Hi HN! Happy to answer questions here, which is funny because this is where it all really started for me back in 2007 when I was first thinking of starting my first company. I started as an HN reader working at a friend's startup, applied to YC and got in, became a YC partner, and then an early stage investor. We're engineers and designers and product folks, and most investors aren't still (which is crazy, right?) so…
Clearly one unique value proposition of your fund is that sweet combination of check amount, time to close, and stage of investment. That's certainly appealing.
But I've learned over time that I care most for my fellow founders in the trenches. I love my people. And with your fund, the people involved – especially those in your portfolio – appears to be a huge draw.
I've had the privilege of interacting with at least a few founders of your portfolio companies and to a person they are all stellar. Fred of Rainforest and Brad and Matt of SendWithUs were all kind enough to come on our fledgling little podcast (thanks again!). And I first spoke to Jarrett of EasyPost as he dove into responding to my support emails; still wear my EasyPost t-shirt all the time!
Some questions that popped into my head while reading:
- One of YC's great strengths is your community of peers. How do you plan to create such a community within your portfolio?
- How strong a hand do you expect to have in guiding your investments? (Trying to get the mental model right of where you'd sit between an AngelList syndicate, a YC, or a full-service firm like a16z.)
- Do you expect to be amenable to alternative exits, for example distributions at some multiple, a la Indie.vc?
- Why are your checks typically in the $500K - $1M range? (Personally not sure my company would need that much capital, so I would like to be careful of being cash rich as much as cash poor.)