North Carolina Business Minds
The newsrooms from Triad Business Journal, Charlotte Business Journal and Triangle Business Journal bring you the top stories and exclusive interviews from across the state of North Carolina throughout the month.
North Carolina Business Minds
Navigating NC's venture capital landscape
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Lauren Ohnesorge sits down with Jason Caplain, general partner and co-founder of Bull City Venture Partners, to trace his journey from 80th employee at Red Hat to one of the Triangle's most established venture capitalists. Jason shares how a $5 million first fund — raised during the dot-com crash — produced three IPOs, including two billion-dollar companies led by Goldman Sachs. They dig into what makes a great founder (hint: it's not the pitch deck), why the unicorn hype should concern you, how AI is reshaping both startups and VC, and what North Carolina can do to strengthen its entrepreneurial ecosystem. Jason also opens up about the current exit market challenges, the state of seed-stage investing in the Southeast, and why 80% of capital raised by NC startups comes from outside the state