what is asked in the role.
Jeremy Levenson
@jeremy_levenson · EverTrue, Customer Support Engineer
thanks @schlaf. nice to hear from you too.
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
Hi Steve, what are three things every new founder should concentrate on?
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@ems_hodge your customer, your initial product, how you measure success. Out of the gate nothing matters more IMHO.
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
What has been the biggest challenge of your career to date? How did you overcome this?
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@ems_hodge The biggest challenge of my career was when I decided to leave Turntable (a.k.a. Stickybits) right as the product was launching. I really loved the team, which is why I joined, but I really disliked the online music business. I didn't have a job lined up so it was the first time in my life that I was unemployed. I ultimately decided that being without a job was the right decision because I wasn't happy and excited about being in the music business. It just wasn't right for me. I overcame being unemployed by making sure that I was treating it like a full time job. I set up dozens and dozens of informational meetings with founders and execs at companies of all stages. I also got advice from friends that were in the VC business. I also offered to help as many people as I could for nothing in return. When a great opportunity came up at Lerer Ventures, I was in a good position to take advantage of it. Thankfully I was extremely patient throughout the three months I was unemployed.
Jake Crump
@jakecrump · Community Team with Product Hunt
What's something you've changed your mind about in the last year?
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@jakecrump that's a really great question. For a long time, I believed that apps could solve just about every problem. The more time I dig into healthcare and some other verticals, I now believe that the brick and mortar is still really important because human touch and face to face interaction is really important for the soul.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
Hey Steve!
What are some of your favourite questions to ask founders?
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@bentossell Here are some of my favorite questions:
1. What was the impetus for starting this business?
2. Why are you devoting the next 10 years of your life to this company / problem?
3. What is the unique insight that led to the creation of this business?
4. How does your company make the world a better place?
5. What are some books or blog posts related to your opportunity that I should read?
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What are your thoughts on how people are talking about all the current investments in tech startups is essentially dead money? People wont get their money out and then some unless there are exits or acquisitions and these are not happening at a speed where it looks super attractive to be investing in these startups. Theres obvious exceptions but it seems that some founders seem to ignore the fact that its not unreasonable for investors to expect a return on investment in 3, 5 or 10 years.
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@bentossell I certainly don't think my investments are now "dead money." I try to focus on the things that are front and center and will help the company get to the next stage. In this business it's important to maintain a long term perspective even though board meetings are every three months. Any time I make an investment and take a board seat, I recognize that I'm signing up for a 5-10 year relationship. That's why I strongly believe that most founders shouldn't just rush their process and only optimize for the terms. Instead, they should try to get to know the investor and the firm to see if there can be long term alignment even things don't go as planned which is more often than not.
Alex Stein
@alexbstein
Hey Steve, is there a market you're particularly interested in at the moment?
M
Steve Schlafman
@schlaf · vc at rre ventures
@alexbstein I'm digging into a number of markets at the moment. Here are some of them:
Mobile live streaming.
Intersection of biology and technology.
Autonomous vehicles.
Healthcare.