Welcome to the Shawn Jenkins Podcast, a podcast on how to build and grow software and cloud companies. In this episode, we have a fascinating conversation with Raheel (“Raz”) Zia, cofounder of Aldrich Capital Partners.
I first met Raz in 2006 when he was a managing director with Goldman Sachs. He led Goldman’s investment in my company and served on my board of directors through our initial public offering. Raz has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master’s in Advanced Computing from London University.
He cofounded and was the CEO of Knumi, a mobile application software company. He led the successful sale of Knumi and then went on to help launch the growth equity practice at Goldman Sachs. In 2014 Raz cofounded Aldridge Capital Partners, which invests in growing software, cloud, and healthcare technology companies.
In our conversation, we cover a wide range of topics, including how founders can best select an investment partner, negotiating valuation and investment terms, building great boards of directors, managing through difficult economic periods, the best financial metrics for your leadership to focus on, and forming partnerships to grow your business.
We also spend a good bit of time on the personal side of developing yourself to have perseverance, finding and working with mentors, and enjoying the journey of building and investing in technology companies. Please enjoy my conversation with Raz, and if you have questions that you’d like to hear covered in future episodes or recommendations for future guests, please email me at shawnjenkinsblog@gmail.com. Thanks and enjoy.
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