Building Startups Where No One’s Looking: Why Dan Magnuszewski at Radial Ventures is Betting on Buffalo

In this episode of Beyond the Core, we sit down with Dan Magnuszewski—co-founder of ACV Auctions (NYSE: ACVA) and now founding partner at Radial Ventures, a new venture studio focused on launching startups in Buffalo, New York.Dan shares what he learned taking ACV from zero to IPO, why he’s doubling down on building in Buffalo, and how Radial Ventures is using AI to turn “unsexy industries” into billion-dollar opportunities. We cover everything from venture studio structure to ROI models to sourcing overlooked ideas in overlooked markets.Timestamps:0:00 - Intro1:00 - Dan’s journey from engineer to startup founder to studio builder5:00 - What Dan learned building ACV Auctions into a public company7:30 - Spinning up an internal R&D lab inside ACV11:00 - When moonshot projects become strategic growth levers14:00 - Building for revenue vs. building for value19:00 - Why Dan launched a venture studio in Buffalo22:00 - How 43North helped seed Radial Ventures25:00 - Why Buffalo is an underrated startup ecosystem28:00 - “You have to move to San Francisco” — Dan’s response33:00 - Collaborating with local corporates to source and fund ideas36:00 - How Radial Ventures uses AI to validate ideas fast40:00 - Studio structure: equity, founder incentives, and fundraising48:00 - Measuring ROI for a regional venture studio52:00 - Final thoughts & how to get in touch🔔 Subscribe for more tactical conversations on venture building, corporate innovation, and startup studios.