Emerging Capital: The New Light Ventures Podcast

Shawn Merani: Founder & Managing Director at Parade Ventures

• Pablo Castro • Season 1 • Episode 5

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Shawn Merani is the Founder and Managing Partner of Parade Ventures, a pre-seed & seed stage-focused venture capital firm.

Previously, Shawn was a co-founder and partner at Flight Ventures, investing in early stage software, internet and mobile companies across a variety of sectors. Additionally, he has invested in select later stage companies. Shawn’s investments include Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever), Sapho (acquired by Citrix), Moveworks, Trusted Health, Clubhouse, Side, Plastiq, Jumpcloud and others.

As an operator, Shawn was a founding partner of Liquidnet’s Private Shares marketplace, which enabled over 750 of the world’s leading asset managers to invest in high-growth, pre-IPO companies. He grew the marketplace to $150MM+ GMV in the first two years. Prior to Liquidnet, Shawn was Senior Director of Business Development at ReachLocal. Shawn has a BA in Economics and a BS in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Shawn enjoys spending time with his family, riding his Peloton, winning at fantasy sports and supporting the Cal Bears.

Pablo Castro:

Welcome to the New Light Ventures podcast, the definitive guide to navigate the venture capital landscape. I'm your host, Pablo Castro, and every week we dive deep into stories, strategies and successes of emerging vc managers, whether they're navigating their first fund in the midst of growing their second or successfully running their third. In this podcast, you'll gain exclusive insights from the front lines of fundraising, management and innovation. Whether you're an aspiring manager, Anhejdehe, experienced investor, or just curious of the world of venture capital, you've come to the right place. Join us as we explore the trials and triumphs of those shaping the future of investment. From in depth interviews with industry leaders to practical tips for our own venture journey, we're here to provide you with knowledge and inspiration you need to succeed. So subscribe now, share your thoughts and let's embark on this journey together. Welcome to the New Light Ventures podcast, where capital meets innovation. Let's dive in. Hi everyone. Thank you for joining the new Light Ventures podcast. Today we have an amazing guest that I've been looking forward to having for a while. Sean Morani, founder, imagine, partner at Parade Ventures, a t state venture fund that invests in enterprise themed companies. Sean, welcome to the show.

Shawn Morani:

Pablo, thanks for having me. Thanks for reaching out.

Pablo Castro:

No, I appreciate your time. And, and first of all, just so people from our community get acquainted with what you do, let us know what is priority ventures, what type of fund, a side of the fund, and your thesis.

Shawn Morani:

Yeah, so we kind of built on three things. Number one, we do a lot of work before investing and after investing. And so given that model, we do about four to eight deals a year, target around 10% ownership, we run a concentrated portfolio, we don't make too many investments in a year in a more traditional venture. From that perspective, we're investing out of a $40 million fund. So we just want to be one of your two first partners for co leading, or if we're the only lead, that's dictated by the kind of ownership that we have. You mentioned another one, we're enterprise themed. So we like companies that sell b two b, high margins, repeatable sales models. That's like the majority of companies we invest in. And that is kind of our background on our team we have operating in our DNA. And then everything that I've done from an operational perspective has been b two b. So we like to kind of help in that perspective. And then the third thing is we have about 40 advisors that are part of our carry structure and our most LP's and our fund and ask of them for their time to go deep in certain areas with our founders. And so it's kind of more ties into that value add and help. And so, yeah, to your other, you know, $40 million fund, we'll have about 20 companies in that fund, 20 core companies where we own around ten plus percent owners. Ownership. We have a one to one reserve ratio, so, you know, we participate through, usually through Series A, if not further, and we have other vehicles where we can also buy up ownership and, you know, be a long term partner for companies that we work with.

Pablo Castro:

Perfect. Perfect. One of the things that I have found super interesting about parading what you're doing specifically is that you, as a, well, as a fund, you guys focus on being a value add to the founders, and that's, like, one of the core things that you guys have been focusing on. I believe I heard that you mentioned that is one of the main reasons why you guys invest in maybe not as many companies as maybe other funds.

Shawn Morani:

It might not be a reason. Like we, you know, we can invest in. Sometimes we invest in four years, sometimes it's eight. We're flexible to go higher. But, you know, as mentioned, we do a lot of diligence and work before investing less around. Like, hey, do you have customers? And how's your tech built? But also just spending time with founders and say, can we build a good partnership? It's a long term relationship, and so we want to spend time on the qualitative condition, like the quantitative and the work that you do before investing. And so that's really important to us. And so, you know, if you're closing up around in two weeks and you're looking for people to fill it, like, it's just probably not a fit for us. And so we just have a different, you know, we just operate differently from that perspective. You know, that just brings a lot of, like, fulfillment to us on the team. And, I mean, like, if you see a venture capital fund deck, they all say value add. So I don't want to say that we are different than anyone else, but I'd like to say that if you call our founders, you know, they really love and respect us, and, you know, we're, we are that. We are that first call, and they're happy they took their, our money, and usually they're, you know, they're happy they took our money. So they want to take more of our money in the future for when we want to do our pro rata or do more. Right? So it's kind, it works both from a relationship perspective, but also from a business execution perspective on what our objectives are in running our fund. So we just try to, we want to be their top investor, and it's not to better than everyone else. It's to be, like, unique to who we are. And that's kind of, we want them to be comfortable with us. We want them to be their best friend and their best business partner at the same time.

Pablo Castro:

Perfect. No. Perfect. And I know that you have a very unique story into venture. One of the things I've heard you say before is your story is probably the least repeatable story of how to get into venture capital. Could you mention that a little for our community? What was the background there?

Shawn Morani:

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if that's true or not. Look, everyone, you know that people are getting into venture like, you know, younger and younger ages. I just think, you know, historically, especially if you joined a big fund, you usually, you know, came from an operator DNA or had some of that experience, and, or you could have been in venture for. Into your entire career. But if you do that, you better have done a good deal at some point and have been in the game long enough to have some yield from, you know, your investments, because the cycle of getting feedback is very long, and to figure out, actually, if you're good at this business. And so a lot of people are not comfortable with that. And then you go to a venture fund, and again, you invest. You do well, and then they promote you. Right? And when I got in, I had built a marketplace for investing. Right before our first quote unquote fund, I teamed up with a friend of mine, Gil Pencina, who was an active angel investor. And we saw the opportunity to build the biggest set of syndicates on Angellist. We did that in 2014, and a lot of people thought were insane, and. But we just had conviction because of what I, Gil had been angel investor in the company. We both knew Naval and I had built a marketplace, and so we had perspective on why we thought it was going to be an important part of the ecosystem. And so we made that bet to raise money from individuals and family offices. And obviously, as you talk to emerging managers, when you're starting your first fund, that's usually your lp base. So it's kind of not that dissimilar. And so what that enabled us to do is just like, what I tell any young venture investor is like, how do you build? You got to build track record to do that. You got to have got to do deals and depending on how, it's different if you're at a smaller seed stage fund or a bigger platform on how to get deals done. But I think it's important for young people to figure out how to do that so they can start getting that feedback faster and build a track record. I was lucky enough, I'd been advising and investing small checks in companies before working together with Gil and starting flight BC. But I was never scared to write a check. And so we had a pretty balanced partnership that if we had conviction and just kind of loosely convinced the other person of why it was a good deal, we would move forward, and that enables us to move fast, and we had a lot of success with it. I think, you know, that. That really helped me propel, you know, take that track record and take it over to parade when we. When I decided to do that. And so that's. That's. That was helpful. So, you know, thankful to Gil for doing that for me.

Pablo Castro:

How did you create thesis for parade? As I feel that a thesis is usually ongoing, you're usually perfecting it. Perfecting, perfecting it. And on the various funds you've had, I believe this is your fun, too, right? If I'm a, am I correct?

Shawn Morani:

We have, like, three big fund vehicles, but, yeah, we're investing out of our second core fund right now.

Pablo Castro:

How did you keep evolving that thesis? How did that come about?

Shawn Morani:

I learned a lot about venture, you know, when I was investing other people's money with my old partner Gil, and I learned that I would like working closely with founding teams, and I'd often get the feedback. It's like, hey, you're not. You don't. You know, you don't. You're trying to actually move the needle for our companies. And every company is different. That could be with sales, product, fundraising, whatever it is, you know, and everyone's unique and wants. Wants help from their investors in different ways. And so I'd roll up my sleeves and try to help them. And I thought just because, you know, were using that model and because we wanted to be that first call, even kind of if were the third or fourth largest check, and that kind of work made more sense in a concentrated model, number one. And that's kind of the work a traditional venture investor will do if they're running that model number one. Number two is, you know, I started spending most of my time investing in b two b companies, and I don't think it's a surprise, because that's where I came from. Also had some success doing some consumer, but I thought it made sense to have some focus and being known for something. We sometimes do some consumer stuff out of our fund, but it usually has some b two b application in their vision. But the majority, 80 90% of what we do has a b two b sales motion. That was already what I started investing in with flight vc and was having most success in and then just bringing it together. We were there so early in a lot of these companies that if you're there and you are right, ownership drives returns and so it kind of brings it all together. And so that was just observations that I had made both on looking at my track record and style and what I wanted to build and aspire to be in the ecosystem and honestly what was missing and what I thought there was room for in the ecosystem. And so to show why, hey, why someone would take my money, ultimately that goes into raising capital from LP's. They want to know why are you going to get picked, why are you going to see the deal, why are they going to pick you? Then of course you have to be right. But we need to prove out those first things first. I thought that's what the market was missing. Rather than being like, hey, I'm just a guy and I'm trying to invest money. There's more of a strategy around it that I thought would sell on the market.

Pablo Castro:

I think for a lot of people on the outside, leading a syndicate and leading a fund, some think that there's that is very similar. And what was your experience being a first time manager? What were some unexpected hurdles when you were raising parade?

Shawn Morani:

I don't know, man. Everything's hard. Raising a bunch of spvs is hard because you're always raising, you have to follow up with people. Raising a fund is also hard. Like you're always like your first fund, it takes a long time, usually, unless you like, there are anomalies. But most people are raising for a year. That doesn't even count the pre marketing, getting stuff together. It takes a long time. And then for fun, two, you'd spent so much time raising fund one and you started investing it while you're raising that fund, two comes before you know it. So I don't know, I kind of feel like I've been fundraising for my entire ten years of being a venture investor and I think only now is it becoming a little easier. But anything worth anything takes, everything takes work. So I think we just have that perspective. It's different from SPV, but we've done spvs with parade too. So I feel like it's a unique set of skills that we kind of know better than most, and we know how to run them with our LP's and get them to say yes faster and convert over and show them the opportunities that they want. And so I think it's just another unlock for us. But, yeah, I mean, I don't know. I don't know. It's just. I'm just used to working hard. Like, there aren't. It should be hard to be a venture investor, and it is hard, and it takes a lot of determination. And so I've always kind of had that mentality from flight BC with Gil.

Pablo Castro:

And moving that forward and on the side of the determination. While I was trying to focus on raising my first fund, one of the things that I was surprised about Washington, the amount of no's and no responses you get, which are, I think, amazing, just amazing. How much. What were things you would use to do to maybe get back in the zone? Just have another day of calls for fundraising? What are things that are, like, your safe place or things to do that to get you back in that mindset?

Shawn Morani:

I mean, I don't know. I think over time, I've just taught myself to become a salesperson. Right? Like, I'm not. That is not my background. Like, I did some BD and corp dev, but I think realizing that any, like, executive CEO, you are a fund manager, you have to become the best salesperson or a really good salesperson. And so I think just changing a mentality that you got to keep going, you know, I would say, like, hey, I wasn't scared to ask anyone for money. Like, that makes people really uncomfortable, and you just got to make the ask. I think just over time, you know, got better at, you know, asking the hard questions to get the no faster or qualifying any introduction or perspective lp faster so that weren't wasting time. I probably wasted a lot more time in the beginning, I don't know, motivating. Like, look, I think you got it. Some days you're not feeling it, so it's okay. Like, don't do it. Like, it's. It's cool, right? But, I mean, you have to have that persistence and determination. You have to, like, pull it forward, and you have to constantly, like, add to. I mean, it's the same stuff that I tell my enterprise companies, like, you gotta. You know how in sales, you gotta add the pipeline, you gotta increase your conversion. You know, you gotta know. Part of that's like, how do you increase conversion while you're only letting, like, highly qualified leads or more qualified leads into the pipeline. Right? And, like, how do you do that more effectively? Right. So it's that same kind of mentality, that we need to take over. And so, But, like, yeah, I mean, if you just kind of get lazy and stop adding, like, nothing's going to move and you keep batting, you know, knocking at the same doors and they're like, they'll be like, dude, I said no to you. Like, or maybe I didn't. Maybe I ignored you, or, like, I was too scared to say no to you, but, like, read between the lines where you have to have that EQ to figure that out. Like, I think I did a pretty good job of that early on, but, like, you know, I'm definitely follow up with people and it's like, if a fun. If an LP has not invested in a. I'm a solo GP. If they have not invested in a solo GP run fund before, like, you're probably not going to be the first, you know.

Pablo Castro:

Yes.

Shawn Morani:

So, like, why are you wasting. I mean, this is just one example. Like, why are you wasting your time following up meeting that person? And we did that with a couple of people, and it was just. It's just like, now I'm at the point where I don't try to. I try to waste less time. I don't have as much time to waste. And so just taking that mentality, be more efficient about it.

Pablo Castro:

On the side of differentiation, there's maybe a lot of b, two b enterprise funds and maybe not when you were raising parade, but what were things you were talking about with your LP's to. To show the differentiation you have as a solo gp?

Shawn Morani:

I mean, I think at that time, like, doing pre seed and kind of in the way were doing it, I don't think there were as many. You know, it was before, like, everyone and their mother was raising a fund. So I think, like, that was important. I think, too, is like, I had track record and some of the companies we had invested in were doing really well, you know, so that and full attribution, call the founder. Like, they're on my reference list. And, you know, there was a story that I could connect to say, hey, it worked before. It's going to work here. And if I had this capital, we'll be able to drive significant returns that are going to be. It'll be a high returning potential fund. And so there was a story there to be told and then just like, it was just like, finding the pieces that made it cohesive. So it was talking to a lot of friends that had raised emerging manager for first and second time funds before that had been in the market, that had been successful and success is defined. Some had raised in three to six months, some had raised in a year, but successful in my mind is being in business, in this business. And so just getting their perspective and saying, hey, just look at my deck. And these are people that I'd known for a long time at that point in time, and now I've known them even longer. I was just really lucky to have a lot of people in my small part of my ecosystem and network that were willing to spend time with me and give me really critical feedback because they wanted me to succeed. So that kind of helped.

Pablo Castro:

Building and maintaining relationships, one of the things that I've seen with different managers is a lot of times networking is very serendipitous in the sense that maybe the relationship you have today or someone you meet today will maybe not invest in you today, but may invest in you in three years and five years or in a month. How do you maintain relationships with LP's that say no and keep them up to date for later on? Because they might, it just might not be the right time or they might not have that amount of money disposable?

Shawn Morani:

It's a hard question. I used to like maintain relationships and follow up all the time. Some people do like mass updates and they're like, add me to your update. Like, I don't do an update, I just don't punish. I just don't think the yield is going to be what I want to. I think it's really hard to know, like in a given year if an LP is going to be active or not. So like a lot, oftentimes they pass and it's like, it's not about you. Because they still want the option to build a relationship. It could be that they're over allocated, it could be that, you know, they have, if they're an endowment or foundation, they have a new CIO that has a different direction. It could be if they're at a family office, you know, the person that's managing it says, no more venture, we're moving out of venture. You just have to find the right LP at the right time. So I often think like, you need to refresh your data when you're coming back and it is jumping on the phone with somebody every three to six months in hopes that they are active at that time. I don't know. I just don't know if that's a good use of time. But everyone does it in different ways. And it's a long term business and a long term relationship, but usually a couple, two to three times a year, I go to events where there are a lot of LP's, and so they're not all. At all of these events, but enough where, you know, you can say hi, they see your name on the sheet, right? And that's like, also like a form of engagement where you don't have to, like being at the right places and the right things, you know, that you get invited to. Like, that can also help. So that when the time does come in your fundraising, you know, they have some familiarity with, you know, the firm and the partners at the firm and the employees at the firm. I don't know. I don't know. I don't. I don't know if there's a right answer, man. It's. It's an art more than a science. As much as you want to, like, make it, like a sales process, there I.

Pablo Castro:

From the call I've had, I don't think there's a right answer. Just, I think every process, every person, every manager, every firm is so different that I think it's just so family.

Shawn Morani:

Offices, they're so crazily different. Like, they all. Some get ventures, some don't do, some don't. Some haven't done ventures. Some want to do ventures, some, like, have always said they wanted to do venture, right? Some are run by one person, some are run by the person that made the money. Some are bigger than others. Like, there's so many variables. Like, good luck applying one framework to all of them. And that can be said, to an extent for, like, also, like, institutions, you know? So it's just hard, man.

Pablo Castro:

Do you have a minimum of calls you try to have? Maybe in the year? I think one of the things we see in the ecosystem is that manager, they say they're always fundraising. Even when you're not fundraising, you're fundraising because you'll be thinking about your next fund. Is there minimum amount of calls you.

Shawn Morani:

Or something do it? Like, but as I get closer and closer to the next fund, we'll probably start ramping it and I'll put some time into. But, like, I honestly, I like there's some folks that, like, I've talked to over the years, I'm like, they're just never going to invest in us, right? Like, less about the two. It's just like, we just are not on the same page or like, you know, there's. It's a partnership, just like I said about the company. It's like the same thing about the LP's, right? So it's like, I want people that, like, share the same values and, like, are going to be really aligned with us. And so, you know, I think, yeah, you want to find good partners because you want people that'll be there through thick and thin. That'll join your El Pac, right? That will be there, you know, just like I want to be the first call if I need some advice from them in a pinch, you know, that they'll be there, you know? You know, we have a, one of our newer LP's. This is an old friend of mine, Raja Dodala, at Churchill. Raja, I'm giving you a shout out. You gave me one the other day. And he's just like a dear friend of mine that I've known forever, and he started a. He joined and started this, or started running this fund of funds for and does early fund investing and or seed in venture capital. And he's just like someone I trust. No B's. Like, we can have an honest conversation whenever, and that goes both ways. Like, he can call me and I can call him, and he's not. He's one of many. Like, we have many lP's family, office, lP's funda funds that we can jump on the phone. Phone with. And, like, that's partnership, you know, and they want to be, they've been in multiple funds and they want to continue to invest in us going forward. And that's the attitude. And so we. I want more of those, right? Like, so I think, like, double downing and spending more time with the people that want to spend time with you. And, like, I think that's an important framework to take in all of your relationships in life. May it be friends, you know, lP's, CEO's, you know, other. Their VC's, right? Just like, lean into people that want to lean into you. You know, make that fruitful. You know, if you don't, like, if you don't get along or your investment, even if you're cool and you're good friends but your investment philosophies don't align, then you probably shouldn't do, like, a catch up call. It's like, you know, there's no. It's okay, right? Like, everyone has different perspectives and objectives. So, like, I think as you get older, you just, like, have to manage your time more efficiently and so I kind of take these, like, similar philosophical frameworks that you're asking. You're asking about an LP thing, but applying it to all aspects of life.

Pablo Castro:

For sure. No, for sure. For sure. And on the side of the deals, I think certain things a good manager does is, of course, get enough deals, enough deal flow, but then picking the right deals, are there recommendations you would have for a new manager that maybe is getting enough deals but wants to really pick the best deals for his or her fund?

Shawn Morani:

I mean, that's the million dollar question. If everyone knew, like, who was going to pick the best deals, they'd give them all the money, right? Like, I think you got to show that you have process on how you make deals, right? Like, if you are relatively unknown, people are, like, trusting you with their capital, so they want to see, hey, like, what do you do? What is your process? How do you evaluate these deals? If you go and, oh, I just meet people in 30 minutes, I got a YZ demo day and I stroke a check. Like, sounds like playing the lottery. And like, this is a high risk, high reward business. And so I think just having, like, a programmatic or kind of a well thought out way and framework of how you evaluate your deals is important. But like, I tell, you know, the lP's love to ask, like, where are you getting your deals? How many deals do you see? And I actually think it's the wrong question. I think it's like, who are you picking? And are you a good picker? Like, if I see, if I tell you I do, probably I do four day deals a year and I see one deal a month, right? And I'm pretend, right? But it's every month. It is a sick deal and it gets funded and I do one of those three deals and I just do four deals a year, right? So I do one of those three, like, and they're all killer deals and they raise more money and, like, they become billion dollar companies or one out of four of them become billion dollar. Like, doesn't matter how many deals I see. I mean, that's not me. I don't only see one deal a month, but you know what I mean? Like, I know what you mean, for sure. Quality. Quality over quantity is the right, I think is the right way to think about it. But it's really hard. As from an LP side is like, how can you measure quality, right? I mean, you can only measure quality by output, by yield, by the returns, by follow on. And that takes so many years in ventures, so it's like, it's an easy job for them to look at the numbers, but it's also really hard at times. Right. Because you have to. And that's why it goes back to the track record thing, you know, it's not. That's why. Right. Because it's a big trust factor. Because there are elements of, like, playing, you know, playing the lottery with seed and pre seed investing. Cause you're investing in nothing. You're investing in these people with an idea. It's like, it's insane, actually.

Pablo Castro:

Were there any companies, and you don't have to give specific names, but any companies that you are not really excited about the investment, but the investment really turned into an incredible return. Has that happened to you?

Shawn Morani:

If I'm not excited about the investment, I'm not doing the deal.

Pablo Castro:

Dude, you're not doing it for sure.

Shawn Morani:

No, no. So, like, I gotta be stoked on it. I gotta be waking up the next wanting to do the work. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not not doing the deal if I'm not excited about it. So, yeah, I mean, sometimes it will get far along and be like, hey, you know, you need a raise from another partner. We're not gonna do the whole round. And I can be excited, and then something can change my excitement and then we might change our mind. Right. So. But, like, usually, you know, pretty early if you're going to do a deal or really interested in it, right. And then, like, you can always look for diligence and whatnot to, like, feed data into your story to say yes. So, like, you know, ultimately it's like everyone's like, yeah, it's all an opinion, so. But, like, you know, we get paid to make decisions. We don't get paid to deploy capital per se. So, like, sometimes I get shared companies by my other friends that are going to do the deal and they're reputable seed funds, or I look at a deal and there I find out later that another great fund did the deal. But, like, that's not what I get paid for. I get paid for my decision making. Our frameworks of evaluating and kind of ultimately picking the best deals that we see in having a special, you know, unique point of view of why they're going to be successful. And so we need to stick to remember that. Right. It's like, not in the deploying capital business. Like, I could deploy capital and say, hey, I did this deal with this firm and tell them a great story about it and why it's going to be awesome. But, like, you know, there's so much randomness and so they pay us for our conviction.

Pablo Castro:

Wow, that is so powerful. And this is the first time I've heard this. I think, just think from just talking to so many managers here in different podcasts that, yeah, so true. In the end, you get paid by the decisions you make. It's not by if you're going to deploy the capital, not by the amount of capital.

Shawn Morani:

I can call up ten venture firms right now and be like, hey, what are you looking at? Is there any room? They're like, yeah, we're looking at this. There's room. If I'm like, I don't understand that. I don't get it. Like, I could do the deal and say, hey, I did this deal with uncork or home brew, these are all friends. And just say, like, yeah, doing this deal with them or whatever. Like, and like, and then I could tell my investors that, and they'll be like, oh, you did a deal with them. That's awesome. And why do you like it? And I'll be like, I like it for all these reasons, but, like, in my heart of hearts, I gotta want to do the deal. You know what I mean? Not just. Not for those reasons, right? For the store. Like, I'm not doing it for the story. I'm trying to do it to make money. Like, I'm trying to do it for sure. Money for my lP's, you know. So.

Pablo Castro:

How do you stay updated on market trends? I feel that things are changing so fast with technology, especially now with AI. I think it's just insane. Are there specific things you do to just stay updated? Things you read? The amount of time you take during the week to do certain things?

Shawn Morani:

I don't like having a program. I would say it was more programmatic back in the day. It was more pragmatic back in the day. Hold on, my daughter just walked in. No worries. No, I'll check it out later. It's summer break.

Pablo Castro:

Amazing.

Shawn Morani:

I mean, I used to read certain newsletters. I'd have RSS feed. I'd look at Twitter. I'd say it's. I don't know, it's all over those things now. It's less, like, programmatic that I have to read stuff, but I still get the same newsletters I jump on Twitter. Twitter, you know, I mean, but I'd say, you know, talking to people, what are they looking at? Like, you know, I have. I have a lot of set meetings, you know, with folks. And then, like. And then, like, you know, we, like I said, we go to, like, a few of these events, you know, a couple of quarter, right? And that's what we talk about, right. It's like there might be some speakers or people on stage, and they're talking about these current trends or how. What they're investing in, what they're looking at. And then I think also just by talking to companies, you know, like, every week, right, like, you're seeing trends and change, obviously, everyone seeing a lot in AI, all that stuff, right. And then learning their perspectives on it, you know, I think that's how I learn now more. So I did. I do miss those days where, like, everyone was writing blogs, and you'd go read those blogs and, like, you know, not every news outlet, not everyone has a firewall, right? So it's like, do I subscribe to everything? Do I not subscribe to anything? It's just, like, so much information out there. A lot of the information is duplicative. So I don't know. It's. For me, it's become a little harder to consume content. Twitter, like, all my friends that used to be. I used to love reading on Twitter, don't ask post as much on Twitter anymore. So I don't know, man. It's just changed a lot.

Pablo Castro:

Yeah. I think it's just so crazy how maybe, like, a year and a half ago, you could really get a lot of information on Twitter. Maybe, like, three years ago now, I feel a lot of people are getting on LinkedIn and just, I mean, LinkedIn's.

Shawn Morani:

A great place now. Yeah, you can do it there. But a lot of people, like, posting on Twitter, right? They're, like, 26 years old, and they graduated college four years ago, and they're trying to, like, amass a follow and become, like, venture investors, which is totally cool. It's like, very. I'm the old guy now, dude. That's very different from, like. But, like, I'm like, what the heck does a 26 year old that graduated from college four years ago in, you know, wherever? I don't know. What do they know? I didn't know shit when I was 26 years old. So, like, anyway, maybe they're smarter than me. I don't know, man. But, like, that's a lot of people that I get surfaced because they notice that I'm in adventure. And so that's, like, Twitter, which is just different, man. It's just different than what it was talking about.

Pablo Castro:

Maybe resources that have influenced your life are there any specific books that have transformed you, have helped you, that have been a big influence for you?

Shawn Morani:

One book that I really enjoyed was when I was in business school, was a book that everyone thought was pretty stupid. It was influenced by, you know, Robert Cialdini. Cialdini. I think that book is great. It's about like the soft and qualitative skills and why they're important. Like really EQ related. I think that's a great book. I mean, venture books, like venture deals, lean startup are always like, you know, those old school books by some folks that are great in that business. But I don't really read business books anymore. It's like I feel like all of them have similar lessons. So I try, I'll go through really fast or something like that. But like, you know, I used to and I grew up in this industry, like in the, when I go in a really, like in the mid two thousands and end of the two thousands and like that's when like everyone, like Mark Sister and Brad Feld and Fred Wilson, they're all blogging, dude. So it's like there's so much content, like, but like what is a, what does a book, what does it matter, right? It's like you're reading all their blog posts and like that's where you're getting your content that people would now look for in books. Or I just teach a class at UC Berkeley around financing your business. And I like tell them, go back and like read all these blog posts by the same guys. They're all out there, right? They're still very relevant. Like that's how you can get, there's so much content. You just go read it all. So, but like, you know, now it's like sent out in a different way than it was back then.

Pablo Castro:

Oh, yeah. I missed those old Brad felt posts. Honestly. I don't know why. He just, I think he posts now like maybe once a year. But they are amazing. If you go back just to how he was thinking about things.

Shawn Morani:

Totally.

Pablo Castro:

What advice would you give to your younger self knowing what you know now? A lot more wiser. Sean?

Shawn Morani:

I don't know, man. I don't have any regrets. Don't live life with regrets. I don't know. I'm not going to go back and redo it. Like, there's too many variables in life. Like to get hung up on stuff like that. Like just very fortunate to be in the position I am now. Certain things you can't control. There's certain things you can't control. Like, you can't control the macro environment. You can't. Like, I graduated from undergrad in zero two and business school in zero nine. Those are the two worst years in the past 30 years to graduate. What can I do about that, man? Like, you can't fight the macro, right? But, like, I'm also lucky to have, like, a great people around me, people that have helped me along the way, you know? So, I mean, yeah. Could things have been better? Of course. Could things have been worse? For sure. So, like, I mean, I have no regrets, man. I think my younger self would be very proud of where I am if I would tell yden him, this is where you're going to be at the age of 44. I think you'd be like, hey, you did pretty well, man. So, no.

Pablo Castro:

Amazing life. Yeah, amazing. Amazing. Yeah. And one of the questions that just hearing your interviews is about work life balance. And I know, let's not talk, let's not call it balance, but about being a successful investor and being a successful family man or woman. What are things that you have learned along the way that have helped you be the best on both senses?

Shawn Morani:

I don't know. I don't. I don't think of work as work anymore. Does that make sense? Like, yeah.

Pablo Castro:

Yeah, for sure.

Shawn Morani:

Used to think of it again. Everyone go, how many hours do you work a week? I was like, I don't think of it that way sometimes. Not a lot, I guess, if I had to quantify it. But, like, I'm always, like, texting my founders, dude. I'm always like, it's. I'm always thinking about it, like, stressing about it. So it's like, does that, like, what does work? Does it mean you have to behind your computer answering emails? Does it mean you have to, like, be on calls? Does that mean I have to be driving places and meeting people if I'm on a drive to go to a meeting? Does that kind of work? I don't know, man. Like, what does it matter? Right? Like, what are we talking about? Right? So I don't know. I'm always plugged in. I'm always on, and I'm good with that. I'm good with that. Took me a while to be okay with that. And sometimes that's come up when we're doing family stuff, right? And that doesn't even mean you have to be on a call with somebody. That could be like, it's taking your mind space, and so you can't be fully. You can't give all of your attention to wherever it is, you know, it could be with your friends, your family, whatever, and that's hard. So, I don't know. I don't know. I just got more comfortable with things. But, you know, definitely, you know, I try. I think the beauty of this business, being a venture investor is you have a lot of flexibility, and that allows me to be at stuff for my family. You know, I can be my spouse, I be with my parents, I can be my kids, and I think that's pretty cool. So. And I prioritize them, and I'm not ashamed of it because I can't get that time back. So, yeah, just actively trying to do that, and I surround myself with a lot of friends, especially other VC investors, that kind of have the same principles and philosophies, and so I want to learn from them. And some are, you know, peers. Some are little, have kids that are younger, some have kids that are older. Right. We're all friends, and so just, like, asking them questions about how to be more balanced or whatever and seeing how they're just observing and see how they do things. Super helpful for me.

Pablo Castro:

Yeah. I think one of the things I agree with you completely is at some point, you just don't feel your work is work because you just enjoy it so much. It's like, just part of life that's, like, just.

Shawn Morani:

I mean, there's some of it I don't enjoy, but, like, it is what it is, man. Like, but I, like I said, I'm grateful to be here gratefully doing this job. If I didn't want to, I would have pulled out a long time ago. So, like, yeah, I love. I mean, everyone likes to say, oh, I love every aspect of my job, but, like, I think that's b's. I think any job, there's stuff that you like more than other stuff, right? Like, I don't know, like, go play a sport. Like, we played basketball. Some guys like offense, some guys like defense, more. Like, I find. I know you never find someone that likes them both equally, you know, but they love the game, right? So it's, like, very similar, right. There's stuff that you're gonna like. There's some stuff that you're not gonna like anyway. I don't know. So just don't. I don't. I don't get. And everyone's different, man. So you got to just get comfortable in your own skin, right? I think that's. That's important.

Pablo Castro:

Inventor, what would you say is your strong suit? There's? Some managers that are great at fundraising, there's some brand managers that are great at networking, some at just finding deals. What would you say is your strength and yet how do you, how do you strengthen the size that you don't have that are not your strong suit?

Shawn Morani:

I don't know. I'd say my superpower is just like figuring someone out really quick, just like connecting with them and figuring out if, like, if they're what I, you know, what I'd invest in or I think is good. And so I think, you know, just able to get to like the core of a person and have a good like 6th sense around that. So I think that would be like a superpower, right? That's like, and I think that has to do with like how you built your EQ and I, and ask the right questions and who you are, like, from a personality perspective. And so I think that's a super power I have that's just like not like anything else, I think. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm not a good fundraiser. I raise a lot of money, but there are other people that like, yeah, can fundraise their face off. I'm just like, I'm too honest, man. Like, I'm too upfront about what's going on. Like, I don't, I'm not a good marketing and sales person. Like, I don't oversell my stupid, like that. Like, I don't, I wish I was like, oh, dude, this company is so awesome and it's going to be a billion dollar company and, like, you should give me more money. But, like, I mean, I hope it's a billion dollar company. It's doing really well. But, like, I've been around long enough that, like, I don't feel confident to say that, you know, so I won't say it. That probably doesn't help me raise money, you know, but, like, it helps you over the long term. So I, like, we try to create long term value and, like, I would rather someone not, I don't want to set up too many expectations and fail. So, like, I'm just more honest with people and let my numbers speak for themselves. And then, and hopefully, like, I've done what I said, both from an investment perspective, just like sticking to, hey, I got 10% ownership, I did this, I wrote these checks, you know, from like, what I said, and then there's performance behind it and they're like, oh, he did what he said and he's performing. Here's more money. Like, I think that's how it should work and I think that's how a lot of investor LP's think, and so that's how I operate. But, yeah, I mean, I'm not a bad fundraiser, but do I know people that can fundraise their face off? Absolutely. And I know people that love it. Right? Like my buddy Tripp Jones, I was with him last week. He loves it at uncork. He love. He loves being with LP's and fundraising. So I love that for him. You know, I just wouldn't. You know, I love investing in companies and partnering with them, and just like, right now I'm not fundraising and I'm just focusing on the investment side and it's pretty cool, dude. So it's like the first time, like I told you, it's the first time in my career I feel like I'm not fundraising. And it's like, what's going on, man? Like, I should be fundraising, you know, it's weird. It's a weird. I'm doing it for. I've been doing it for a quarter of my life. I feel, like, non stop. And I don't. Don't get me wrong, I talked to LP's this week. I for sure did. But, like, I don't feel that it's a different. It's different. I don't feel that, like, immense pressure to, like, get signatures.

Pablo Castro:

You're living the dream. You're living the GP dream right now.

Shawn Morani:

No, man, I gotta make money. No, I'm not. I'm not. I gotta make money, man. I gotta make money. Till I return my first, my. All my funds, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna be okay.

Pablo Castro:

I love that. What is the impact and legacy you hope to leave in the fund you're working in and with entrepreneurs you work with also?

Shawn Morani:

I don't think about that. I don't know. I just am lucky to do this. Lucky to work with some amazing people, lucky to hopefully invest in some companies that, you know, create a lot of jobs and change a lot of markets and, I mean, I don't need to be. I don't need. I don't have that. I don't need to be mentioned and I don't need to be on any Midas list. I don't need to be mentioned in any article I can. As long as I get my ownership. Like, I know I got my ownership, I could be. You don't even have to mention me in the article. Like, I don't care. Like, I don't have a ton of followers on, like, a Twitter or whatever. Like, that's not. That's for other people. Other people love that and they're good at it. Like, could I be good at it? Sure. I just don't. It's just not my personality, you know? And I think again, like, early, and when I was, like, interested in venture, I talked to a couple folks and they're like, oh, you should start a blog. Going back to when blogging was cool and I was like, thought about, like, maybe I should start a blog. I like, I. You know what? I hate writing. I've never liked writing. Like, some people love to write, so I'm like, what? I was like, why would I go start a blog if, like, does that sound like that's, like, painful, right? Like, anyway, I'm like, you got to eat your vegetables. That's what you got to do. But you don't got to be a blogger to be a good investor, right? You should do that if it helps you and it's, like, good for something you're really good at. Like, but imagine, like, if your people that are really good at writing, they'll just go write and they'll be good at it, and then they'll put out the content. Like, I'm not saying I'm not good at it, but I don't like doing it, then it's going to be like, it's going to give me stress. It's going to take me longer. I'm going to really push myself. That a good use of energy, right? Probably not. So, anyway, Yeah, so I don't. I don't know. So. But it's. I don't care about. I don't think about legacy and leaving anything like that. That's for my founders to do, man. They're they're the special people, right? I'm just behind the scenes amazing.

Pablo Castro:

I love that mindset. I just think it's so important today's age, especially, as you mentioned, with a lot of Twitter VC or now called LinkedIn VC. It's just a lot of venture investors put themselves, I feel, put themselves first before they're their founders, but, yeah, so I really like.

Shawn Morani:

It says I don't. I mean, maybe I just think it's a different way to skin the cat. It helps them, like, fundraise and things like that. Like, I don't know. I think. I think, I mean, everyone has a reason behind it, you know, but everyone's trying to. This is a hard business. To crack into. Like someone said, like, there's just not that many venture investors. If you add them up over time, it's like, I think that someone had read something a long time ago. It's like there's as many or less than people that played in the NBA or something, right. Or over time. Right? Like, it's just that business that you're lucky to be in. But they're also, like, a lot of, like, groups like cool water and winter mead. Like, they've done great things, sort of. They're trying to, like, help, you know, people get that first fun off the ground, you know, I think those are, like, really important for the ecosystem. They never used to exist. And so, like, yeah, there are a lot of, there's a lot more tools, you know, out there to make you. To make you make funds better.

Pablo Castro:

Perfect. Perfect. And just the last question, because I do want to be respectful of your time. A last piece of advice for any emerging manager that's listening to us that is raising their first fund right now.

Shawn Morani:

I mean, good luck. No, I'm just kidding. Like, I don't know.

Pablo Castro:

I've heard that a lot. I've heard that a lot. Believe.

Shawn Morani:

I mean, I thought that was hard. I don't know. Look, like, either way, you're always going to have a lot of persistence and determination, right? I just. And when we, when I launched Parade in 2018, like, that was before, like, the really good times, but it was like, it was a good market. It was like part of the bull market and I had track record and, you know, it's just, but it's really hard. It's really hard to figure out, like, were you raising in a good time or not until, like, after the fact and you, like, look back, you know? But I think if you have something that sells and there's a market for it and you have people that are giving you money and this is something you really like, you should do it. And so, like, but I think just as important, always, like, constantly be assessing to make sure you're doing it and can achieve it. Right. And sometimes if the market's not yielding and you want to push through, maybe you have to make some changes, right? And so, look, I didn't raise everything I wanted to for my first fund, but we didn't change. We decided we didn't want to change our model. We stuck to it. And instead I did a ton of spvs with it. I had known, you remember, I knew how to do spvs and actually ended up putting more money to work than I would have if I raised that fund standalone, which is ironic. So I just made a pivot, right, just like we tell our listen to your customers, listen to what's happening. And I have a lot of interesting stories around LP's that said they were going to give me money and didn't. I feel like I raised over what I was going to raise. And there's just a lot of like, you know, it goes back to finding the right partner. That's how it taught me to find the right lp partners to work with people that, you know, really, you know, are good partners for you. And so I learned about a lot about that. My fund, one fundraise, and that's why I changed my mentality around it. So it's just like you can't control the macro. If you think it's something that you want to do and it can sell, you know, you should do it. But buckle up, work hard.

Pablo Castro:

No, perfect. Thank you so much, John. I think it's a great ending note and just for people that want to reach out to you, where is the best place they can connect with you?

Shawn Morani:

You can figure out my email if you just, you know, think about it. But parade VC is our website and then Twitter or whatever. I mean, in Twitter, yes, Twitter maybe there's an info, I think link on our website, like whatever you want to do, but always better. Warm, right? Then you reached out to me cold, but it was a good email, I think I responded. I respond to every email, by the way. But like always easier when it was. It's warm.

Pablo Castro:

Thank you. No, thank you so much. On. I really appreciate the time that you put in and really commend you for everything you're doing. So thank you so much for being on the show and we definitely have to have a part two.

Shawn Morani:

Cool, sounds good. Thank you.

Pablo Castro:

Alright, Sean, take care. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the New Light Ventures podcast. I'm Pablo Castro and it's been a pleasure bringing you insights and stories from the forefront of venture capital. We hope you're leaving with valuable knowledge and inspiration to carry you forward on your own venture journey. If you've enjoyed today's conversation, don't forget to subscribe to our podcast, leave a review and share it with your network. Work for updates, additional resources, and to suggest guests for topics of future episodes, visit our website and follow us on our social media channels. We're excited to continue this journey with you, exploring our ever evolving landscape of venture capital. Until next time, keep innovating, keep investing, and keep pushing the boundaries of what's possible. This is new light venture signing off. Let's keep the.