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Rick Zullo
@Rick_Zullo
Founder / Managing Partner at @EqualVentures - Investing in the future of climate, insurance, retail and supply chain
New York, NY
equalventures.substack.com
Joined June 2012
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    May 12
    1) I’m excited to announce @EqualVentures’s 5th Annual Emerging Manager Circle Summit 8 years ago, this was just a few of us swapping stories, trying to help each other. I couldn’t imagine what EMC would become Now, we need events like EMC more than ever
    Announcing the 5th Annual Emerging Manager Circle Summit
    From newsletter.equal.vc
    4.1K
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Jul 1, 2022
    Noticed that McKinsey has a special talent in producing talent that will present themselves as the smartest folks in the room even when they have no clue what they are talking about. What is the most ridiculous thing you’ve seen a McKinsey consultant say/do?
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Jul 1, 2022
    Replying to @Rick_Zullo
    In a room of seasoned energy executives with hundreds of years of experience deploying tens of billions of $ in successful projects, a MCK consultant 3 months out of bschool puts his feet up on the chair next to him and says “let me tell you the HBS school of thought on this”
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Jul 2, 2022
    Replying to @Rick_Zullo
    Retailer seeing margin compression from increased competition. MCK consultant recommends raising prices to increase margins. Client asks “but won’t that impact demand?” MCK consultant responds “right, you might want to hire a pricing consultant to take a look at that”
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Jul 2, 2022
    Replying to @Rick_Zullo
    First week at bschool, MCK consultant tells me that he does “strategy” and Deloitte (where I worked) didn’t Me: So what did you do? Him: Strategic cost realignment Me: What’s that? Him: Identify labor cost synergies and reorganizations Me: You mean, fire people? Him: Well, yeah
    GIF
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Jun 15, 2024
    Replying to @kwharrison13
    Remember a quote from one of their investors boasting that this would be bigger than Uber (this quote has since been wiped from the internet) When we got together, I asked “but Uber is a marketplace demonstrating massive network effects without assets, you guys have to spend
    180K
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Jul 2, 2022
    Replying to @BCitisHARD
    100% disagree. Been in client service for 15 years (as a consultant and now as a VC), and u establish trust by saying “im here to listen, u are the expert of ur business, Im just here to help u accelerate that, by leveraging tools that ive seen be successful before. I work for u”
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Jan 28, 2022
    There are 3 ways to get alpha in VC: 1) Invest in companies before it's consensus 2) Help non-consensus companies outperform 3) Have founders take your $ at a lower price If you're not doing one (or all) of these, you're underestimating the competition.
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Oct 23, 2022
    1) “Moats” are a term thrown around a lot in startup circles In reality, companies don’t build moats, they build "CAPABILITIES" that yield them We’ve created a simplified, but exhaustive framework for capabilities that create company defining moats
    Companies Build “Capabilities” Before They Build “Moats”
    From medium.com
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Mar 31, 2022
    An investor told me that they just saw a 4x liquidation preference in a TS for the first time in years Be forewarned, aggressive terms are the first sign of a crunch
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Aug 18, 2023
    Back in 2015, I was leading my first investment as a VC. It was a NYC based company in the HR space led by two non-technical founders who went to a state school, neither of which had ever worked at a startup (they came from finance). When I tried to syndicate the deal with
    150K
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    May 29, 2025
    This is the single greatest flaw of VC Huge topic at a VC dinner I was at last night and while I don’t universally agree, sometimes doing the right thing (what helps you “win”) is NOT the popular thing We see board members who are happy to watch a company implode, rather than
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    prayingforexits 🏴‍☠️
    @mrexits
    May 29, 2025
    Friendly reminder
    129K
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Mar 8, 2022
    1) Next year of venture seems like it will likely look VERY different than that of the last 3-5 years. Here’s what VC in a bear market could mean: 1) fundamentals matter 2) path toward profitability matters 3) preference matters 4) VC continuity matters 5) flight to quality 🧵
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    Rick Zullo
    @Rick_Zullo
    Mar 24, 2025
    This is why VC is broken right now Whole swaths of the VC ecosystem think: 1) that every good deal is concensus 2) that "research" is simply doing a market map 3) that the core skill of venture is knowing what deals are hot, rather than building independent conviction
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    Jonathan Lacoste
    @lacostejonathan
    Mar 24, 2025
    The role of VC analysts & associates has permanently changed Access > Analysis AI can now handle majority of market research & memo writing The next generation will primarily win by bringing elite founder & talent networks to the firm
    63K