About This Episode

In this candid discussion, Patric and Shub dive deep into their personal philosophies on conferences and events within the AEC startup and venture capital ecosystem. They explore why the events industry rebounded stronger than ever post-COVID, despite digital collaboration becoming more sophisticated, and share their contrarian views on optimal time allocation for fund managers and founders in the construction technology space.

In This Episode

How the COVID pandemic failed to permanently shift the conference industry toward digital collaboration, and why in-person events are more popular than ever in AEC venture capital

The ROI framework for evaluating conference attendance, including how portfolio strategy (concentrated vs diversified) should influence a fund manager's event calendar in the construction technology sector

Why many AEC founders and VCs fall into validation-seeking echo chambers at conferences instead of focusing on core business bottlenecks like capital allocation and customer acquisition

The cultural differences in networking approaches between American, European, and Indian AEC markets, and how relationship-building varies across these regions

Why attending conferences specifically for fundraising purposes often backfires for both fund managers seeking LPs and AEC startups pursuing venture capital

Timestamps

(00:00 ) - Introduction and recording setup

(01:31 ) - Discussion on lifestyle choices and travel preferences

(03:03 ) - COVID's impact on the events industry and digital collaboration

(05:13 ) - The conference industry's stronger-than-ever comeback

(06:59 ) - Personal ROI framework for conference attendance

(08:24 ) - Shub's perspective on industry outliers and time allocation

(10:19 ) - Capital allocator feedback on fund managers' event attendance

(13:31 ) - Portfolio strategy: concentrated vs diversified approaches and conference relevance

(18:33 ) - Echo chambers and validation seeking in the AEC community

(20:29 ) - Founder case study: prioritizing conferences over business fundamentals

(23:49 ) - The bottleneck identification framework for strategic decision making

(25:22 ) - Thought experiment: hiring a CEO who spends 50% time at conferences

(28:00 ) - Social validation and dopamine hits from event attendance

(31:28 ) - High-value event formats: the House of Cards example

(33:10 ) - Cultural differences in networking: India vs US vs Europe

(36:05 ) - Conference attendance for fundraising purposes

(40:00 ) - Conclusion and travel wishes

Resources or Companies Mentioned

House of Cards: Referenced TV show discussing high-level business networking events

S&P 500: Mentioned as performance benchmark for fund returns

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Practical Nerds Website:⁠⁠ https://practicalnerds.com/⁠⁠

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Foundamental: ⁠⁠https://www.foundamental.com/⁠⁠

Patric Hellermann: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/aecvc/⁠⁠

Shub Bhattacharya: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/shubhankar-bhattacharya-a1063a3/⁠⁠

Youtube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@foundamentalvc⁠⁠⁠

The Daily Blueprint: ⁠⁠https://tinyurl.com/the-daily-blueprint⁠⁠⁠

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