Brook Stroud is a Senior Principal at Alumni Ventures, where he applies his passion for early-stage investing, drawing from his experience as both an entrepreneur and investor. He founded and successfully exited two consumer startups: La Matera, a fashion brand, and Somerset, a beverage company.

Prior to Alumni Ventures, Brook worked at Brand Foundry Ventures, focusing on early-stage investments, due diligence, and portfolio management. He also gained valuable fintech experience at Funding Circle during its expansion phase leading up to its IPO.

Brook earned a BA in History from the University of Richmond and an MBA in Finance from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business, where he was awarded the McCombs Entrepreneur Summer Fellowship. He is particularly passionate about working with bold founders, leveraging his entrepreneurial and investing background to focus on founder psychology, early-stage data inefficiencies, and identifying high growth opportunities across various sectors.

During our conversation, he discusses:

* The evolution of entry barriers in software and the advent of AI.

* Brook’s entrepreneurial journey and learnings from running a fashion brand and a beverage company.

* The significance of founder-market fit and having a deep passion for a space.

* Strategies for evaluating consumer retail and SaaS investment opportunities.

* The importance of diversification in angel investing to manage risk.

* Navigating the noise in SaaS investments amidst technological advancements.

* The role of resourcefulness in angel investing when direct access to founders is limited.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

What We Cover:

* 00:00 Introduction

* 02:07 Brook's Argentine Inspiration

* 03:46 The Journey to Entrepreneurship

* 08:30 Lessons from La Matera

* 10:39 From Vineyard to Venture

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