2/03/22 – Episode 14
Chris spent the beginning of his career building companies as a founder, an experience that he attributes to his success as an investor. Range Ventures was born out of the desire to grow Colorado into the next billion-dollar market over the next 10 years. On today’s episode, Emily and Chris chat about why Range would pass on a deal, the Range field trip, and how they use empathy as their value add.
About Chris Erickson:
Chris Erickson received his B.S. in Computer Engineering from Northwestern University and his MBA from Stanford. He started his career at Boston Consulting Group and then embarked on his entrepreneurial journey when co-founding Apartment List in 2011. He led as COO there until 2020, before co-founding Range Ventures where he is now Managing Partner.
In this episode with Chris, you’ll learn:
- His own entrepreneurial journey with Apartment List
- What brought him to Denver to start Range Ventures
- How he went from angel investing to venture capital
- What he sees for Colorado’s tech startup scene
- Range Ventures’ investment thesis
- What they look for in a founding team
- Their value-add beyond capital
- The “Range Field Trip”
- His advice for both founders and investors
- His future goals for himself and for Range Ventures
- Which word he would use to describe his investment strategy
Mentioned in this episode…
Companies:
Range Ventures
Apartment List
Boston Consulting Group
soona
Nomad
People:
Chris Erickson
Adam Burrows
Liz Giorgi
Matt Thelen
Enjoy this episode and subscribe to Portfolio Pitch wherever you listen to your podcasts!
