125: What It’s Like To Build A Venture Capital Fund w/ Craig Vachon, Chowdahead Growth Fund [Main T4C episode]

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Craig Vachon is the founder and managing partner of Chowdahead Growth Fund, a seed investment firm based in California. Vachon has dedicated the last 12 years to investing in companies whose mission is to make the world a better place, profitably. One of the first companies Chowdahead invested in almost a decade ago is AnchorFree, a company providing technology for consumers to access an unfettered, but safer and more secure Internet.  This was years before any whiff of problems with Facebook or Google selling consumers data as a revenue generator. Before becoming passionate about the intersection of venture capital and entrepreneurship, Craig was fascinated with the world of telecommunications specifically with digital devices which can be traced back to the ‘90s, when he worked in Japan for companies including Dentsu, Sony, McCaw and AT&T. While he took on roles as a numbers guy, analyzing data in many of his jobs, Vachon actually studied communications at Emerson College as both an undergrad and graduate student.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:

• What it means to make the world a better place profitably
• What the phrase “chowdahead” means to Vachon and his outlook on life
• How young people interested in startups should position themselves in order to be successful
• How Vachon transitioned from academia to telecommunications to venture capital and entrepreneurship
• How Vachon actually created his own job after graduating
• Why you should be a ‘yes’ man or woman to get ahead in your career
• How to persevere after what feels like an epic failure  
• Why it’s important to be comfortable with who you are