I believe most founders don’t need hand‑holding; they need conviction from someone who sees them clearly, especially when things aren’t working. That’s what trust looks like in venture.
I would not start a pre‑seed VC fund with LP decks or a fancy thesis; I would first help founders.
The target before fundraising is to help 10–15 founders using the founder‑first model.
I’ve come to see the pre‑seed investor not as a traditional VC but as a therapist, a coach, and a chef – three roles that together drive founder transformation rather than just capital allocation.
I feel more like a therapist, a coach, or a chef: depending on what the founder needs that day.
According to Crunchbase, over >65% of pre‑seed startups never raise another round.
Typical pre‑seed team size is 2–4 people.
I treat the VC’s comment as a true signal that the deal will be evaluated by the Investment Committee.
At the pre‑seed stage I look for two things: the problem the founder is solving and how deeply obsessed the founder is with the product.
Having invested in 100+ startups gives me confidence that founder obsession can drive 10x outcomes.
Sequoia Capital invested in WhatsApp when it barely generated revenue and charged users just $1 a year.
Airbnb was rejected by at least seven investors before getting into Y Combinator.
On 2026‑03‑20 I reflected that at pre‑seed the investor’s role shifts from evaluating a business to rolling up sleeves and helping the founder build it in real time.
I am not evaluating a business. I am helping someone build one in real time.
Telling a founder their co‑founder dynamic needs a hard conversation before it becomes a hard problem.
Returns at pre‑seed do not come from picking winners. They come from making winners.
At pre‑seed, the weighting is closer to 100%.
I watch how the founder handles the things that are going wrong right now.
I assess how honestly they talk about their risks.
I verify whether they have already sold to a few customers before building the full product.
I check if they can let go of an idea when the market tells them to pivot.