#291: Jason Shuman of Primary Venture Partners, on How He Went from Failed Entrepreneur to Successful Venture Capitalist Before the Age of 30 and Why He is Passionate About Democratizing Access and Empowering Others

May 10, 2021

Jason Shuman has been working in New York as a VC for the past six years, and is currently a Partner at Primary Venture Partners, where he focuses his investing activities on marketplace startups, consumer tech, and prosumer acquisition models. In college, Jason launched a direct-to-consumer footwear company that sold hand-sewn boat shoes and driving moccasins. He later went on to work at New York-based seed fund Corigin Ventures, where he invested in several companies including the recently public enterprise smart lock company, Latch. Most recently, Jason was the Chief of Staff to Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) Co-Founder Mark Gerson, where he managed all venture and LP investments for Gerson’s family office. There, Shuman invested in companies including Botkeeper, The Guild and Bunker. His other responsibilities included corporate development, partnerships and strategy at Julius, a venture-backed influencer marketing software company. Jason is passionate about working with founders that impact consumer behavior and daily living. He earned his BBA in entrepreneurship and marketing from the University of Miami. In 2019, he was named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital and was listed by the Venture Capital Journal as one of Venture Capital's 40 rising stars.

Some of the Topics Covered by Jason Shuman in this Episode

• Where Primary Venture Partners is focusing its efforts
• How Jason became a founder and got into VC at a young age and how it aligns with his life mission
• Jason's experience sourcing deals while working as an Uber driver
• Jason's time at Corigin Ventures (now Alpaca VC) as an early hire
• How to spot potential in marketplace startups
• Where Jason is focusing his investments and why he is passionate about democratizing access
• Jason's diligence process for evaluating a company
• How to evaluate a founder's sense of urgency, speed of learning, resourcefulness, and ability to sell
• What sets Primary Venture Partners apart as a VC firm
• The importance of having a highly skilled portfolio impact team
• How Jason's deal-sourcing process has changed over the years
• How Primary Venture Partners is sourcing deals and supporting founders
• How they're approach using content and marketing to help the firm
• How COVID and the move online has changed how Jason accesses deals and why he prefers in-person meetings
• How Jason invests in his own learning, structures his time and optimizes his calendar
• Playing the long game and investing time in future founders
• Insight into Jason's decision-making process
• The challenge of turning down a deal and how Jason does it
• The benefits of working with a coach
• Jason's meditation and journaling practice
• Jason's advice for founders

Sign up for The Grind, for actionable insights and stories from successful entrepreneurs delivered to your inbox once per week: https://www.justgogrind.com/newsletter/

Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com/podcast/

Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212

Follow Justin Gordon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justingordon8/