With Brian Garrett, the Co-Founder of Crosscut Ventures
About this episode
Welcome to the fourth episode of the Stairway to CEO podcast! In this episode, I interviewed Brian Garrett, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Crosscut Ventures, a top VC fund in LA where he's been investing in startups for over 10 years. Brian shares his story—from a family tragedy that happened at age 13 to a recent healing experience that helped him break through the barriers that have been holding him back.
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In This Episode You'll Hear About:
How his goal of earning a scholarshp to attend Stanford University came to fruition
How a tragic life event at a young age shaped him into the hard working person he is
His Dad’s interesting background and how his dad made a life for himself after separating himself from his two alcoholic parents
What triggered his quarter life crisis and what he did about it
How he met his Co-Founder Rick Smith and how Crosscut Ventures came about
His experience with fundraising the first fund for CrossCut Ventures
The worst pitch he ever received from an entrepreneur and why
His perspective on the process of raising capital from investors as a founder
Why he thinks being vulnerable is important and what characteristics he looks for most in successful founders
A recent trip he took and what he learned from an incredible healing experience
What components are beyond the control of even the most hardworking founders
Why following your passion is the most important thing to consider when building a business
"Use the criticism as a way to sharpen your pitch or your angle but don't take offence to it because we're no more qualified to do this than anyone else out there."
"Pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will."
"You can't force circumstances to your favor, but there are some things you can do to get a slight advantage."
"Not everybody needs to be part of a startup that scales from 0 to x in 18 months. There are many great businesses that are built overtime and you just have to let what the market gives you. You have to take advantage of it as it comes and just be smart."