Ep183 – Howard Leibman (Founder & General Partner – EVP) on being the “founder whisperer”

The Startup Playbook PodcastInsights and lessons from the world's best entrepreneurs and investors Twitter Facebook YouTube Instagram Ep183 – Howard Leibman (Founder & General Partner – EVP) on being the “founder whisperer” May 16, 2024 rohitbhargava Podcast My guest for Ep183 of The Startup Playbook Podcast was the Founder of EVP, Howard Leibman. Howard is the Founder and General Partner of EVP, a VC fund focused on investing in B2B software companies in Australia and New Zealand. In 2023, they raised $100M for Fund 4, taking its total funds under management to $300M. EVP takes a very hands on approach with their investments including taking board seats in their portfolio companies. Howard currently sits on the board of portfolio companies such as Practice Ignition and Deputy which in March 2024 became the first Australian company in 2 years to hit the $1B valuation status. This is Howard’s first ever podcast interview and in this rare interview he opens up about: His career and journey EVPs framework to assess potential investment opportunities Managing changes in executive leadership as companies scale Being the “founder whisperer” & much more! Timestamps: 2:00 Howard’s career background 13:23 How his early career shaped his investment lens for EVP 17:20 Early investment into Shippit 20:18 How he builds conviction in founders and market opportunities 22:09 Early stage vs later stage investing 27:33 What he looks for in investment opportunities 30:57 EVP investing frameworks 35:06 How the role of the founder can evolve over time 41:04 Taking an active role in companies they invest in 45:20 How founders can build deeper relationships with their investors 48:12 How EVP thinks about optimal fund size 54:01 How he approaches hiring and people at EVP Our partners A big thank you to Justin Lipman and Guy Pearson for their help with this interview! Also a big shout out to our partners for the show: Scendar  Scendar is the OG startup accounting firm in Australia catering to all stages of your business’ life. If you’re busy running your startup, you don’t have time to do your own books and forecast. Instead, fully outsource your finance function, giving you time and resources back to focus on what you do best in growing your business. Find out more at Scendar.com Vanta Vanta helps businesses get — and stay — compliant by automating up to 90% of the work for the most in-demand compliance frameworks. And with over 300 integrations, you can easily monitor and secure the tools your business relies on.Join over six thousand fast-growing companies that use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time.Startup Playbook Podcast listeners get access to an exclusive offer of USD$1000 off their plans. Head over to vanta.com/playbook to get access to this exclusive discount Links mentioned Howard’s links Howard’s LinkedIn EVP People mentioned Les Szekely Justin Lipman Daniel Szekely William On Rob Hango-Zada Guy Pearson Simon Lenoir Mark Velik Companies mentioned General Electric Medtronic Shippit Rezdy Deputy Oneflare DesignCrowd Procter & Gamble Deloitte Ignition Hnry Mutinex Feedback/connect/say hello: [email protected]@RohitBhargava7 (Twitter)/rohbhargava (LinkedIn)@rohit_bhargava (Instagram)My Youtube Channel Credits: Music: Paycheck Other channels: Find all of the links for the podcast on Linktree here https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/startupplaybook/Ep183_-_Howard_Leibman.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download | EmbedSubscribe: RSS admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat admin January 1, 2014 Reply Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. 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