Yida Gao Quote - “Talent is everything for an early stage company and the people they hire early on define the trajectory of the company.” The Afropolitan Podcast spotlights Afropolitans who aren’t afraid to step into the unknown and walk in purpose. With this podcast we hope to empower Africans in the Diaspora to harness their full potential and contribute to the development of a bold and progressive black community. Our guests will share their working formulas, the hard facts about leaving familiar terrain, embracing the unknown, and staying relevant afterwards. This episode features Yida Gao, Managing General Partner of Shima Capital; an early stage crypto and Web3 investment firm. Yida holds a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He previously worked in Wall Street for Morgan Stanley in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group. He is passionate about investing in crypto and Web3 companies that chart new territory. Listen and enjoy as Yida Gao talks to us about his journey with Shima Capital and insights on the venture capitalist environment. Yida’s Reading List Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, Kevin Maney https://amzn.to/3jfIPx0 Show Notes 2:02 Journey into crypto 4:10 Shima’s investment thesis and approach to funding startups 6:09 Main criteria to invest in a founder 8:34 Fundraising process for Shima Capital 10:50 Misconceptions about venture capitalists 12:13 VCs inspired by 13:09 Recruiting and retaining talent 14:48 Navigating the fundraising environment 17:25 Process of capital calls 20:20 Best guidance that Shima offers for portfolio companies 23:47 First encounter with failure and lesson learnt 26:25 Reading list 28:14 Title of the book about your life 29:28 What does being Afropolitan mean to you The Afropolitan Podcast is hosted by Eche Emole, co-founder of Afropolitan. Listen and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Jamit, or wherever you get your podcasts. Want to learn more about Afropolitan? Twitter - https://twitter.com/afropolitan Website - https://www.afropolitan.io/