The Kurty D Show
063 - Brewed to Perfection with Brett Brewer
Episode Summary
Today, we have a special guest, my friend and advisor, Brett Brewer. We're privileged to present a rare, insightful interview with one of the most esteemed and influential figures in the Los Angeles tech market and beyond. In this episode, we explore Brett's journey through entrepreneurship and investing, his impact on the tech community, and his various philanthropic initiatives, such as co-chairing Alliance Charter Schools and LA Tech Cares. Brett wasted no time; at age 17, he started doing real estate deals. During the dot-com boom of the late '90s, he founded Intermix Media, which owned and catalyzed MySpace, leading to its landmark acquisition by News Corp. After the MySpace sale, Brett took the helm at AdKnowledge, grew it to $300M in revenue in two years, and subsequently sold the business. Brett's story is inspiring—he took his winnings and expertise and reinvested them back into the LA tech market by co-founding Crosscut Ventures with Brian Garrett and Rick Smith in 2008. Over the past 15 years, Crosscut has invested in over 175 startups, profoundly shaping LA's tech landscape. The interview is great, so stay tuned for Brett’s memorable “Brettisms”—pearls of wisdom that stick with you long after you hear them.
Episode Notes
Episode Highlights:
- How Did Brett Brewer's Early Real Estate Ventures Shape His Entrepreneurial Journey
- The difficulty of raising pre-seed financing, the role of accelerators and incubators, and the process of raising $300,000 for the business.
- The impact of the dotcom crash on e-commerce businesses and the shift to casual game development.
- The launch of Myspace, and the initial user engagement strategy.
- Brett's role in scaling Ad Knowledge, its rapid growth, and eventual sale to TPG and other private equity firms.
- The founding of CrossCut Ventures, and the evolution of its investment focus.
- The challenges of recruiting talent to LA, the evolution of the LA tech ecosystem, and CrossCut's role in connecting and supporting the community.
- The difficulties and challenges faced by venture capitalists.
- The significance of technology in education and the need to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots in accessing educational resources.
- Brett Brewer's investment philosophy and insights into private versus public markets, influenced by Annie Duke's book "Thinking in Bets.”
Tweetable Quotes:
- “Be the straw that serves to drink.” — Kurt
- “So that starts to become a self-fulfilling prophecy when you have that many smart people controlling that much capital living in the actual market.” —Brett
- “Understanding the best use of your time and how to be productive is a real challenge and ends up being the downfall of some VCs.” —Brett
- “Politics and infighting is the death of a startup.”—Brett
- “If you're gonna have an environment where people don't trust each other- where they can't give each other candid feedback, they will fail.”—Brett
- “And I think there's something really magical about being honest.—”Kurt
- “Culture isn't just values, it's the actual way ideas get put into practice. It's the behavior.”—Kurt
- “So it's more important than ever that as a society, we realize that we do have a moral imperative to invest in and believe in and educate all kids and give them a chance.” —Brett
- “Every individual and every company has a certain set of advantages. You have to take full advantage of them to greatly increase your chances of being successful.” —Brett
- “It's comforting when you realize there are just lots of things out of your control and the less time you spend worrying about them, the better off you'll be.”—Brett
- “You have to do something extraordinary and the only way you're gonna do something extraordinary is by actually doing some action.”—Brett
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