VC Talks #6: Michael Ma, Liquid 2 Ventures
Welcome to the sixth episode of the VC Talks, a short interview series which shares the wisdom and experience of venture capitalists and investors with just a few short questions.
I’m very excited to have Michael Ma for the sixth episode of the VC Talks. Michael is the General Partner of Liquid 2 Ventures. He is involved with seed stage investments such as GitLab, Rappi, Applied Intuition, Cloud9, Mercury, Grin/Grow.
Before joining Liquid 2 Ventures, Michael sold his Y Combinator backed startup TalkBin to Google in 2011, where he held various roles including lead mobile product manager for Google My Business.
Let’s dive into the conversation with Michael.
Efe: If you could choose any person from history to be your imaginary friend, who would it be and why?
Michael: Abraham Lincoln, it’s hard enough to be a great leader but to be one during difficult and polarizing times is something I have so much respect for. I look at what’s going on the world today and think how amazing it would be to talk to somebody who has handled even more challenging circumstances.
Efe: What was the biggest challenge you faced or the biggest risk you took in your career? How did you overcome it? How did it pay off?
Michael: The biggest risk I took was actually starting my first startup — TalkBin; at the time I was in Chicago and far removed from Silicon Valley. I had just been promoted from my first job out of college and so it was tough to quit at the time. We didn’t have any money raised just a Y Combinator interview. At the time it wasn’t as well known as an incubator as it is today, so even if we got in, it was just a $20K investment. I took a leap of faith based a lot of my conviction behind my other founders Qasar and Sunny; we ended up getting into Y Combinator and selling the company to Google.
Efe: What is your biggest problem/challenge nowadays?
Michael: Balancing the short term and long term parts of the job. It almost always feels like you have to chase the next hot deal; but trying to build a firm and platform for the long run is tough at the same time. Trying to get smart around a category that is doing well now vs. trying to figure out a market for the future. There’s only so much time you have everyday and I think the challenging part is finding the balance.
Efe: What do you do when you feel like you are not making any progress or you feel overwhelmed by the challenges?
Michael: I actually try to journal a lot and myself in the mental frame that it’s okay not to be great at everything. A lot of the time being a founder or VC is about knowing what you can’t do and accepting that and building a team around you that’s good at the other stuff.
Efe: What is one thing you expect from or you are most excited about the next decade? (Could be related to business, technology, entertainment, health etc.)
Michael: I’m excited to see what AI holds for the next decade. I think a lot of people are raving GPT-3 right now and the examples I’ve seen have been mind blowing. Can’t wait to see what the next decade holds in this area.
Efe: What advice would you give to a new graduate or an experienced professional who wants to become a VC or find a job at a VC firm? How can they start adding value to startups and VCs?
Michael: My advice would be try to do as much of the job as possible before getting the job. You don’t have to be a VC to blog about your thoughts on different markets and products. You can find startups even if you’re not investing in them just to discover cool products. I remember when I was a founder I would record down which companies in my YC batch I thought would succeed. I would also start developing an area that you’re well known as an expert in and startups + VCs will naturally come to you on that topic.
I’d like to give my very special thanks to Michael for joining me and sharing some great insights for the VC Talks.
We’ll interview new VCs and investors every episode, so if you’d like to attend or know someone who would, please DM me via Twitter. Also happy to hear your feedback and if you enjoyed the VC Talks please follow, comment and share with your friends.
