Building a great product is one thing. Getting a company like Nvidia to put its name behind it is something else entirely.

In this episode of Build Mode, host and Startup Battlefield lead Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Sydney Sykes, who leads global venture capital alliances and partnerships at Nvidia, to unpack how startups break into the Nvidia ecosystem and what a corporate venture capital partnership actually looks like once they’re in.

Sydney explains how founders can get on Nvidia’s radar through programs like Nvidia Inception, why strategic alignment matters more than a slick pitch deck, and how corporate venture capital differs from traditional venture capital when it comes to fundraising, diligence, and deal terms. Drawing on her experience as an investor at NEA and Lightspeed Venture Partners, and as co-founder of BLCK VC, she also discusses access and representation in venture capital and how the AI boom is reshaping who gets funded. She closes with practical fundraising advice for founders hoping to build lasting relationships with corporate VCs like Nvidia.

Subscribe to Build Mode on⁠ Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, or⁠ wherever you like to listen⁠. And watch the full videos on⁠ YouTube⁠. New episodes of ⁠Build Mode⁠ drop every Thursday.

Chapters:
00:00 – Intro: How Startups Enter Nvidia’s Orbit
01:20 – Meet Sydney Sykes: From NEA to Lightspeed to Nvidia
03:18 – What Sydney Does as Nvidia’s VC Alliances Lead
04:20 – The AI Trends Nvidia Is Watching Across Verticals
07:47 – How Startups Can Enter the Nvidia Orbit
10:34 – What Nvidia’s “Stamp of Approval” Actually Looks Like
12:56 – How Startups Get Noticed by Corporates (Beyond Nvidia)
15:18 – Does a Corporate Stamp Move VCs to Write Checks?
19:41 – Access, Black VC, and Gatekeeping in Venture Capital
30:20 – Procurement vs. Corporate VC vs. Traditional VC, Explained
38:28 – Final Advice for Founders Chasing Corporate Partnerships

Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.