1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Marina and Nick Davidov, DVC (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Last question—when you write a pre-seed check, what do you want to see in the company?

Nick Davidov: In the founder. At pre-seed, it’s often just one or two founders and maybe an idea.

Marina Davidov: Even if they have an understanding of the market, that can evolve. Everything—product, market—can change. But the founders usually stay.

Sramana Mitra: So you’re investing in the founder, not just their track record?

Nick Davidov: Not necessarily the track record itself, but what it tells us—like founder-market fit. What markets they’re passionate about or experienced in, and how attractive those markets are.

We ask three main questions:

1. Would I go work for this founder? Can they hire the best people?
2. Can they raise enough money for the idea?
3. Can they execute? Do they have the skills or the ability to build a team that can execute?

And Marina has a fourth key question: What’s their mental state and motivation? Why are they doing this now? Especially with repeat founders, some are just doing it because they’re bored or want to prove something after a failed company.

Marina Davidov: Or because it feels like a logical next step from their experience, but they lack real passion.

Nick Davidov: A lot of times, that can lead to the same problems. You don’t want to keep backing founders who sell companies for $20 million every few years—it’s likely to be another $20 million exit.

Sramana Mitra: That actually ties into your investment thesis. There are investors who focus on companies bootstrapping or seed-strapping to exit—and they’re doing well. Carta data shows that sub-$10 million funds with fast exits are where huge returns are happening.

Nick Davidov: That was our previous fund. The issue is that returns are capped—often just 1–2x. Hard to lose money, but also hard to make meaningful returns. Some LPs look at that and say, “I can just invest in an index fund.”

Sramana Mitra: But for founders, especially now, you can build very lean companies.

Marina Davidov: That’s true.

Nick Davidov: Very lean, yes.

Sramana Mitra: If you build a lean company and exit, say raise less than $1 million and exit at $20 million, that’s a great outcome.

Nick Davidov: Not always. Say three co-founders raise $1 million—after dilution, a $20 million exit isn’t that great.

Sramana Mitra: There are a lot of solo entrepreneurs in our network doing very well.

Nick Davidov: Solo founders selling for $20 million is rare.

Sramana Mitra: Look at Base 44—a solo entrepreneur, six months, $80 million exit in two weeks.

Nick Davidov: That’s a success story.

Sramana Mitra: That’s a fabulous success story. And it’s happening more and more. This was a great conversation. I’m glad you reached out and joined. Let’s continue in a few months. As you said, we’re making 20 years of progress in two months—things are moving fast.

Nick Davidov: It’s going to be crazy. I’ll have a robot body.

Sramana Mitra: Soon, yes, indeed. Nice to meet you.

This segment is part 5 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Marina and Nick Davidov, DVC
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