Something Ventured -- Silicon Valley Podcast Lee Edwards of Root VC: "Let's get Technical!" -- An Engineer Becomes a VC
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Nov 11, 2025 Lee Edwards, General Partner at Root VC, is a former engineer and CTO with experience from iRobot to Teespring. He shares his unique journey from hands-on tech to venture capital, highlighting the magic of pair programming as an anti-slacking tactic. The conversation dives into the misunderstood realm of AI, the messy landscape of Web3, and why San Francisco remains the hub for innovation. Lee discusses the qualities of true technical VCs and why they’re key to finding the next big tech breakthrough in hard tech and robotics.
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Pair Programming Beats Solo Rabbit Holes
- Pair programming forces focus and prevents rabbit-holing by timeboxing small fixes with a partner.
- Edwards believes current AI coding assistants don't yet replicate the full value of live pair programming but will improve.
From Rejection To VC By Hands-On Experimentation
- Lee Edwards recounts being rejected by Bloomberg Beta and later turning that disappointment into curiosity about VC, which led to angel investing and eventually joining Root VC.
- He used a transition period after Teespring to try angel investing, raise LPs, and found product-market fit with Root's thesis.
Gateway 2000 And QBasic Began It All
- Lee remembers a Gateway 2000 PC in fourth grade and programming QBasic, which sparked early curiosity and hands-on learning.
- He traded floppy disks with classmates and even wrote QBasic programs on paper during boring classes.