Founder Collective

Today we are happy to announce that we’ve closed our fourth fund, Founder Collective IV, to continue our mission to build the most aligned VC fund for founders at the seed stage! HT Micah Rosenbloom, David Frankel & Eric Paley https://lnkd.in/dHhs_ik #venturecapital #entrepeneurship #startups #vc #startup #founders #funding #founder #startupsuccess #entrepreneurs

𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 – 𝟰/𝟭𝟳/𝟮𝟱 -- 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 Serial entrepreneurs are often a favorite among VCs—but the reality is more nuanced than the hype suggests. Here are a few questions I think about when evaluating repeat founders: 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺? Was their last exit modest or truly life-changing? Hunger often drives execution. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵? Experience is valuable, but only if it's transferable to the new company or market. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱? Some of the most successful repeat founders stick with the same industry, customer set, or technology stack. Adtech is a classic example where this pattern has paid off. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥? Access to capital can be both a blessing and a trap. Founders who remain scrappy—even when they don’t have to—tend to build stronger companies. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦? What do previous investors and teammates say? Would they back them again? At our firm, many of our founders are repeat founders—but just as many are first-timers or have prior startups that didn’t quite work out (I count myself in that group). So the question is: How much weight should we really put on being a repeat founder?

We're still using typewriter-era interfaces to interact with modern AI. AI is starting to change how we interact with computers—not by replacing us, but by adapting to how we already think and work. Some people process best through reading. Others need to talk things out. Some prefer podcasts, others diagrams or whiteboards. For a long time, human-computer interaction assumed a single standard: keyboard, mouse, screen—clicking and clacking. But that's starting to shift. New tools are beginning to meet us in different modes: → Voice interfaces when speaking is faster than typing → Agents that turn natural language into action → Summarization tools to cut through noise → Visualizations for people who think in space → Systems like NotebookLM that can talk through long documents when reading isn't an option—while walking, biking, or parenting It's not just about making I/O faster. It's about making it fit better—more personal, more flexible. As we build, one of the biggest opportunities might not just be smarter models, but smarter interfaces—for listening, learning, and expressing ourselves in whatever way comes naturally. Curious how your workflows have shifted in light of these changes. What new tools or modes have quietly become part of your day?

𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝟰/𝟭𝟱/𝟮𝟱 - 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 As some of you know, I've been thinking a lot about colleges as we tour prospective schools for my son. I'm still surprised how students (and mostly their parents) overindex on school "brands" vs. best fit for a given student. As I mentioned in a previous post, networks are still regional, and relationships are what really matters. It's best to go where you can be around folks with similar interests, goals and ambition, and can take advantage of professional opportunities (e.g., co-ops, alumni introductions, etc.). Students are much better educated about the choices they’re making than I ever was:). Moreover, the ROI of school is critical given the growing costs of attendance. As you can see from the list below, the Ivy League does not have a monopoly on successful founders. I'm sure I've missed many examples!  • 𝗨𝗯𝗲𝗿: Co-founded by Garrett Camp (University of Calgary) and Travis Kalanick (UCLA).  • 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗳𝘆: Built by Tobias Lütke (vocational school, Germany). Now valued at over $70 billion.  • 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗡𝗼𝘄: Founded by Fred Luddy (Indiana University). A $150 billion software company.  • 𝗩𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗮: Founded by Peter Gassner (Oregon State University). A highly successful vertical SaaS company.  • 𝗦𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲: Co-founded by Jack Dorsey (University of Missouri) and Jim McKelvey (Washington University in St. Louis).  • 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗼: Founded by Jeff Lawson (University of Michigan).  • Snowflake: Founders attended Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris).  • 𝗦𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸: Created by Stewart Butterfield (University of Victoria, Canada - Philosophy).  • 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗺𝗽: Founded by Ben Chestnut (Georgia Tech). A prominent bootstrapped success story.  • 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲: CEO Mike Intrator (Binghamton University). A leader in AI infrastructure.  • 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗺𝗲: CEO Chris Britt (Tulane University).  • 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗯𝗻𝗯: Started by Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky (Rhode Island School of Design - RISD). A $90+ billion company.  • 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲: Co-founded by Matthew Prince (Trinity College, CT) and Lee Holloway (UC Santa Cruz). Now valued at over $30 billion.  • 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗸: Co-founder TJ Parker (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy). Acquired by Amazon for a billion dollars.  • 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱: Co-created by Rich Miner (UMass Lowell).

𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝟰/𝟭𝟰/𝟮𝟱 – 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 At our weekly investment team meeting today, we discussed how to think about investing in the current wave of AI companies. It got me reflecting on the many ways VCs have approached major tech shifts over the years—from mobile to SaaS to crypto. Here are a few common strategies: Rebrand and refocus entirely. Some firms go all-in, changing their thesis—and even their name—to align with the new category. They publish thought leadership, build market maps, and largely ignore opportunities outside the emerging platform. Dismiss it as hype. Others stay grounded in their current thesis, choosing to avoid the new wave entirely and invest only in what they believe to be enduring opportunities. Adapt their framework. Some selectively invest in the new space but create a fresh set of investing criteria tailored to the platform shift. Apply the same lens. Others stick to their existing filters—like backing founders with deep domain expertise—but apply them within the context of the new trend. Spread the bets. Another approach is to invest broadly—many small checks across the category—operating under the assumption that it's too early or too chaotic to reliably pick winners. What other approaches have you seen? And in your experience, what actually works?

Last week, OpenAI revamped memory for ChatGPT. Now your assistant can remember context across sessions—making interactions more personal, more useful, and a little more… human. But with that rollout came a familiar wave of anxiety: 🤔 Are my prompts training the model? 🤔 Is my data leaking into someone else’s chat? Short answer: no — if you’ve configured things correctly. After recent conversations (and Tobias Lütke's memo on why AI is now table stakes), I wanted to lay out a clear breakdown of what’s happening—and why most fears around "AI data leakage" are aimed in the wrong direction. The real risks? 👉 Poorly configured privacy settings 👉 ChatGPT wrappers with weak T&Cs 👉 Inconsistent security across the SaaS you already use If you’re comfortable giving Superhuman access to your inbox, Airtable access to customer data, or Asana access to your roadmap… maybe the bigger question isn’t "Can I trust ChatGPT or Claude?" It’s: Can I trust all the tools I’ve already adopted?

"The harder I work, the luckier I get" certainly applies in this instance! Every successful startup benefitted from at least a couple lucky breaks, but Broadlume succeeded because Todd Saunders and Dan Pratt hustled day after day, year after year.

We raised $90M and sold for 9 figures. But let me be clear - we got lucky. There’s really no other way to put it. Right before COVID, we pivoted from horizontal adtech to vertical software for the flooring industry. Not because we saw the pandemic coming. Not because of some perfectly crafted strategy or plan. But because what we were doing wasn’t working, and we knew we needed a change. If we hadn’t pivoted in October '19, we probably would’ve gone out of business. When COVID hit, ad budgets went to $0. But flooring was labeled an essential business and demand exploded. We went from survival mode to hypergrowth for 36 straight months. Every founder wants to believe building a company is all strategy. But luck plays a role in every startup story. You can't create luck, BUT if you stay alive long enough, you will catch a break. Keep building. Stay adaptable. Don’t quit too soon.

𝗩𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝟰-𝟰-𝟮𝟱 – 𝗙𝘂𝗻 & 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 – 𝗩𝗖𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀! Ode to my brief Hollywood career .... I remember when I started as a mail room attendant — every movie was pitched as “Goonies meets Terminator” or something equally wild. At the time, I thought it was silly and overly simplistic (and oh so Hollywood!). But I’ve come to appreciate why these kinds of shorthands matter—especially for founders pitching their scripts... uh, I mean, startups. 🎬 A few thoughts: 𝙑𝘾𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨. At one point, micromobility is the hottest thing in venture and the future of urban transport. Or marketplaces, NFTs, cleantech etc. Today, an AI angle is the fastest way to a VC’s heart—and a term sheet. But that may not be true in a year or two 🤖📉. 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖. Businesses are about use cases and solving pains/creating value. But learning how to position your company within a theme that resonates? That’s key! 🎯 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨 = 𝙑𝘾 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙. VCs use themes to communicate with partners, LPs, and each other. Giving them a clear, memorable framework to think about your business is a key part of the sales process. 🧠💬 So go ahead—pitch your “Muppets meets Mad Max” but just make sure it's rooted in something real.

Venturing in Public 4/3/25 -- What’s So Special About the Bay Area? I live and work in NYC, but I’ve lived in the Bay Area and been in the tech world my whole career. Lately, I’ve noticed in conversations with younger VCs on the East Coast, there’s a renewed question: Do you still need to be in the Bay to be successful as a founder or VC? (A topic for a future post.) But more broadly—what is it that feels so magical about the Bay Area? ✨ Here’s what still stands out to me: There’s an attitude that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from—much less focus on pedigree. 🙌 A strong “pay it forward” culture—people help without expecting something in return. Serious network effects, especially in dev tools and SaaS. Key nodes on the network like Stanford, YC, etc., that constantly generate talent and ideas. An overarching “anything’s possible” mindset—“We can disrupt the taxi business!” 🚕 The Bay’s not perfect (there’s the occasional poop in the road or corporate spy, but we have those too in NYC;). The world is more distributed than ever—but there’s still a certain energy and openness that’s hard to replicate.