At Context Ventures we’ve taken an extensive look at the benefits of meeting Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) requirements defined under Section 1202 of the IRS’s code of 1984. Tax law is unsettled in certain circumstances, but we hope these notes will help with your investment decisions as you think about the tax ramifications of different term sheets. Please also reference our disclaimer at the bottom of this essay.  

As a veteran-founded fund, Context Ventures holds a deep conviction in the ability and resilience of veteran entrepreneurs to lead, adapt, and make decisions in stressful and ambiguous environments. We’ve collected a number of notes over the years based on our meetings with veteran and non veteran founders on how to effectively run a pitch meeting with investors. These tips are intended to help founders with executing a great pitch in order to secure investor interest and raise capital to grow your company. 

Military background: Served for five years in the US Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer with tours on USS DECATUR DDG-73 and USS CARNEY DDG-64.

This Tuesday (7/11), Greylock and Context Ventures are bringing together military veterans & spouses: founders, investors, and operators to discuss startups and technology. This event will take place on Tuesday, July 11th, from 5:00-7:00 PM PT in downtown San Francisco at Greylock’s new San Francisco office.

Transitioning veterans need to build a deep and broad network if they want to flourish professionally. This is why at The Military Veteran (a Context VC portfolio-backed company) we started civilian professional development events for military veterans who are now, or soon will be, civilian professionals.

Happy Birthday America👏💯🎆!! I can’t believe 2026 will be the 250th birthday of America!

Military background: Nine years in the US Navy as a nuclear reactor operator (ETN) onboard the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) & USS La Jolla (MTS 701).

My kids last day of school was yesterday. I saw both of them reading these two comic books last night. These are definitely parent approved summer reading.

I describe myself as a content carnivore (I devour content) and content omnivore in terms of consuming all types of media: movies, music, news, podcasts, etc…

oday I spoke with a number of AAPI military veteran founders as part of Bunker Labs programming. Kyle Aquino 🔱 asked me talk about the subject of "How to Start and Grow a Business (Best Practices)."

I attend at least one conference/event a week. Sometimes three a week! I started attending so many events pre-pandemic that as the pandemic was ending I decided I would start hosting events as I missed seeing people during the pandemic. I’ve started running so many events that I now occasionally tell others that I’m a “community organizer.”

We just sent out an email to thousands of military veteran founders, VCs, operators, and allies. In the next few years to decades there will be consequential companies founded and led by military veteran founders. We are humbled to be part of this ecosystem and look forward to seeing the results of everyone’s hard work in the military veteran community.

In Venture Capital (VC): An American History Tom Nicholas writes: “It is often argued that venture capital means investing in three areas: people, technology, and markets…Arthur Rock, a pivotal venture capitalist responsible for some of Silicon Valley’s most influential investments, focused largely on the people side. Tom Perkins, cofounder of Kleiner Perkins, filtered investments through the lens of technology. And Don Valentine, founder of Sequoia Capital, emphasized the importance of market size.”

Yesterday and today the Context VC team is at the Rice Business - Jones Graduate School of Business for the 9th Veteran Business Battle. It’s the only veteran focused pitch competition run by a veteran student club and it's fantastic!

This past weekend, I attended my 10-year law school reunion. I went to law school partially out of desperation. When I transitioned out of the military in 2009-2010 I couldn’t get a job, so my parents encouraged me to apply to graduate schools. On the first day of law school, I remember Dean Larry Kramer telling the highly ambitious class to relax and that we would all do alright. He told us to stop grasping for gold stars and instead focus on learning from professors and our classmates and reminded us that Stanford Law School had a grade non-disclosure program.