The Dart Board with Daniel Dart

The Dart Board x FUTURE TITANS is proud to present Ron Biscardi of iConnections in conversation with Bill Gurley, longtime Benchmark partner and one of the most influential venture capitalists of the past two decades. Recorded live at the FUTURE TITANS Emerging Manager Summit, Bill discusses the themes behind his new book Running Down a Dream and the idea that great careers often begin when someone gives themselves permission to pursue what they truly care about.In this conversation, Bill reflects on the career pivots that shaped his path—from engineering to Wall Street to venture capital—and shares lessons for founders and investors navigating today’s market.We also discuss the current AI boom, why real technological revolutions often come with bubbles and speculation, the growing concentration of capital in venture, and why the industry still tilts toward young investors willing to out-hustle the competition.

The Dart Board x FUTURE TITANS is proud to present Jeff Perry of Carta in conversation with Seth Levine, partner and co-founder of Foundry, a Boulder-based venture firm managing over $4 billion across multiple funds. With more than 25 years in venture, Seth shares the lessons he learned building Foundry from an emerging manager into one of the industry’s most respected firms.Recorded live at the FUTURE TITANS Emerging Manager Summit, Seth discusses why venture is ultimately an influence business, how emerging managers should think about building partnerships and scaling themselves, and why entry valuation rarely determines the outcome of a great investment.We also explore the challenges facing emerging managers today, the growing concentration of venture capital, and Seth’s perspective on how capitalism itself is evolving.

The Dart Board x FUTURE TITANS is proud to present Mike Chalfen of Chalfen Ventures, one of Europe’s most iconic venture investors and a pioneer of the solo GP model. Investing since the early days of the internet, Mike shares the lessons that shaped his approach to venture and why he ultimately chose to build his own firm.Recorded live at the FUTURE TITANS Emerging Manager Summit, we discuss how emerging managers should define their investment swim lane, why early-stage companies often don’t benefit from formal boards, and the one metric Mike believes every investor should track: promises made versus promises fulfilled.We also explore portfolio concentration, making non-consensus bets, and why trying to see every deal in venture is, in Mike’s words, 'the path to madness.'

Bill Gurley, longtime Benchmark partner and author, shares his path from engineer to top venture capitalist. He explores obsessive learning, how to find and test a passion, and why going where the action is accelerates growth. He warns against the resume arms race, explains the value of reading and public writing, and discusses AI’s role in future-proofing careers.

Meet Mike Knoop — co-founder of Zapier, co-founder of Arc Prize, and co-founder of the NDEA AI Lab. In this wide-ranging conversation, Mike shares his journey from building one of the most capital-efficient SaaS companies ever to taking big swings at the frontier of artificial intelligence.We dive into why scaling language models alone won’t get us to AGI, how benchmarks like ARC expose the limits of today’s systems, and why program synthesis may be the missing piece. We close with what it means to build technology that truly expands human potential, innovation, and adaptation.

Meet Zal Bilimoria, founder & solo GP at Refactor Capital, a seed-stage fund focused on bio, climate, energy, aerospace, and other hard-but-world-changing industries.We discuss his 10-year journey building Refactor, how his product years at Google/Netflix/LinkedIn shaped his investing lens, and what he learned from launching A16Z’s first bio fund. We talk portfolio construction, ownership discipline, navigating follow-ons in an AI-inflated market, and how he supports founders in the fast, messy early days.Zal also discusses setbacks, down rounds, pay-to-plays, and the moments that shaped his perspective as an investor and partner to founders.

Seth Levine, co-founder of Foundry Group and author of Capital Evolution, dives into the evolution of his $4B platform and his decision to stop raising future funds. He highlights how venture capital can empower communities while discussing capitalism as a social compact. Seth delves into the importance of adaptability, sharing personal anecdotes about humility and life’s unexpected turns. He advises founders on cultivating company culture and underscores the need for gathering information over panic during critical decisions.

Meet Jessica McKellar, CEO and co-founder of Pilot. In this episode, she shares how she built three successful startups, including exits to Oracle and Dropbox, and breaks down why staying close to customers is a must for shaping strategy and culture.Jessica explains why founders should keep selling long after scaling begins—and how great teams come from values alignment, not titles.She also reflects on the lessons of being uncool and how empathy, integrity, and curiosity became her biggest superpowers as a leader.

Meet Aaron Epstein, partner at Y Combinator and co-founder of Creative Market. From building his first software as a teenager to selling his startup to Autodesk and later spinning it out again, Aaron’s story is one of curiosity, grit, and reinvention.In this conversation, he and Daniel talk about what YC looks for in founders, why great founders matter more than great ideas, and the power of focus in building something lasting. Aaron also shares lessons on failure, fear, and why creating opportunity for others is the ultimate success.

Meet Vanessa Larco, co-founder of the new venture firm Premise and former NEA partner. In this episode, Vanessa joins Daniel to talk about why she left one of the world’s largest VC firms to start her own, how she and her co-founder built Premise from first principles, and what she looks for in truly magnetic founders. They also dive into why consumer tech is on the verge of a new boom, her belief that discomfort is a signal you’re on the right path, and the hard tradeoffs of building while raising a family.