Building a VC Firm to Last | Hussein Kanji from Hoxton Ventures

Understanding VC

In this episode you will learn:
[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:05:15] Building an Enduring Firm

[00:08:00] Challenges of Partnership Culture

[00:10:43] Personal Brand vs Firm Brand

[00:13:00] Succession Planning

[00:17:00] Long-Term Commitment

[00:19:00] LP Relationships

[00:20:55] Advantages of a Partnership

[00:21:37] Benefits of Scale

[00:21:52] Building a Great Firm and Naming

[00:23:00] Soft Aspects of Building a Firm

[00:24:59] Unifying Themes in Firms

[00:27:00] Progression in Venture Capital

[00:29:40] Motivation and Managing a Firm

[00:31:20] Understanding Carry

[00:35:00] Managing Long-Term Careers

[00:39:07] Carry Allocation

[00:42:45] Team Dynamics and Carry Distribution

[00:43:50] Inclusion of Back-Office in Incentives

[00:44:40] Building a Successful VC Firm

[00:45:56] Firm Evolution

[00:47:32] Transition to a Bigger Institution

[00:49:25] Challenges in Talent Retention

[00:53:00] Philosophical Differences and Firm Evolution

[00:57:00] Risks in VC Industry

[01:02:00] Solo GPs vs. Venture Firms

[01:04:38] Building a Healthy VC Firm
About

Hussein is a partner at Hoxton Ventures. He currently represents Hoxton on the boards of Avantia Law, Baseimmune, BeyondRisk, Biocortex, Biotx, DruidAI, Finesse, Fy!, Giraffe360, Kbox, Kitt, Luminary, Peptone, PillSorted, Raptor Supplies, Really Clever, Rensair, Replai, Replan, Skin Analytics, TourRadar and XYZ Reality, and serves as a board observer on Behavox and Karakuri. He previously served on the boards of Babylon Health (NYSE:BBLN), bd4travel (acquired by Dnata), Campanja (acquired by 24/7 Media), Darktrace (LSE:DARK), Deliveroo (LSE:ROO), Panakeia, SOCOS (acquired by Sophos), Yieldify (acquired by Publicis) and Vidya Health.

Hussein serves on the board of UCLB, the commercialization company of UCL and also sits on the advisory board of GTO Partners, a tech mid-market buyout firm, and Landscape, a venture capital review site. Previously he served on the board of Tech Nation, a UK quasi non-governmental organization. In a personal capacity, he is an angel investor in Apex:E3, Builder.ai, Callaly, GoCardless, Mellizyme, MyGlamm, Reachdesk and Signpost.

While forming Hoxton, he helped Eros STX Global develop ErosNow, an online streaming video platform for Bollywood. Prior to Hoxton, Hussein was an associate with Accel Partners. He joined Accel from Microsoft Corporation. Earlier in his career, he worked with three startups, Safe-View (acquired by L-3), Radiance Technologies (acquired by Comcast) and Studio Verso (acquired by KPMG).

Hussein holds an MBA from London Business School and did his undergraduate studies in Symbolic Systems at Stanford University.

He stubbornly refuses to swear allegiance to a monarch and remains a proud American.

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Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.