5 tips for founders from Rob Go of NextView Ventures

Thanks to Rob Go from NextView Ventures Thanks to Rob Go from NextView Ventures for coming to Seattle and sharing so many great insights for founders during a VC AMA chat with Yifan Zhang at AI House this week. Some quick takeaways:

— Be clear, fast. If an investor is 15 minutes into your deck and still can't say what you do, they can't champion you to their partners.

— Be the "heat-seeking missile" in the right zip code. Rob says there's more uncertainty about where AI is going than at any point in his career. Instead of fitting companies to a market thesis, investors are asking two things: is the company in roughly the right space, and is the founder someone who will find the opportunity as it emerges?

— Authenticity lets founders see around corners. Founders who have lived the problem spot what others miss. There's also a practical benefit: recruits and customers prefer to bet on authentic people.

— Raise to an inflection point. Letting the market set your round size is "tail wagging the dog." Raise enough to reach a clear jump in value or drop in risk. Remember that your round size signals your valuation.

— Four things matter: hire great people, build a great product, get more customers, don't run out of money. coming to Seattle and sharing so many great insights for founders during a VC AMA chat with Yifan Zhang at AI House this week. Some quick takeaways:

— Be clear, fast. If an investor is 15 minutes into your deck and still can't say what you do, they can't champion you to their partners.

— Be the "heat-seeking missile" in the right zip code. Rob says there's more uncertainty about where AI is going than at any point in his career. Instead of fitting companies to a market thesis, investors are asking two things: is the company in roughly the right space, and is the founder someone who will find the opportunity as it emerges?

— Authenticity lets founders see around corners. Founders who have lived the problem spot what others miss. There's also a practical benefit: recruits and customers prefer to bet on authentic people.

— Raise to an inflection point. Letting the market set your round size is "tail wagging the dog." Raise enough to reach a clear jump in value or drop in risk. Remember that your round size signals your valuation.

— Four things matter: hire great people, build a great product, get more customers, don't run out of money.