Han Shen (iFly.VC) - How He Thinks About Overlooked Opportunities, Focusing on a Sector Rather Than Becoming Opportunistic, and How One of His Portfolio Companies Was Able to Pivot Successfully

Our guest today is Han Shen. Han is the Founding Partner of iFly.vc, an early-stage seed/VC fund based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The fund follows a sector-thesis driven process and aims to build a concentrated portfolio with meaningful value add to entrepreneurs. We discuss the different sectors he's focused in, how he became a VC and how he thinks about uncovered opportunities.

And there you have it. Han, thank you again for your time. You can follow Han on Twitter at @*Han_Shen*

A few books that inspired Han professionally is David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell and The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling.

Some of the questions I ask Han -

1. What attracted you initially to venture capital?
2. Tell me how iFly.VC came together?
3. At iFly.VC, I know you take a very thematic, sector driven approach. We’ve had quite a few VCs that are more generalists, if a founder has a choice in taking capital from a fund that is more sector driven vs. generalist, what are some of the advantages when choosing an investor that is thematic?
4. What sectors or trends are you particularly interested in?
5. When it comes to food deliver and specialty food, what do you think is most overlooked?
6. Walk me through your due diligence process.
7. Has it been tough finding conviction within founders during COVID?
8. What’s one thing you would change when it came to venture capital?
9. What’s your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it?
10. What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
11. Harry Potter Series - friendship
12. Malcolm Gladwell - David and Goliath
13. What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?