Editor’s note: The San Antonio Report is pleased to feature the weekly bigcitysmalltown podcast hosted by Robert Rivard, co-founder of the Report. We’ll be publishing a brief synopsis of the podcast each Tuesday.
If they’re lucky, San Antonio entrepreneurs and startups will cross paths with Cat Dizon, chief operating officer at venture capital firm Active Capital and chair of Geekdom’s board of directors.
Dizon, who spent more than a decade at Rackspace during its heyday, is one of San Antonio’s most influential investors and advisers. She also spent time at Alamo Angels, and through Geekdom, launched Women Founders Network last year.
Dizon walked through the state of investing in San Antonio today on this week’s episode of bigcitysmalltown, delineating the differences between angel investors and venture capital.
Her advice to local startups: there’s no downside to applying to Alamo Angels, the group of local accredited investors who fund in early-stage startups and offer monthly pitch events.
“It’s a great way to get into the network, understand our local investors and what they’re looking for,” she said. “You will either get funding, you will get great feedback on what you really need to do to get to the funding, or you may find a local advisor that happens to have expertise in your market.”
Dizon described Geekdom’s recent pivot from its early focus on tech startups to becoming startup agnostic, which has opened its doors to helping founders and fledgling companies of all types.
“I think that’s why this building is full, day-in and day-out,” she said from the third-floor Geekdom podcast studio.
And while she’s bullish on the increasing local investment opportunities — Rivard pointed out that San Antonio has been considered a city where a founder might need to leave to find capital — Dizon also cautioned that investors today are more cautious and “practical” than they were in 2020 and 2021.
“We have to see that you have had success in the past,” she said, because while investors are still investing, it’s “not at the rates that we once saw.”
Listen to the full episode here.
