By guest author Irina Patterson Eric: It is amazing how much investors can damage a company. And I think the first thing an investor needs to do is not damage a company. Investors to be really careful to help the management team stay focused, be responsive and helpful, but not be demanding in ways that
By guest author Irina Patterson Irina: Do you have any sector preference? Eric: We are seed-stage, software-enabled capital-efficient investors. So, within that there are a lot of things we can do, but our setup tends to lend itself to a lot of Internet investing. We can do other things, and we are doing other things.
By guest author Irina Patterson Irina: Do you have a number for what is a reasonable size? Eric: I think there is no set number. I need to believe that the entrepreneur can build a big company. It depends what you mean by niche. A $500 million–dollar market where there is no real competition and
By guest author Irina Patterson Irina: Do you think in terms of the valuation of the company? Eric: We have a zone of valuation we think is appropriate for our thesis of investment as seed investors. If a company reaches a point at which it feels it has accomplished far more than what we call
By guest author Irina Patterson Irina: How can entrepreneurs who are seeking funding reach you? Eric: I think you have heard this from a lot of people. It is not rocket science: Go on LinkedIn, figure out who knows us, and get them to vouch for you as somebody they know and respect. There are
By guest author Irina Patterson Eric: We view ourselves as unique for a handful of reasons. We have six out of eight entrepreneurs at the fund who actually run companies day to day. I think that is a really good model in terms of keeping us in our mindset as founders. When most of your
By guest author Irina Patterson This is the eighteenth interview in our series on financing for entrepreneurs. I am talking to Eric Paley, managing partner of Founders Collective, a $50 million fund dedicated to investing in seed-stage deals. The fund has offices in New York City and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Irina: Hi, Eric. Let’s start with