New @ThePeelPod with @chudson
Charles started @PrecursorVC in 2015 to help create pre-seed as a category.
We talk about how pre-seed investing has never been harder, why sitting out of bubbles can be more dangerous than joining, how Principals at Precursor get real money to make their own bets, + urgency and “the last $250k effect”.
Full episode here + links below
0:00 Is Pre-Seed dead? 4:15 Do round names matter anymore? 12:27 Multi-stage signaling risk doesn’t exist 16:42 Smart LP’s love multi-stage funds 22:03 Is the traditional Seed model broken? 26:31 Velocity of capital deployment drives all incentives 30:30 How to compete with megafunds at early stage 34:24 Megafunds have Seed funds in a vice-grip 38:34 “The best Series A’s are all expensive" 39:33 Are we doing 2021 all over again? 41:53 It’s safer to participate in bubbles than sit out 47:35 Price you pay is everything 50:22 The system incentivizes an addiction to consensus 55:22 High valuation + high CapEx grows AUM 59:56 How Precursor actually invests today 1:01:32 Precursor’s Principal investor program 1:05:56 Deciding when to selling your winners 1:10:53 Raising as a pre-consensus founder 1:12:39 What Charles looks for in founders 1:17:20 What it’s actually like to start a fund 1:20:56 Misconceptions of first-time fund managers 1:26:22 300+ LP meetings to raise Precursor Fund 1 1:29:24 The single change to the pitch that raised his fund 1:31:54 Precursor’s evolution over time 1:34:57 The second desert of venture capital 1:37:34 The last $250k effect
