Listen "Vedant Suri from General Catalyst"
Episode Synopsis
Vedant Suri is an Investor at General Catalyst.
General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage and growth-stage companies. The firm has offices in the United States and Europe and has been involved in funding and nurturing several high-profile companies. Some notable companies in their portfolio include Airbnb, Stripe, and Snap.
Vedant has a really interesting background working at startups, Goldman Sach's TMT team, BCG and CapitalG.
Takeaways
Invest in companies with ambitious founders who are domain experts in their respective fields.
Focus on both the infrastructure layer and the application layer of technology.
Explore spaces like observability, industrial software, vertical AI, and HR software.
Consider founder market fit and founder product market fit in investment decisions.
Transitioning from consulting to growth-stage investing.
Mentorship is valuable in learning the ropes and navigating VC.
Be character-consistent and run your own race as an investor.
Develop a mix of inbound and outbound deal flow by building sector expertise.
Have a prepared mind when evaluating opportunities and understand the market, product needs, and potential risks.
Tastemakers are influential individuals in the ecosystem who can provide valuable insights and connections.
Great board members are engaged, prepared, and provide steady guidance during crucial moments.
The Canadian tech ecosystem has exceptional founders but could benefit from dreaming bigger.
Chapters
00:00 Working at Earlier Stage Tech Companies
05:09 The Importance of Founder-Market Fit
07:22 Skills Learned in Investment Banking and Consulting
12:07 Qualities of a Great Board Member
15:04 Dreaming Big in the Canadian Tech Ecosystem
43:58 Journey of an Entrepreneur
Keywords
investing, ambitious founders, domain experts, infrastructure layer, application layer, observability, industrial software, vertical AI, HR software, founder market fit, founder product market fit, growth stage investing, mentorship, character consistency, deal flow, prepared mind, tastemakers, board work, Canadian tech ecosystem, standing out
General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage and growth-stage companies. The firm has offices in the United States and Europe and has been involved in funding and nurturing several high-profile companies. Some notable companies in their portfolio include Airbnb, Stripe, and Snap.
Vedant has a really interesting background working at startups, Goldman Sach's TMT team, BCG and CapitalG.
Takeaways
Invest in companies with ambitious founders who are domain experts in their respective fields.
Focus on both the infrastructure layer and the application layer of technology.
Explore spaces like observability, industrial software, vertical AI, and HR software.
Consider founder market fit and founder product market fit in investment decisions.
Transitioning from consulting to growth-stage investing.
Mentorship is valuable in learning the ropes and navigating VC.
Be character-consistent and run your own race as an investor.
Develop a mix of inbound and outbound deal flow by building sector expertise.
Have a prepared mind when evaluating opportunities and understand the market, product needs, and potential risks.
Tastemakers are influential individuals in the ecosystem who can provide valuable insights and connections.
Great board members are engaged, prepared, and provide steady guidance during crucial moments.
The Canadian tech ecosystem has exceptional founders but could benefit from dreaming bigger.
Chapters
00:00 Working at Earlier Stage Tech Companies
05:09 The Importance of Founder-Market Fit
07:22 Skills Learned in Investment Banking and Consulting
12:07 Qualities of a Great Board Member
15:04 Dreaming Big in the Canadian Tech Ecosystem
43:58 Journey of an Entrepreneur
Keywords
investing, ambitious founders, domain experts, infrastructure layer, application layer, observability, industrial software, vertical AI, HR software, founder market fit, founder product market fit, growth stage investing, mentorship, character consistency, deal flow, prepared mind, tastemakers, board work, Canadian tech ecosystem, standing out
More episodes of the podcast The Hard Part with Evan McCann
Robert Farlow from Plato
11/12/2025
Brent Lane from BigGeo
25/11/2025
Ignacio Tartavull from Pinkbot
21/11/2025
Ben Vinegar from Modem
10/11/2025
Justin Sky from Rose Rocket
29/10/2025
Elan Lee from Exploding Kittens
27/10/2025
Ahmed Nimale from KYD Labs
22/10/2025
Doug Roseborough
21/10/2025
Tamer Shahin and Jerry Chen from Hiro
17/10/2025
Cameron Conn from Champlain
14/10/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.