View from Seed

OCTOBER 11, 2022

Along the way, I’ve admired my now partners for exemplifying the values and behaviors I believe genuinely matter in our business: thinking independently, saying “yes” early with conviction, saying “no” quickly, leaning into hard conversations with courage and authenticity, supporting founders collaboratively, staying engaged when others check out, (..)

North America 156

North America San Francisco Cap Table Cofounder 156

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

The founder may lean on us to help choose between a couple finalists, but they usually won’t want to waste time opening up the funnel, even if that may lead to some better partners. Even though you could do this concurrently with completing legal diligence and documentation, it still took extra time and mental bandwidth.

Syndicate 207

Syndicate Syndication Term Sheet Cofounder 207

View from Seed

DECEMBER 7, 2020

Instead of pretending like your competitors or failed companies in your space don’t exist, lean into the larger market narrative, and your differentiation within it. Founders who think they’re the only one doing or thinking about their problem come across as arrogant and ignorant.

PR 177

PR Founder Early Stage Differentiation 177

View from Seed

MARCH 1, 2016

Because then, when you go back to the same capital market for your Series A, and say, “We are raising this A to do Y,” you’ll have a lot of folks leaning in. “We are raising this seed to go do X”…. then go do X.

Founder 120

Founder Technical Review Cofounder Non-Compete 120

View from Seed

JULY 24, 2015

bijan : there’s a danger in leaning on pattern recognition. . “As an early stage investor I focus on whether the founders can build something that delights 100s of millions of people” @bijan #BostonB2C — Andy Cook (@AndyGCook) July 21, 2015. Ben Yudysky (@BenYudysky) July 21, 2015.

Boston 120

Boston Cofounder B2C PR 120

View from Seed

JULY 21, 2022

Every day we’re tasked with a new challenge to tackle, and whether it’s spending time researching on our own, brainstorming together, or leaning on the wisdom of our brilliant and expanding network, we get to be scrappy and shape an idea that we deeply believe will make the world a better place.

Early Stage 156

Early Stage San Francisco Michigan Portfolio 156

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

As a further mimic of its host city, New York tech stands tall and stubborn, with a never-say-die presence through flush times and lean. Not unlike Gotham itself, the tech ecosystem bobs and weaves to a nebulous beat. But our conversations at NextView have always ended in excited chatter about the New York opportunity.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage New York New York City Startup 120

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

Because of both lean startup principles and a thriving community of pay-it-forward individuals, we can all now build a little, learn a little, and then repeat. One of the best and most positive movements proliferating around the tech community is what Product Hunt founder and CEO Ryan Hoover calls “building in public.”

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Seed Capital Syndicate Syndication 120

View from Seed

MARCH 8, 2016

Can you still operate in some kind of lean or scrappy way and launch a brand that resonates with the market? You can absolutely launch lean and scrappy. There’s a do-it-yourself playbook that you can use to launch a brand.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Conversion Startup PR 120

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APRIL 2, 2015

Had you asked me before this week, I would have assumed that, in the era of “lean” everything and “Eff it/ship it” mentalities, the graphic design can wait, if only for a little while. Things should be legible, but they don’t need to be great.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Design Startup Early Stage 120

View from Seed

JANUARY 13, 2015

It is true that it pays to be conservative with cash early on and that being lean or being cashflow breakeven gives you a lot of leverage. ” Not “paying up” when the time is right is a challenge for founders broadly.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage B2B Distribution Early Stage 120

View from Seed

JANUARY 28, 2016

It creates focus and discipline and instills pressure to remain lean and not expand the team too quickly. On the flip side, there is some substantial near-term hurdle to clear that is critical for the company, or if the founding team is incomplete, it may more sense to stage the financing appropriately.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Finance Founder Syndicate 120

View from Seed

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

But there is also opportunity in lean times. Aggregate VC investment in 2009 hits a low of roughly $20B, a figure last seen in 2003 in the wake of the bursting of the dotcom and telecom bubble and 2001 recession. Companies are retrenching, VC firms are going through their own upheavals, and IPOs are non-existent.

IPO 202

IPO Early Stage Cofounder B2C 202

View from Seed

MARCH 20, 2020

Food delivery providers are leaning in to support local restaurants through this difficult time. Those who lean to the former use case and shift to an at-home routine during the pandemic will likely get hooked by the convenience and choose not to return to their previous routines.

New York City 374

New York City Demand Technical Review Non-Compete 374

View from Seed

MARCH 10, 2015

If there’s any lesson there, it’s that you want to lean into what’s working early and keep going in that direction. We followed the data: The iPhone app was initially twice the users of the Android app, so we started focusing more on that to design a more customized product.

Mobile 120

Mobile San Francisco Curation Seed Stage 120

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

We have to lean into one of the core competencies our government has by putting economic power into people’s hands. You would help alleviate the mindset of scarcity that is dominating American thought right now and tearing us apart.

Conversion 196

Conversion Alaska Dividend El Salvador 196