Webinar
VC 301: Venture Capital Insights
Join Rob Adams, Executive Partner at Alumni Ventures, and Hilary Ncala, EVP Investor Relations, for a deep look inside how venture capitalists actually evaluate a deal — the scorecards, signals, and screens that turn 500+ monthly opportunities into a small handful of investments worth backing.
In this session, Rob Adams and Hilary Ncala will walk through the disciplined, multi-step process Alumni Ventures uses to source, screen, and select investments — including the 4-category scorecard (Deal Dynamics, Lead Investor, Execution, and Team) the team uses to evaluate every opportunity, the 120-point grading framework behind each decision, and how AV co-invests alongside leading firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla, NEA, and Founders Fund.
The conversation will move through real portfolio examples — from Radiant in advanced microreactors, to TRM in blockchain intelligence, to Replit in AI-native software creation, to RapidSOS in emergency response — to show how each scorecard category gets applied in practice.
Whether you’re a current Alumni Ventures investor sharpening your understanding of how the team makes decisions, or an accredited investor evaluating venture capital with a more critical eye, this session will give you a clear, frameworks-driven view of how professional VCs separate signal from noise. Register to walk away with a disciplined, repeatable lens for evaluating any venture opportunity — and a clearer sense of what really drives outcomes in the asset class.
Why Attend?
- HomeDiscover the 4-category scorecard — Deal Dynamics, Lead Investor, Execution, and Team — that drives every Alumni Ventures investment decision, illustrated with real portfolio examples
- HomeUnderstand how AV screens 500+ opportunities monthly down to ~20–25 investments at a ~4.5% selection rate, and why the co-investment model with top-tier VCs sits at the core of the strategy
- HomeLearn the diligence frameworks experienced venture investors use — and apply that same disciplined lens to your own evaluation of any venture opportunity
Rated a Top 20 VC Firm by both TIME and CB Insights.
Alumni Ventures is America’s largest venture capital firm for individual investors.
About your presenters
Rob is a former entrepreneur, institutional fund manager, and software executive. He has served on many corporate boards and has founded or financed more than 40 companies, raising capital in both public and private markets. He is an internationally recognized expert and speaker on innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship. Most recently, Rob was on the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin, where he taught entrepreneurship in the MBA program and was the Founder and Director of Texas Venture Labs. He was CEO and Founder of Business Matters, a venture-backed developer of financial modeling products that was acquired. He was also an executive with Pervasive Software, a company he helped take public. Rob holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue, an MBA from Babson’s Olin School of Management, and a PhD in Management from Capella University.
Hilary is a senior leader in financial services with more than 15 years of experience working with investors across market cycles. Since joining Alumni Ventures in 2016, she has been instrumental in building and scaling the firm’s investor relations function, leading high-performing teams and partnering closely with investment, finance, legal, and operations groups to support investors throughout the lifecycle of their venture portfolios with rigor and transparency. Her background in retirement investment planning, including earlier Series 7 and 63 licensure, informs a disciplined perspective on portfolio construction, risk management, liquidity considerations, and long-term capital allocation. Hilary is known for her ability to bring clarity to complex investment topics and for upholding a thoughtful, investor-first experience. She graduated summa cum laude from Fisher College and is currently pursuing her MBA at Boston University.