Rajiv Bala, GP of Clutch VC, a pre-seed and seed-stage exclusively investing in Texas - is committed and bullish on the region with a hands-on approach to investing, working with founders on product feedback, team building, and more to see initial customer validation before investing. Rajiv also embraces sub $500 million outcomes to drive fund multiples rather than relying on Unicorn outcomes only. This episode pushed our thinking on what we know and practice here in Silicon Valley, reminding us that there is more than one way to achieve Alpha.

Highlights from our discussion:

• Starting startups, Texas style: Is it about 24/7 work-life or work-life balance? We discussed a Texas vs. Silicon Valley approach to company building. Can it work and drive outsized venture outcomes?
• Beyond chasing unicorns: Can you be successful with sub $500M outcomes in VC? We dug into how portfolio construction starts with fund size and what scale of outcomes matters to you.
• Does previous founder or operator experience make you a better investor? Rajiv believes it builds founder empathy, skills, and experiences that make you more effective in challenging moments.
• Selective incubation as a strategy: Rajiv will sometimes work with a team for 6 to 12 months before investing to gain information asymmetry, build conviction (or incertitude), and establish a genuine relationship ahead of the check.

Topics

• (00:00) - Introduction to First Funders
• (00:58) - Meet Rajiv Bala: GP, Clutch VC
• (01:34) - Rajiv's Journey into Venture Capital
• (03:27) - The Texas Startup Ecosystem
• (07:44) - Texas-style company building: work-life balance and outcomes
• (11:06) - Rajiv's lessons on portfolio construction: diversification and fund size as key levers
• (14:08) - Where and how Rajiv sources deals in Texas
• (17:16) - Rajiv's "why" for investing: led to his hands-on investing approach
• (21:01) - Lessons from Early Investment Furnace Software: an early DevOps leader bought by BMC
• (30:03) - Rajiv's lessons from his worst investment came with an opportunity to build founder empathy on how hard the journey is
• (35:38) - Rajiv's best investment: he Converse AI journey
• (40:21) - A higher valuation isn't the end game, pick your investors for a long game
• (42:10) - Selective incubation: Rajiv builds relationships with Founders before the check and wants to see the product reach initial traction
• (48:48) - Clutch's Investment Strategy and Market Focus
• (59:13) - Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts

Connect with Us

Follow the First Funders Podcast

Newsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeaways

Twitter/X @shaherose

Twitter/X @avirani

Email us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guests

Meka Asonye, a Partner at First Round Capital, started angel investing in 2018 while working at Stripe and joined First Round in 2021. He has made dozens of Angel investments and 13 Venture investments, and he's just getting started! While he focuses on B2B SAAS, he has not shied away from investing in audacious founders, from modernizing 911 call centers to putting the biggest satellites in space. Meka shares his approach to finding true outliers, a practice he began while uncovering hidden talent for the Cleveland Guardians.

Meka writes checks of $2M to $5M as the lead at pre-seed and seed.

Highlights from the discussion:

• Meka's unconventional path to VC: from discovering high-potential baseball talent to leading sales at startups to VC
• Meka's first angel investment came from Craiglist!
• Exploring the frontiers: investing in Space and GovTech
• How Meka supports founder friends, honestly
• Leveling up in VC by learning from partners, retros, reviews, and reflection powered by process and data

This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.

Topics

• (00:00) - Kicking Off the First Funders Podcast with Meka Asonye
• (03:52) - First Round Capital's role in Meka and Shaherose's transition from Angel to VC
• (05:53) - Meka's Unconventional Path to Venture Capital: from baseball talent to management consulting to startups to VC
• (10:54) - Meka's purpose is rooted in being a part of the founder's village
• (13:55) - The Art of Angel Investing: Meka's First Investment Story came from a person he met on Craiglist!
• (18:37) - Thoughtful reflection: outliers can't be discovered via pattern matching
• (20:15) - How Meka assesses for money smells and hustle in a founder
• (23:16) - Missed deals like Anthropic keep Meka up at night.
• (28:10) - How Meka supports founder friends
• (33:42) - Outcomes and up rounds thus far: Rimeto, CODA, K2Space, Prepared
• (36:16) - Exploring the Frontiers: Investing in Space and GovTech
• (37:42) - Meka's betting on a pair of brother's putting big satellites in space
• (39:04) - Unexpected VC bet: Integrating tech into every 911 emergency call
• (43:31) - Meka is a generalist investor with a focus on B2B SAAS, Fintech and hard tech
• (44:54) - Investing in YC companies and maintaining an orientation towards prioritizing ownership over valuation
• (49:28) - First Round Capital's approach is rooted in consensus not conviction, they invest as team
• (52:17) - Leveling up in VC by learning from partners, retros, reviews, reflection powered by a process and data
• (01:07:47) - Outro

Connect with Us

Follow the First Funders Podcast

Newsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeaways

Twitter/X @shaherose

Twitter/X @avirani

Email us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guests

Amit Kumar, former founder and angel investor, is a generalist venture capitalist at Accel focused on dev tools, healthcare, and fintech startups. Twitter acquired Amit’s third company, and it was then that he realized his true purpose was supporting startup founders, and he shifted to venture capital. Amit shares insightful stories and lessons learned from 8 years of early-stage investing out of a large, top-tier VC fund.

Amit writes checks of $2M to $4M as the lead and first institutional seed investor.

Highlights from our discussion:

• How Amit frames venture capital as a long game
• Why Amit considers himself a “co-founder as a service,” and how that serves his startup community
• The right way to think about deal setup for successful early-stage investing
• Why the problem slide in your pitch deck is most important

This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.

Topics

• (00:00) - 04: Amit Kumar - Accel
• (00:16) - A startup idea seed investors will definitely say NO to (but maybe Shark Tank will take it)
• (03:35) - Amit Kumar - seed investor and First Funder at Accel
• (05:17) - Amit's Transition to Accel and the Power of Networking
• (07:38) - How Amit learned about angel investing - friends, conferences, and meetups
• (08:47) - What does it look like when a VC firm recruits you as a potential founder? Potential partner?
• (12:14) - Angel investing as risk diversification and knowledge sharing, especially for existing startup founders
• (13:56) - Venture capitalists can provide "co-founders as a service"
• (17:21) - How Amit chose between being a founder again and investing full-time
• (20:06) - Amit's first investment, and how past founder relationships build trust
• (22:23) - Startups that don't go public in 7 years - does that hurt your model and LP relationships?
• (24:11) - Conviction, not consensus - but what builds trust among GPs when startup investing?
• (26:30) - Startup valuations: Amit's venture capital POV and moving targets in 2024
• (28:37) - How does a large early-stage VC think about follow-on investments and the number of startups to fund?
• (31:57) - Taking bigger risks earlier
• (34:49) - How startup investors consider incumbents in a space when assessing competition and exits
• (36:24) - Headway, and what Amit has learned about identifying good startup investments in new markets
• (42:05) - How to think about thesis investing, conflicts of interest, and competing startups
• (45:14) - How Amit thinks about return profiles and seed investing today
• (48:08) - What founder and market signals does a venture capitalist look for?
• (50:39) - How to get on the Midas List - it's the fundamentals
• (51:47) - A movie you must see to understand venture capital and startup investing matters
• (54:15) - Takeaways from Amit Kumar's First Funder approach
• (01:01:18) - Outro

Connect with Us

Follow the First Funders Podcast

Newsletter with behind-the-scenes access and key takeaways

Twitter/X @shaherose

Twitter/X @avirani

Email us with feedback and suggestions on topics and guests