Welcome to another insightful episode of The 7 in 7 Show with Zack Ellison, where we explore the cutting edge of venture capital and innovation with the world’s leading investors.

Episodes #14A and #14B of Season 2 feature Ken Hall, a Partner at Orlando-based DeepWork Capital, where he supports the firm in sourcing and executing investments, fund operations, portfolio management, and more.

Prior to DeepWork, Ken worked for IBM in New York City, where he held numerous roles for IBM in Corporate Development and Corporate Venture Capital and supported some of the company’s most innovative brands, including IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain, Watson Health, Hybrid Cloud, and IBM Automation. He gained additional venture capital investment experience as a former advisor to 1843 Capital and various family offices, where he supported over a dozen early-stage investments ranging from industrial products to autonomous vehicles and cryptocurrency banks.

Ken is currently the Chairman of Startups for the Orlando Tech Community, where he leads initiatives to help early-stage companies throughout Central Florida. He is a frequent guest speaker at Rollins College, Stetson University, and University of Central Florida and is an advisor and mentor to numerous startup accelerator programs and organizations, including Endeavor Miami, Techstars Miami, leAD Lake Nona, and Plug & Play.

Ken completed his undergraduate studies summa cum laude and the top of his class at the College of Business of the University of New Haven. He received his MBA with top honors from Boston University. In his free time, Ken enjoys finding new restaurants, trying to be “less awful” at golf, and exploring all that Florida has to offer while still being a die-hard Boston sports fan.

In this episode, Zack and Ken discuss:

1. Investment Strategies in Emerging Technologies: Exploring sectors like biotech, life sciences, and enterprise software, and their impact on venture capital.

2. Founder Quality and Resilience in Startups: Why a founder’s obsession and persistence are critical at the earliest stages of a startup.

3. Capital Efficiency & Scalable Business Models: Insights into building scalable startups and leveraging capital efficiency for sustainable growth.

4. Valuation Sensitivity and Market Dynamics: How market conditions affect valuation and the importance of strategic entry and exit points in venture capital.

5. The Role of Humility and Confidence in Founders: Balancing confidence and humility to build strong, trustworthy relationships with investors and teams.

6. Current Venture Market Trends and the Future: Analyzing the current state of the venture capital market and what the future holds for early-stage funding.

7. Venture Debt and Diversified Investment Strategies: Understanding the role of venture debt in providing safer access to innovation and its benefits for investors.

LEARN MORE:

– Zack Ellison: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/zackellison/

– The 7 in 7 Show: ⁠https://7in7show.com/

– A.R.I. Venture Debt: ⁠https://www.arivc.com