Webinar
Yoshino Ventures: Intro to the Fund
Watch this presentation about Yoshino Ventures, Alumni Ventures’ fund for University of Washington alumni and friends of the community. The discussion is led by Yoshino Ventures Managing Partner Ray Wu.
During this session, we discussed:
See video policy below.
Post-Webinar Summary
In a webinar, Mark Edwards, Chief Investment Officer at Alumni Ventures, and Professor Ilia Reev of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, discussed venture capital and Reev’s new book, “The Venture Mindset”. Edwards highlighted the importance of venture capital, stating that it has demonstrated superior performance over time compared to public equity markets. He also noted that venture capital is largely uncorrelated with public market equity securities, making it an attractive investment option. Reev discussed the principles of venture capital decision-making, emphasizing the importance of a “prepared mind” and the ability to make contrarian decisions. He also highlighted the significance of evaluating management teams, stating that charisma and resilience are key traits to look for in founders.
- HomeThe goal and structure of the fund
- HomeThe value of the Alumni Ventures’ model
- HomeSome examples of current portfolio companies
- HomeThe benefits of diversifying into venture capital
- HomeThe minimum requirements needed to invest in the fund
* You must be accredited to invest in venture capital. Important disclosure information can be found at avg-funds.com/disclosures.
About your presenters
Ray is a seasoned venture capitalist with over 20 years of investing experience across a wide range of industries and geographies. Before joining Alumni Ventures, Ray was a partner and adviser at several global venture funds focusing on AI, Web3, FinTech and SaaS investment opportunities across the U.S. and Asia Pacific. Earlier, he spent more than 10 years in the corporate venture space: He was the managing director of HP’s new business ventures, responsible for startup technology evaluation, new business incubation, VC relationships, and minority investments, and earlier at Cisco Systems, holding several senior positions leading investment, M&A, internal incubation, and global consulting. Previously, Ray was a managing partner of a leading Internet consulting firm working with Fortune 1000 companies across North America. He earned a dual MBA degree from the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University.
Sophia brings a wealth of experience in capital advisory, corporate development, and operational optimization, establishing impactful collaborations with CXOs and Founders. With a diverse industry exposure encompassing cloud computing, mining and minerals, consumer goods, and Web3, Sophia has been at the forefront of transformative technologies. Since 2018, she has been immersed in the crypto universe, working at Galaxy Digital, Huobi US, and Crypto.com. In these roles, Sophia engaged with startups and institutional clients on capital raising and trading across the Americas, EU, and Asia regions.
Actively fostering innovation and mentorship, Sophia serves as a mentor and judge at prestigious institutions such as Yale’s Tsai City for Innovation, Berkeley’s Blockchain Xcelerator, Techstars, and Layer 1 protocols, including Ethereum, Algorand, and Solana. She maintains close ties with the blockchain communities at Stanford and Yale.
Driven by a passion for shaping the future through frontier technologies, Sophia is currently supporting AI data and applications deals within her team. She holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University, an MBA from the University of British Columbia, and an MAM from the Yale School of Management.