Nothing
matters more
than getting to product-market fit.

We’re focused on being the world’s best partner for founders at the very first stages of company creation — so we’ve designed First Round to do just that. You get super active partners (most of whom are former founders themselves) to work side-by-side with you across your first few years. You also tap into an extensive team designed to help you fast forward through the tough nitty-gritty of those early years so you can focus on what makes your company special. Whether it’s GTM experts mapping out your initial sales strategy, or recruiters connecting you with top-tier candidates for critical early hires, we’re here to fill in until your team is filled out.

Usually founders have to choose between early stage focus and that kind of functional expertise, but with First Round you can have your cake and eat it too.

Yes, we often do. It’s not uncommon for us to take a board seat at first and give it up to a new investor after later rounds. We’ve found that founders like this — as it helps them manage the size of their boards as they grow.

While you’ll see your point partner in board meetings, we prefer what we call “working sessions.” Our partner Hayley Barna shared more about our approach here, but essentially, every 4 to 6 weeks, we go deep with a founder on a big challenge. We’ll spend the entire meeting working through the problem, and we’ve found this type of collaboration far more valuable than traditional reporting and governance. Founders say that their First Round partner is the first person they text and call, their coach in the corner — and the kick in the ass when they need it most.

We do not invest in companies that directly compete with one another (i.e., companies that offer the same product, targeting the same budget at the same customer). That said, because we invest early on the path to product-market fit, sometimes a company we funded pivots or expands in a way that might be close to another investment we’ve made. It happens rarely, but when it does we set up an information firewall between the companies to avoid any conflicts of interest.

We pick our limited partners, or investors, very carefully. It’s important to us that we generate returns for shareholders we can be proud of and who share our values. The vast majority of the capital we invest comes from university endowments, hospitals, and a wide variety of charities.

We specifically do not have sovereign wealth funds or governments of any kind as investors in First Round.