E24: Rob Leclerc on Building AgFunder, the Biggest Media Platform & Venture Fund focused on Food & Ag

IntroRob Leclerc is the Cofounder and General Partner of AgFunder which is $300m AUM venture fund focused on food and agriculture. He also started AgFunder News which has over 100,000 subscribers and is the largest publication and source of news for the world of venture and startups focused on food & ag. In this conversation we discuss how media and venture have always gone together and how Rob was able to use that as a platform to build the venture business. We also dive into his personal story of why and how he got started in venture capital having no experience in the space. What people might not know is that AgFunder actually started out as a crowdfunding platform for food & ag startups and was part of the 500 Global accelerator. Watch on YouTube:Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction01:55 - From being un-hirable to a PhD and starting a VC Fund04:03 - The 2008 financial crisis and exposure to the Agriculture space07:47 - Going from computer science and philosophy to food and bio13:36 - The “Miserable Failure” of Rob’s first startup16:40 - Building the TechCrunch for AgTech22:28 - Going from media to venture and finding your own voice27:44 - 500 Global and the million-dollar demo day31:19 - Transitioning from Broker to Principal37:50 - “Trust can’t be rushed”, how that applies to fundraising42:21 - AgFunder’s business model and keeping storytelling alive51:35 - The evolution of AgFunder’s thesis1:00:26 - Managing customer relationships1:04:55 - What builds founder resilience1:08:58 - The true definition of agency and how do you inculcate that in kids1:13:48 - What’s more important agency or intelligence?1:14:56 - Rob’s vision for 20501:21:42 - Humanoid Robotics and the “Specialized vs. General” debate1:26:08 - Rob’s lessons in storytelling1:30:51 - Reputation through Reps: The intentional practice of the pitch1:38:04 - Closing questions, how does Rob build relationships This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethebuilders.us