Our Philosophy

People over Product

We have built the entire firm around a premise that helping entrepreneurs get started and scale will be our life's work.

To that end, we have six core principles that drive our decisions and strategy.

1. Day One Investors

We want to invest in your first institutional round of investment. We do not have requirements for traction or metrics. We want to be part of the company as early as possible.

2. Unproven ≠ Incapable

We are unafraid to back unproven, first-time entrepreneurs who haven't yet had the chance to show the world their talents. We are equally drawn to experienced repeat founders building their next venture. In both cases, we look for people with something to prove.

3. Broad Networks, Wide Reach

We hold ourselves to high standards in terms of the diversity of founders we back and support. We are committed to investing in founders who represent a wide variety of backgrounds in terms of gender, race, academic experience, and life circumstances.

4. Long-Term Patience

We are patient because building meaningful companies takes time and the rewards are great for those who participate in the entire journey. We focus on long-term thinking.

5. Intellectual Curiosity

We value intellectual curiosity and open thinking. The best companies are built by curious founders who question everything and are open to thinking about new ways to tackle problems.

6. Team > Market > Product

Our analysis starts first and foremost with the team. We believe that the hardest thing to change in a startup's DNA is the founding team. Almost as important is the market. Even great teams can struggle if their energies and talents are pointed in the wrong direction.

What Founders Should Know

On the practical side, there are a few things we want all founders to know before they approach us.

Geography
We invest in early-stage companies headquartered in North America (USA, Canada, and Mexico). We are willing to consider other geographies, but we focus our energy in these locations.

Check Size
We typically invest up to $500,000 in pre-seed and seed rounds. Our goal is to be a meaningful investor in your first round but to also leave room for syndication.

Follow-On
We have reserves to participate in subsequent rounds of investment. We want to support the entrepreneurs we back through the lifecycle of the company.

Sectors
We are a generalist firm that invests in known and unknown areas of software and hardware. While our investment focus themes change over time, we keep an open, curious mind in our desire to learn about emerging areas and invest ahead of trends.

Pace
We make 30-40 new investments per year on average. We believe this pace allows us to work with a wide network of founders while also being available to support those we have funded as they need help.