Raising a $25M Fund, Implementing a Narrow Investment Thesis, and Hawke Ventures’ Unique Portfolio Construction Strategy, with Drew Leahy

<p>Justin Gordon (<a href="https://twitter.com/justingordon212">@justingordon212</a>) talks with Drew Leahy, Managing Partner at Hawke Ventures (<a href="https://twitter.com/hawkeventures">@hawkeventures</a>), an early stage consumer and B2B marketing technology fund. He is also the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Hawke Media. Prior to Hawke, Leahy was Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder of SnapSuits.com, a tech-forward men’s fashion e-retailer with over $2M+ in revenue. Drew was also Entrepreneur-in-Residence at memBrain in Los Angeles, making investments with tech and entertainment angel investors Ken Hertz and Liz Heller.</p><p>He is a data-driven, product focused entrepreneur and VC, motivated by the thousands of softwares that power brands. He has extensive experience in consumer mobile &amp; web, b2b SaaS, social media, video, apparel, and entertainment verticals. </p><p>His product mantra: Vision (big), Execution (small), Test (thorough), Revise (smart). Repeat. He obsesses over conversion rate optimization, which is part art, part science.</p><p>Website: <a href="https://www.hawkeventures.com/">Hawke Ventures</a> &amp; <a href="https://hawkemedia.com/">Hawke Media</a></p><p>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewleahy/">linkedin.com/in/drewleahy/</a></p><p>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/hawkeventures">@hawkeventures</a></p><p>Email: drew@hawkemedia.com</p><p>Drew’s first podcast episode with Justin in 2019: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8w_JjvSokc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8w_JjvSokc<br></a><br></p><p>Show Notes:</p><ul> <li>The journey from closing Hawke Ventures’ first $5.6M fund to raising a $25M fund </li> <li>How Drew is thinking about building out their team &amp; how different firms approach the platform role</li> <li>How Hawke Ventures leverages the relationship with Hawke Media</li> <li>What Hawke Ventures is looking for in potential portfolio companies with their lead check fund</li> <li>Hawke Ventures’ unique portfolio construction strategy and th