A recent episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast featured an insightful discussion with Jon McNeill, co-founder and partner of venture capital firm DVx Ventures. With decades of experience leading operations at iconic companies like Tesla and Lyft, McNeill has a unique perspective on entrepreneurship.
During the interview, McNeill described DVx Ventures’ novel approach to early-stage investing. Rather than merely funding external startup founders, the firm aims to conceptualize business ideas internally and build initial versions of companies from within. This allows DVx to have more involvement in the critical early development phases.
Two key advantages of DVx’s model were discussed. Firstly, by creating a minimum viable product before recruiting a CEO and team, more risks can be mitigated upfront. Secondly, the firm is better positioned to assist its portfolio companies with operational know-how since it participates in building the businesses from the ground up.
This hands-on methodology represents an evolution from traditional venture capital approaches. As McNeill argued, it leverages his decades of experience nurturing high-growth startups to give portfolio companies a strong foundation for long-term success.
To date, DVx has started and invested in 14 companies across industries like EVs, AI, consumer technology and more. The discussion provided useful insights for founders and investors alike on incubating disruptive business ideas from concept through scale. McNeill’s experiences at companies like Tesla and Lyft also offered an illuminating case study on what it takes to build iconic brands.
