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A member of the founding team of Product Hunt and a LinkedIn veteran are teaming up to invest in early-stage startups. Sources tell us that Erik Torenberg, who was employee No. 1 at Product Hunt, and Ben Casnocha, who served as chief of staff and co-author to LinkedIn\u2019s Reid Hoffman, are raising $50 million\u00a0for a\u00a0new investment vehicle.<\/p>\n
Over the past several years, Torenberg has established himself as one of the\u00a0best-connected entrepreneurs and networkers in Silicon Valley. He first hit the scene with his startup Rapt.fm<\/a>, which\u00a0he launched as a platform to enable live rap battles.<\/p>\n Torenberg\u00a0then spent some time as an associate for Nas\u2019 QueensBridge Venture Partners before joining Product Hunt in early 2014. He left that gig\u00a0last summer and has spent his time since advising and investing in startups, as well as hosting a series of dinners and meetups through\u00a0a networking group he founded called On Deck<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Casnocha spent several years as Reid Hoffman\u2019s chief of staff and co-authored the HR management and career advice books\u00a0The Alliance<\/a> and The Start-up of You<\/a> with the LinkedIn founder. Since leaving that role, he has run a management consulting agency called Allied Talent focused on bringing the framework of The Alliance to more organizations.<\/p>\n Prior to his time at LinkedIn, Casnocha spent some time at investment firm and incubator Wasabi Ventures<\/a>, and was also founder of Comcate<\/a>, a\u00a0startup\u00a0selling software to make municipalities and government agencies more efficient.<\/p>\n Sources tell us that the pair are actively fundraising and targeting a final close of $50 million. That said,\u00a0the investment vehicle they raise might not have the usual\u00a0structure of a traditional two- or three-person seed\u00a0fund. Instead,\u00a0the two are looking to build\u00a0a broader network of \u201cscouts\u201d for deal flow and diligence, according to a\u00a0source familiar with their plans.<\/p>\n We\u2019re likely to learn more once their fundraising\u00a0is closed and the two are ready to deploy capital. In the meantime, Torenberg declined to comment for this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/04\/casnocha-torenberg.jpg?w=680\")
A member of the founding team of Product Hunt and a LinkedIn veteran are teaming up to invest in early-stage startups. Sources tell us that Erik Torenberg, who was employee No. 1 at Product Hunt, and Ben Casnocha, who served as chief of staff and co-author to LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman, are raising $50 million for a new investment vehicle. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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