First Funders

Hailing from Michigan, Charles developed an early obsession with the public markets in high school. Charles Hudson is now the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a pre-seed venture fund that has defined and has become synonymous with “pre-seed”. Charles is known for his ability to identify and mentor early-stage companies that have the potential to disrupt their industries - first and early - including companies like the Athletic (acquired by the NY Times for $550M), Bobbie (recently raised a $70M Series C), Carrot Fertility (recently raised $75M Series C) and Pair Eyewear (recently raised $75M Series C).Charles writes checks of $250k - $500k at Pre-seed and Seed. He is a Generalist with a focus on digital health, media, and software.Highlights:The boomerang back to VC: Charles shares his unique path from Michigan to Silicon Valley, starting in VC, then moving to Google and various startups before returning to VC.Founding Precursor Ventures: Charles spotted an opportunity to invest in non-obvious founders pre-product and pre-revenue while other firms moved upstream in 2015. This made him one of the first in a second wave of pre-seed firms to launch, and 10 years later, he’s become the go-to first funder.Evaluating Founders vs. Ideas: Charles is a founder-first investor (founder 70%, idea 30%). He shares his criteria for assessing talent and reveals indicators of success that have generated alpha in his portfolio.Investment Strategy over Trends: Even in the face of trends like crypto, AI, and the economic downturn, Charles stays steady and focused on people and his definition of pre-seed, not morphing with industry shifts.Links:Follow Charles Hudson on Twitter: @chudsonRead Charles’ blog on SubstackLearn more about Precursor Ventures: Precursor VenturesConnect with Charles Hudson on LinkedIn: Charles HudsonConnect with Us:Follow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X: @shaherose | @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guestsDisclaimer: This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.(00:00) - Intro (00:52) - Early Days and Building Community (03:09) - Interning at Smith Barney to the CIA's Venture firm (08:59) - Embracing Risk and Independent Thinking defines a solo GP (11:05) - Operating Experience As Product Manager, then Business Development at Google and a Return to VC (16:50) - Charles' first role as an advisor surprisingly had a $300M acquisition by Paypal (19:55) - Joining Softech (now Uncorked) in 2010 when Seed investors were known as Super Angels (21:10) - Launching Precursor to fill the gap created by Super Angel Funds going upstream and defining a new category - "pre-seed" (23:50) - First Investments: the role of macro tailwinds and headwinds (27:57) - Evaluating Founders 70% and Ideas 30% (31:03) - The Role of Business Model Innovation in Generating Alpha (33:25) - Learning from Challenging Investments: If you don't know its ok, but say something (38:01) - Staying True to Your Investment Strategy (40:44) - Charles' best investment: The Athletic, acquired by the New York Times for $525M (45:55) - How he Decides: Evaluating Founders and Their Potential, Weird Patterns, Product Velocity, Remote Teams (51:38) - Current Investment Strategies, Focus Areas and Check Sizes (53:25) - Following High-Potential Talent vs. Investing Theses: People vs. Market vs. Product Evaluations (57:00) - Speed Round

Eric Ries has invested in over 100+ early-stage startups. He is best known as the author of The Lean Startup, a must-read for entrepreneurs worldwide. He also founded the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE), a new stock exchange designed to support companies with long-term goals. He recently launched a new podcast discussing ways to re-think corporate governance to be mission-first.In Part 1 of our interview, he shared insights from angel investing. In Part 2, Eric shares his new ethos for startups rooted in long-term thinking, putting a company’s mission at the center of everything and aligning all stakeholders. This mission-first approach challenges the traditional capitalist, and data shows it leads to better company performance.Eric writes checks of $10K or less as an Angel at the earliest stages. He is interested in mission-driven founders, education, fintech, AI, and more.Highlights:Eric Angel invests for reasons beyond financial outcomes. He focuses on giving back to people in his network, learning about startup approaches and various industries, and doubling down in areas he is passionate about. Any time he has strayed from his investing criteria, it hasn’t worked out. Advising then investing: Eric prefers to work with a startup as a friend or advisor before investing. He keeps his check size to $10K to support his goal of high-velocity learning. He can write more checks with smaller checks, which means more learning.Investing as a spiritual journey: Eric practices introspection to support continuous learning and to avoid overgeneralizing when things don’t work out. When he invests, he applies Lean Startup thinking by asking, “Is this outcome falsifiable”? Invest -> Measure -> Learn. We guess this makes him is a "Lean Investor"Eric’s second act after Lean Startup is supporting mission-first startups: He advocates for a new ethos that he believes will lead to better performance in the long term.Eric shares tools for mission-first founders, including the Public Benefit Corporation, the LTSPV, employee voting trust, and more.(00:00) - Introduction to First Funders (00:54) - Meeting Eric Ries: a journey down memory lane (02:45) - The Impact of Lean Startup (07:15) - Eric's Angel investing journey starts with being an advisor and a mindset of giving back (09:55) - What is Eric's investing criteria (14:04) - Eric prefers to advise startups first before investing (17:47) - Eric's second act: from Lean Startup to nurturing mission-driven founders who will also realize massive profits (25:14) - Writing small $10K checks into a high volume of early-stage startups enables high velocity learning (27:24) - (28:28) - Eric decouples investing from outcomes to stay focused on giving back and learning (30:44) - How to be a useful startup advisor: stand for something that creates competitive advantage for startups (34:31) - A challenging investment: lessons from high-stakes and high-stress moments and can the startup journey be a force for healing trauma? (43:04) - The Long-Term Stock Exchange vision: a new ethos and governance approach for the startup community (45:01) - How mission-driven founders and investors need to be brave to challenge the capitalist status quo (47:33) - How tech startup can leverage the Public Benefit Corp and how the B-Corp certification won't work for software companies (51:24) - LTSPV: An SPV Angels can leverage to align their check with long-term thinking (54:08) - The spiritual journey of investing: what did you really learn vs what do you think happened? (57:07) - Speed Round and Final Thoughts (59:24) - Takeaways Connect with Us:Follow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X: @shaherose | @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guestsDisclaimer: This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.

Rajiv Bala, GP of Clutch VC, discusses his hands-on approach to early-stage investing in Texas. They explore the differences between Texas and Silicon Valley startup cultures, the importance of sub $500 million outcomes in VC, and the benefits of previous founder experience in investing. Rajiv also shares insights on selective incubation as a strategy and building genuine relationships with founders before investing.

Meka Asonye, a Partner at First Round Capital, shares his journey from uncovering baseball talent to leading Sales at Stripe and now angel and venture investing. He invests in B2B SAAS and audacious founders, exploring Space and GovTech. Meka values honesty in supporting founder friends and emphasizes learning from partners, retros, and reviews in VC. He writes checks of $2M to $5M, focusing on finding true outliers in tech.

Former tech founder turned seed VC, Amit Kumar from Accel, shares insights on framing VC as a long game, being a 'co-founder as a service,' and the importance of the problem slide in pitch decks. He discusses the transition to VC, angel investing for risk diversification, and his strategy of writing $2M to $4M checks as a lead seed investor. Amit emphasizes the value of networking, authenticity in deal structuring, and supporting exceptional entrepreneurs in sectors like healthcare, fintech, and dev tools.

Rachel Sheinbein is an angel investor with over 250 startup investments.  She shares her insights on angel investing and how it allows her to work with founders “even before the seed stage,” writing $25k checks into technology startups through her vehicle Very Serious Ventures.  Later, Rachel discusses how building a community drives her investing strategy and lessons from memorable startup investments.  Shaherose and Aamir kick off the show with a special message for founders who like to argue and end with their personal takeaways from the conversation with Rachel.Highlights from our discussion:Why Rachel chose angel investing over a partner position at a VC firmWhat to look for in a quality angel groupUsing a DAF to align with an investing purposeDetecting founder passion and coachabilityDefining your purposeThis is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.Topics(00:00) - 03: Rachel Sheinbein, Angel (01:14) - PSA: Your startup's users know more than Aamir the angel investor does (02:51) - Rachel Sheinbein, angel investor and advisor (04:56) - From engineering to venture capital to angel investing (07:28) - Do angel groups and angel networks provide value to startup investors? (13:23) - How Rachel aligns purpose and philanthropy with her early-stage startup investing (16:08) - Rachel's first angel investment was in a gaming startup (19:17) - Investor experience, startup luck, and Sequoia (21:49) - How does an angel investor like Rachel measure bad outcomes in startup investments? (24:53) - How angel investors operate differs from venture capitalists (29:47) - Pitch decks - do they matter when seed investing so early? (33:45) - Startup founder signals that matter to an angel investor (40:47) - A climate tech seed investment that paid off quickly and returned funds (46:39) - Very Serious Ventures angel invests $25k super early in founders (48:51) - An exercise to help you become a better angel investor (51:04) - Speed round, and the best book on strategy for startup founders (52:59) - Our takeaways on better startup investing Connect with UsFollow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X @shaheroseTwitter/X @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guests

Jenny Fielding, a pre-seed investor and angel with 300 early-stage startup investments, discusses investing in FinTech, hard tech, and consumer spaces over the past decade. From studying law to working in finance to leaving it all to found not just one but two startups, Jenny brings a founder-operator mindset to her fund, Everywhere Ventures. She writes pre-seed and seed-stage checks for $50k to $250k.Highlights from our discussion:Jenny’s first seed investment and its fast, huge outcomeHer simple evaluation framework for startup companies and their foundersThe way larger funds can screw early angel investorsEverywhere Ventures’ latest seed investment comes out of stealthA yearly ritual to become a better angel and startup investor This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.Topics(00:00) - 02: Jenny Fielding - Everywhere Ventures (03:07) - How does Shaherose know Jenny? (04:17) - Jenny's Journey into Investing (05:10) - Why did Jenny choose the investor side of the table? (08:27) - How did Jenny land her first investment (which went big!)? (11:02) - How does Jenny evaluate companies? (15:39) - How Jenny categorizes companies and check sizes (17:49) - How an angel investment went public and yet Jenny got nothing (25:18) - How does Jenny maintain authentic relationships while seed investing? (29:38) - Seed investors promise access to founders - does it matter? (33:39) - Jenny's successful seed investment in a Blockchain company - for real! (37:53) - Angel invest and chill? What signals help assess your investment early? (39:26) - How Jenny seed invests and then helps with future fundraising (40:46) - Using secondaries to generate returns and lower risk (44:18) - Pre-Seed fund return profiles - what's the goal and reality? (46:14) - Jenny and Everywhere seed invest in the "table stakes economy" (47:21) - What is the difference between pre-seed and seed startup investment rounds? (48:56) - Does valuation discipline matter for early angel and seed investors? (51:44) - Jenny's latest seed investment: Fora comes out of stealth (53:47) - Jenny's one trick to become better at startup investing (55:43) - How Jenny partners with Scott to make investment decisions (57:00) - Jenny's hot takes (58:21) - Takeaways from the interview Connect with UsFollow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X @shaheroseTwitter/X @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guests

We're all discussing current market conditions - valuations, AI hype, fundraising challenges... Before we kick off our planned interview series on First Funders, we sat down with our friend Arjun Arora to discuss the Trends in Venture Capital 2024. As investors, we always look ahead, making this a great way to start 2024.Highlights from our discussion:What to expect in round sizes and valuationsAnticipated returns from the AI hypeThe significance of data-driven decision-making for VCsThe rise of hyper-specialized fundsYou can read the full report here: https://www.arjundarora.com/trends-reportThis is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.Topics(00:00) - 01: State of Venture Capital 2024 - Arjun Arora (00:49) - Guest: Arjun Arora on the State of Venture Capital 2024 (01:24) - Arjun's Founder Background (03:03) - Format One and how they help founders (04:41) - Are Mega-deals only happening in AI? (06:07) - How should early-stage investors consider exit strategy? (08:02) - Is AI coming for venture capitalists? (10:36) - Social signals inform investors about founders AND teams (11:51) - Later-stage investors use prior investors as a signal (13:57) - Are crowd-funded companies legit investments? (16:01) - Do funds focused on a niche limit returns and increase risk? (22:25) - Don't go chasing Unicorns? (26:41) - Where's crypto and blockchain? (27:27) - Do founders want to do one-and-done raises? (29:17) - Can seed funds less power law, higher average outcomes? (31:45) - Will AI generate returns for investors? (33:35) - Advice for founders in this market environment (35:21) - Key Take aways: What we learned from Arjun's report for our own seed investing strategies (43:00) - Outro Connect with UsFollow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X @shaheroseTwitter/X @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guests

Before you dive into our archives or the next episode, learn about First Funders and its hosts, Shaherose Charania and Aamir Virani.  You'll hear about Shaherose's background as a startup builder turned VC who started as a product marketer and how she started Women 2.0, a startup ecosystem, and Founder Labs, a tech incubator.  She also reviews her time at Nike, where she built their first incubator, and her role as an angel investor and now Venture Partner at Cake Ventures.Aamir then shares his experience as an engineer turned product management leader at Dropcam, which was acquired by Google/Nest, and then his turn as a venture capitalist at Felicis Ventures.  Why did he end up back as an angel investor and operator?  What types of investments does he look for now?This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.Topics(00:00) - About the Hosts and their Angel and Seed Investing backgrounds (01:13) - How Shaherose went from operating to building Women 2.0 to funding startups (03:26) - Aamir's Journey from Founder to VC to Angel Investor (06:06) - Outro Connect with UsFollow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X @shaheroseTwitter/X @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guests

Coming soon. First Funders is a podcast for the Angels and Venture Capitalists who write first checks. Co-hosted by Shaherose Charania, startup builder turned VC. And Aamir Virani, founder turned angel investor.In each episode, you'll hear from angel and seed-stage VCs who wrote the first checks into startups that made it. How did these investors find these opportunities? How did they gain conviction? How did they decide to make a bet? And what can you learn from their journey? Sharpen your theses and make better investments by hearing from the First Funders about their successful investments.This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.Connect with UsFollow the First Funders PodcastNewsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeawaysTwitter/X @shaheroseTwitter/X @aviraniEmail us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guests