Tech Scenes Beverly Hills with Winter Mead of Coolwater Capital
In this episode of Tech Scenes Beverly Hills, we take a ride with Winter Mead, the founder and managing member of Coolwater Capital, an investment firm specializing in emerging managers and technology investments. Winter is also the author of the insightful book, "How To Raise A Venture Capital Fund," and operates Coolwater, an academy dedicated to training, building, and scaling emerging managers. With over 240 emerging managers trained in the last four years, Winter brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.
Winter’s impressive career includes helping build and invest in an evergreen fund at SAP, where he co-founded the LP transparency movement #OpenLP. He has also worked as a private equity and venture capital investor at a large multi-family office in San Francisco, completing seventy-nine institutional investments and over twenty-five additional investments since leaving his institutional allocator role. As junior faculty at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Winter taught Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship, sharing his expertise with the next generation of investors and entrepreneurs.
Coolwater Capital's mission is to create a new model for launching, building, and scaling emerging fund managers. Their programs include Coolwater Build, a virtual cohort program for emerging managers, and Coolwater Explore, a virtual program for angel investors to build and organize their portfolio investments.
In this episode, Winter discusses the inspiration behind Coolwater, the challenges and opportunities for emerging fund managers, and the unique approach of Coolwater cohorts in building VC firms and growth companies. He shares insights from his book, which serves as a comprehensive guide on raising a venture capital fund, revealing the secrets of LP diligence, best practices in fundraising, and the intricate dynamics of the VC world.
Whether you are an aspiring venture capitalist, an emerging fund manager, or simply interested in the venture capital ecosystem, this episode offers valuable insights from one of the industry's leading experts. Join us as we explore Winter’s journey, the evolution of Coolwater Capital, and the strategies that drive success in the world of venture capital.
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About the author
Jeff James MartinCEO and Founder, Collective Genius
Jeff James Martin is the Founder and CEO of Collective Genius, creator of Peak OS, and author of Peak Teams. He works with growth and mission-critical organizations to improve alignment, accountability, execution, and team performance. Over the past two decades, Jeff has helped hundreds of founders, executives, and leadership teams build stronger operating rhythms and scale through increasing complexity. He is also the host of Tech Scenes, where he interviews founders, investors, and operators on leadership, innovation, and organizational performance.
About Peak OS
Peak OS is the operating system for organizational execution. Designed for growth-stage and mission-critical organizations, Peak OS helps leadership teams align priorities, establish operating rhythm, improve accountability, and maintain visibility as organizational complexity increases. By creating a consistent framework for communication, planning, and execution, Peak OS helps teams reduce execution drift and turn strategy into measurable outcomes. Learn more: Collective Genius
About Collective Genius
Collective Genius helps founders, executive teams, and growing organizations improve organizational execution through leadership coaching, operating systems, strategic facilitation, and Team-of-Teams alignment. Our work focuses on helping organizations scale without losing clarity, accountability, communication, or momentum. Learn more: Collective Genius
About Peak Teams
Peak Teams: Mastering the Habits of Unstoppable Venture-Backed Companies explores the leadership habits, operating rhythms, accountability systems, and execution principles used by high-performing organizations. The book provides practical frameworks for leaders seeking to build aligned teams and execute consistently as complexity grows. Learn more: Peak Teams book
Learn More
Explore additional insights on organizational execution, operating rhythm, leadership, team alignment, business operating systems, artificial intelligence, and the future of work through the Collective Genius Insights platform. Visit: Collective Genius Insights
Music by Andrew Applepie - https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie
