Three quarters of all venture-funded startups are in Silicon Valley, New York City or Boston (or within those cities’ states). Neglecting the talent, innovation and entrepreneurial energy in the remaining 47 states does not seem like the cleverest strategy. Thus, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest (ROTR) seed fund was born to address that oversight. Backed by an astounding list of investors,1 it tries to be different than typical VCs, by focusing on promising seed stage companies located outside of Silicon Valley, New York City and Boston.
David Hall, partner at Revolution‘s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund (ROTR) is responsible for investment sourcing, execution, and oversight for Revolution portfolio companies. He discusses why this has turned out to be a great strategy. Away from the coastal urban centers, costs are cheaper and talent is just waiting to be discovered.
His favorite books are here; transcript of our conversation will be posted here shortly.
You can stream/download the full conversation, including the podcast extras on iTunes, Bloomberg, Overcast, and Stitcher. Our earlier podcasts can all be found at iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast, and Bloomberg.
Next week, we speak with Francis Greenburger, real estate developer, literary agent, author, philanthropist and the founder of Time Equities, where he became known as “the co-op king of New York” for his specialty of converting prewar apartment buildings into occupant-owned residences. He is also the author of Risk Game: Self Portrait of an Entrepreneur.
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1. The list includes Jim Barksdale, Jeff Bezos, Tory Burch, Steve Case, Ray Dalio, John Doerr, Henry Kravis, Sean Parker, Eric Schmidt, and Meg Whitman, just to name just a few.
