OLIVIA GOLDSTEIN
Olivia Goldstein, General Partner at StartFast Ventures and CEO of Upstate Venture Connect, joins VC.fm to discuss venture capital, startup ecosystems, and why some of the best founders and companies can be built far outside Silicon Valley. Olivia shares her founder journey—including building a startup powered by influencer marketing and exiting in 2019—and how that experience shaped her investing approach. We dive into investing in overlooked markets like Upstate New York, practical fundraising advice for founders outside traditional hubs, and emerging opportunities in entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), small business succession, and real-world cash-flowing assets as labor markets and AI continue to shift.
Investing Outside Silicon Valley + Building Upstate NY Startups
Olivia Goldstein (StartFast Ventures) on raising VC outside Silicon Valley, building Upstate NY startup ecosystems, ETA, and small business acquisition.
In this episode of The Venture Capital Podcast (VC.fm), hosts Jon Bradshaw and Peter Harris sit down with Olivia Goldstein, General Partner at StartFast Ventures and CEO of Upstate Venture Connect, to discuss venture capital, startup ecosystems, and why the best founders and companies can be built far outside Silicon Valley.
Olivia shares her founder journey (including building a startup that used influencer marketing and exiting in 2019), her thesis on investing in overlooked markets like Upstate New York, and practical advice for founders raising venture capital from non-traditional hubs.
The conversation also explores emerging opportunities in entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), small business succession as baby boomers retire, and how AI and shifting labor markets may push more people toward owning real-world cash-flowing assets.
Keywords and topics:
Venture capital, StartFast Ventures, Upstate Venture Connect, Upstate New York startups, Buffalo startups, Rochester startups, Syracuse startups, B2B SaaS investing, startup ecosystem, founder-led companies, fundraising advice, entrepreneurship through acquisition, ETA, small business acquisition, SBA loans, VC opinions, investing outside Silicon Valley.
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