Zoe van den Bol: All right. Hello, listeners. My name is Zoe van den Bol, and I’m an investor at Alpha Partners. Welcome to Driving Alpha, a podcast brought to you by Alpha Partners, where we interview top VCs about how they drive alpha for their LPs, founders, and everyone else in their ecosystem. I am thrilled to introduce Manish Patel, the managing partner of Nava Ventures.
Patel is a seasoned investor and Silicon Valley veteran with a career defined by the intersection of business and technology. As a founding partner of Nava Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, Manish leads with a thesis-driven, high-conviction approach to Series A investing. Nava Ventures is known for backing startups that leverage technology to solve real-world problems and for working closely with the founders to help them scale. Select portfolio companies include Yurts, Hydrolix, and OpenLoop.
Before Nava, Manish was the general partner at Highland Capital, where he was instrumental in establishing the firm’s Silicon Valley presence. His venture capital journey was preceded by a successful tenure at Google as a product manager, where he led teams focused on building key components of AdWords and AdSense, as well as new programs around Google’s entry into television imagery and 3D mapping initiatives, and improving the search experience. Manish’s work extends beyond investing. He teaches design thinking at Stanford University and has served as a mentor and advisor to organizations like Creative Destruction Lab, MIT, Stanford Venture Lab, and Google for Startups Accelerator.
Now I am thrilled to have him on the podcast. So let’s begin. Manish, can you please tell me more about your journey that led you to the person you are today and how that then translated to starting Nava Ventures?
Manish Patel: Yeah, absolutely. And it’s great to be here, Zoe, and thanks for that generous introduction. I am definitely the accidental venture capitalist. If you asked the 20-year-old version of Manish if I would ever be in venture capital, I would’ve said absolutely not. But I stumbled my way into it, and it’s just such a blessing to work in this job. It’s so amazing every day to work with entrepreneurs.
I think the driving thing between venture, teaching, and everything I do is I get to help people be their best self. I love that part of the job. That’s why I love teaching at Stanford. For a kid that grew up in rural Kentucky of all places to end up in the heart of Silicon Valley—now in San Francisco, coming to you from my office in Jackson Square—it’s just so amazing. I’m so grateful every day to be able to do what I do.
Zoe van den Bol: Yeah, it definitely is a privilege to work around entrepreneurs building the companies of today and tomorrow. You said you grew up in rural Kentucky. What really led from there to being in this world of entrepreneurship? I’m assuming back then there weren’t many entrepreneurs and founders around you?
Manish Patel: Yeah, no, it’s a good question. I think from an entrepreneur perspective, my parents were entrepreneurs, but not the TechCrunch kind. They ran a small business. So I think about entrepreneurship in a more pure form than venture-backed entrepreneurship—because if that business failed, Google’s not going to buy you, and you can’t go get a job at Facebook. You’re just stuck.
I feel like that’s the pure form of entrepreneurship that so many people across the country experience. I grew up in that environment and loved the ability to make it on your own—the hustle. Also realizing how hard it was. But I think that planted a seed in my six-year-old head.
The other seed came from a Commodore 128 computer. The personal computer revolution had happened in the mid-’80s, and my older brother got one. I don’t even know if Commodore exists anymore as a company, but learning to program on that and watching him do things—it lit something up for me. It showed me there was a bigger world outside of tobacco fields and small-town culture in Western Kentucky.
That catalyzed my love for technology. Fast forward 20 years, I went to school at Stanford and was there right after the first dot-com bust. It was an interesting time to be in Silicon Valley, learning the myth and reality that two folks and a dog in a garage could build a company that changes the world. It was exciting. You don’t have to work at a giant company like IBM or Lockheed to do tech. Startups were the new thing, and that led me to join one—Google.
Zoe van den Bol: Yeah, it’s so funny to think about now, but Google was once a startup. So you worked at Google for some time. What was the aha moment that made you want to move to Highland Capital and jump into investing?
Manish Patel: Honestly, I didn’t have that light bulb moment. Some people have a clear vision—I didn’t. I stumbled into venture capital. I was at Google for most of my twenties, fell in love with technology and building products at scale—some of which you mentioned. I loved the people there; it was like family to me in the early parts of my career.
I was thinking about what to do next. There’s this myth in Silicon Valley that if you want to build a company, you need to raise venture capital. I started talking to a few VC firms. Many were hovering around Google at the time. I was introduced to Highland Capital through a friend who worked with one of their portfolio companies.
Over about a year, I started talking to them and learning what it really meant to be a VC. I got excited—meeting entrepreneurs daily, helping them, and if you love a company, you can invest in them. Then there’s the potential for outsized returns. As a perpetual student, I found that fascinating.
I planned to join Highland for a year—just to learn how VC works. That year became most of my thirties. I fell in love with the founder journey and being a guide. There’s a lot in venture that needs improvement—it’s still quite homogenous. But I think it’s a special job.
I love that within 50 square miles of where I’m standing in Silicon Valley, companies have been built that changed the world—many times over.
Zoe van den Bol: Yeah, just to harken back to that point a little bit—we’re seeing right now a lot of these companies that are growing at exponential rates with such small teams. The barriers to building are as low as they’ve ever been, which is a really interesting area to play in. Especially because you have so much experience working at Nava and then at Highland before—just how much has changed around the industry.
Before we talk about the landscape and what it actually means to take venture dollars, I really want to focus on your time at Nava Ventures and what you focus on. Was there an aha moment to then jump over and start Nava? You guys have a niche approach to investing where you’re very hands-on, selective, and just focused at the Series A. So in this world of more or less homogenous investors, why did you take this approach, and why do you think you’re differentiated enough to win these amazing deals?
Manish Patel: Absolutely. There was not an aha moment. My partner Freddy and I were working together at Highland. We’d opened the San Francisco office for the firm, and we were thinking about the future of where venture’s going. We saw a trend—you’re seeing it today even more profoundly—of these large platform firms getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
We saw that five years ago when we started, and it’s even clearer now. When we saw that, we said, “Hey, there’s an opportunity here.” Because as these firms get bigger, they’re leaving some really unique opportunities on the table, so to speak, which is Series A. Everybody says they do Series A, but what really moves the needle for these large platform firms is hundreds of millions of dollars invested in big companies. It’s not the $10 million Series A. That’s not what keeps a partner up at night. It’s more like couch money.
So for us, from the beginning, we designed Nava around one specific thing, one specific stage—and that was Series A. That is all we do at Nava. From fund size to operations, everything is built around that. It’s a magical place in the ecosystem. We had good track records from Highland and wanted to continue that.
At Nava, we do stage-focused, thesis-driven investing. Stage is always Series A. Thesis-driven means having a prepared mind. We really pick our spots. We’re generalists in a sense, but we dive deep into specific industries—not just understanding the market but building networks so we can truly add value.
If you’re working hand-in-hand with companies, you can’t just offer rules of thumb or anecdotes. You want to be saying, “I know your industry well, let’s speak a common language.” I always test in my mind: am I speaking calculus or arithmetic with the founder? I want to be speaking calculus—deep and sophisticated.
Because of our fund size, we don’t do a lot of deals. We do three to five deals a year. That allows us to go deep. I call it high-conviction, low-velocity investing.
Zoe van den Bol: Got it. So just on the whole thesis-driven piece—you are generalists at the end of the day, but still that’s broad. How do you really build a thesis and know a sector is worth focusing on? These are private companies, so how do you deal with information asymmetry and ensure you’re backing the best?
Especially at Series A—you’re just around product-market fit. You don’t always know if they’re solving a real problem. So how do you make those few select investments that you’re willing to go all-in on, while staying opportunistic across industries?
Manish Patel: Absolutely. And I think that tension is healthy. That’s why we’re generalists by design. You want to know what you’re talking about—and I’ll explain how we build our thesis—but also be ready when something unexpected comes up.
Specialist funds are great, but their brilliance varies by cycle. Fintech looked amazing a few years ago—then slowed. AI looks brilliant now, but in a few years it may not. AI will become table stakes. If you’re not doing it, you’re not in business.
So that tension forces us to pick our spots. When we build a thesis, we ask: can we build a big network here, or do we already have one? What’s our right to win? It’s not just about researching—it’s about actionable networks.
Asymmetric information is everything in venture. These aren’t public equities. You want unique insight into how a market’s evolving.
For example, we do a lot in data orchestration. We talk to heads of data regularly about budgets—where they’re spending, where they aren’t, where teams are frustrated, what they’re building vs. buying.
Not just for diligence, but ongoing. And these aren’t extractive relationships—we give value back too. Over time, this builds a refined problem statement and can lead to an investment.
One great example is Hydrolix. We led the Series A. It’s an observability company—a very big space. The incumbents like Datadog and Splunk weren’t meeting some needs. Our network showed us data leaders were under pressure to reduce spending—yet observability costs were exploding. That lit a bulb for us.
We pulled the thread and eventually led the Series A. They recently raised a large Series C at over a $700 million valuation.
Zoe van den Bol: First, congratulations to the Hydrolix team and the great markup. That was a great story to illustrate how you think about thematic investing. So going back to the Series A piece—why is this such a pivotal part of a company’s lifecycle? Why did you choose to play there? And what should Series A founders really look for in a VC partner?
Manish Patel: Series A is a really special moment in a company’s journey. I think the best founders can will themselves to $20–30 million in revenue. They can sell anything, convince people to use a product even if it’s rough.
But at Series A, if you build the right foundation, that same founder can create a flywheel—those structural elements that help a company scale beyond brute force. Otherwise, they hit a wall.
That’s why we focus on Series A. You can build the base to scale right, instead of building on a house of cards.
Zoe van den Bol: Yeah, let’s hone in on that flywheel effect. What can founders do to create it? What examples have you seen in your portfolio or elsewhere?
Manish Patel: It’s not just one thing—it’s a combination of elements.
First, company culture. Everyone talks about it, but few truly design it. Culture isn’t a one-time exercise. It’s how you operate every day. At Series A, it’s often the first major refactor. You’re setting up the foundation for the next stage. You might take on board members, new execs—it’s a reset. Great founders think not just tactically but about how the company thinks.
Second, proving out product-market fit. Maybe you don’t have it yet, but you need to show clear progress. You don’t have to be at scale, but you must prove how you could scale. Maybe you have 100 customers now—but there are 100 million more just like them. Show how that’s possible.
Third, operational infrastructure. Who is your core team? Early hires were likely friends or ex-colleagues. Now you need to hire outside your circle, define team structure, and create a shared vocabulary. That’s critical.
Lastly, refining the business model. Maybe you haven’t nailed pricing, but you need a theory. Who are your ideal customers? Who do you want to fire? Not all revenue is equal. Don’t just chase vanity ARR.
If a company nails those things—culture, product-market fit, infrastructure, business model—they’ll build the flywheel that gives leverage to great founders.
Zoe van den Bol: Got it. So it’s about being honest with yourself—about the product, team, model, and customer. That builds the foundation for the next stages.
Switching gears slightly—you’re building Nava too. From my view, you have a strong reputation for being authentic and founder-focused. How have you, as a GP, scaled your fund? What’s the flywheel for Nava?
Manish Patel: Freddy and I talk about this every week. How do we maintain and improve what we’re building?
One thing that’s key is closing learning loops quickly. You need to experiment, but don’t take five years to learn. The market will change around you.
Our product is our people. We aren’t building software—we’re building a team. I think of it as the Avengers model. Everyone has a superpower. Maybe one person is more technical, another great at sales, another analytical.
We lean into team-based VC. I don’t believe in the solo GP model. How do we make each other better? That’s how we identify and win deals.
Zoe van den Bol: Got it. So I have to ask—what’s your Avenger superpower?
Manish Patel: [laughs] I don’t know if I have one. Since I helped found the firm, I just hired people who do have superpowers.
But if I had to pick one—I’d say product. I was born thinking about how things are built—from mugs to iPhones. That’s how my brain works. At Stanford, I learned to build great products. Now I teach it. So, not sure if it’s a superpower—but definitely my sweet spot.
Zoe van den Bol: Love that. I want to go deeper on your Stanford experience. I’ve heard you tell students that raising VC dollars isn’t always the way to start a company. That’s counterintuitive, given your current seat. Can you explain?
Manish Patel: Yeah, there’s this myth that to build a giant company, you have to raise venture capital. That’s been amplified over the years.
I give my students a car analogy. Some cars run on gas. Some on nitrous oxide. Venture capital is like nitrous oxide—it makes you go really fast, really quickly. But it’s risky. You might blow up the engine. Some cars are built for that speed. Most aren’t.
Companies like Google or Facebook couldn’t exist without VC. They needed that fuel. But if your engine’s not built for it, don’t raise VC.
Today, it’s cheaper than ever to start a company—cloud, AI, distribution. You can reach billions via TikTok without spending a dime. You don’t need a giant team.
Many founders should not raise venture. Instead, build a great business, own more equity, control your destiny. Think hard about the journey you want. The VC journey is long. IPOs take years. And it’s the most expensive way to fund your company—you give up precious equity.
A lot of founders raise too much too fast. They celebrate valuations that are just paper. That can be dangerous.
Zoe van den Bol: Yes—and I know Nava is careful about aligned incentives. There are so many investors out there now. At Series A, this is a long-term relationship. It’s like a marriage. What advice would you give founders on how to vet the right VC?
Manish Patel: Great question. I hate the trend of super-fast fundraises—meet on Monday, close on Wednesday. That’s not smart. You’re stuck with your VC.
I tell founders: you spend more time hiring your first engineer than vetting your cap table. That’s a mistake.
Talk to other founders. Not just the “wins”—talk to those who went through tough times. What was the investor like then?
Also, distinguish between the firm and the partner. If you’re working with Susan from Sequoia—ask, what’s she like? Does she have juice inside the firm? Will she go to bat for you?
Ask about incentives. Some partners want quick markups. Others are focused on long-term outcomes. Figure out what motivates them.
Also—build relationships well before you raise. Months in advance. Get to know how they think. Run mock board meetings. Ask hard questions. See how they show up when there’s no pressure.
Zoe van den Bol: Yeah. And the references are so important. It’s about the individual, not just the firm brand.
This has been an amazing conversation. Any final thoughts—or how folks can get in touch with you?
Manish Patel: Absolutely. We love connecting with great people well before any process. Our website is www.nava.vc, and my email is manishh@nava.vc. Always happy to connect.
Zoe van den Bol: Thank you so much, Manish. We’ll be in touch. And thank you to our audience for listening in!
Manish Patel: Thanks, Zoe. Thanks for having me.
