Riding Unicorns: Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Technology The USA's most active investor with Ron Levin, Managing Partner @ Alumni Ventures
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Jan 8, 2025 Ron Levin, Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures and former TravelPerk co-founder, is a seasoned entrepreneur-turned-investor. He recounts his journey from teenage trading card businesses to founding TravelPerk and leading Alumni Ventures' seed strategy. The conversation covers pivots, serendipity in career moves, impact-focused investing, Alumni Ventures' high-volume model, and traits that signal founder success.
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From Lycos To Airline To Travel Startup
- Ron Levin left Lycos and joined an airline to learn route planning and the travel industry firsthand.
- That airline experience later combined with tech roles to lead him into travel-tech and founding TravelPerk.
Early TravelPerk Pivot And Departure
- Ron co-founded TravelPerk in Barcelona after meeting co-founders at Booking.com and pivoted the product within the first year.
- He raised seed capital, then stepped down for family reasons while the company later scaled with a Series A led by Spark Capital.
Teen Trading-Card Entrepreneur
- Ron ran a mail-order and event business for non-sports trading cards from age 11 into college.
- He organized the first non-sports trading card show in New England and monetized both sales and events.
