In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet, Mehmet sits down with Mike Collins, founder and CEO of Alumni Ventures. Collins has spent four decades in venture capital and built a firm designed to give individual investors access to diversified private-market portfolios.
AI can help investors discover companies and process information, but it cannot make a strong startup accept their capital. The conversation reframes venture investing as an access and portfolio-construction problem, not a search problem. It also challenges the idea that occasional angel checks provide the same exposure as a professionally managed venture portfolio.
If you are investing in startups, allocating capital to private markets, or building a company that raises institutional funding, this conversation clarifies how access, diversification, network value, and time determine venture outcomes.
About the Guest
Mike Collins is the founder and CEO of Alumni Ventures, a venture capital firm serving accredited investors. He began his venture capital career in 1986 at TA Associates and later attended Harvard Business School, where he became friends with innovation scholar Clayton Christensen.
Collins has spent his career at the intersection of venture capital, entrepreneurship, and investing. Alumni Ventures has invested in approximately 1,800 companies and built a network intended to help portfolio companies with customer introductions, recruiting, capital connections, and market access.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-collins-362100/
Website: https://www.av.vc
Key Takeaways
- AI can identify startups, but it cannot secure allocation in the strongest venture rounds.
- Venture capital becomes gambling when investors make isolated bets without portfolio discipline.
- The best startups choose investors for network value, not because they need another small check.
- Public-market portfolios increasingly miss value created while companies remain private.
- Venture returns depend on owning enough companies to capture a small number of outliers.
- Even experienced investors cannot reliably predict which companies will generate most returns.
- Staying private gives successful founders more control over liquidity, governance, and operating timelines.
- Long-term discipline matters more than reacting to valuation cycles, market excitement, or daily price movements.
Episode Highlights
00:00 — Mike Collins brings four decades of venture experience
03:30 — Public markets no longer capture the full equity opportunity
06:30 — Random startup investments remain a form of gambling
09:00 — Diversification changes the risk profile of venture capital
14:30 — AI cannot solve the venture access problem
19:00 — Strong portfolios require fifty to one hundred companies
23:30 — AI valuations require discipline, not extreme conclusions
30:30 — Power-law returns defeat attempts to pick every winner
33:00 — Great founders combine conviction, vision, and endurance
41:00 — Networks help venture firms win competitive allocations
48:00 — Technology progress still rewards patience over speculation
Listen Now
Available on all major podcast platforms and YouTube
Connect with the Show
Follow The CTO Show with Mehmet for more conversations at the intersection of technology, startups, and venture capital.
