Hey FOUNDER(S),
We're incredibly excited about working with you — we've been blown away by your vision for COMPANY, and we're honored that you're considering us.
We believe that First Round has the unique expertise to help you at this critical time for COMPANY. We've built our entire firm from the ground up to serve founders at your stage and help navigate the first ~18 months of company building. Nearly every company we've backed in our 18-year history has been in the early innings of disrupting an industry. It's what we love, what we're obsessed with, and it's all we do.
Our aim is to be a founder's most valuable investor. To give you a concrete sense of how we can do that, we've put together a list of specific services below that we're excited to provide.
I'd love to talk with you about the details of our offer. We'd be so honored to work with you on this next phase of COMPANY!
PARTNER & the First Round Team
Hey FOUNDER,
We're incredibly excited about working with you — we've been blown away by your vision for COMPANY, and we're honored that you're considering us. We believe that First Round has the unique expertise to help you at this critical time for COMPANY. To give you a concrete sense of some of the services we provide, check out the list below.
I'd love to talk with you about the details of our offer. We'd be so honored to work with you on this next phase of COMPANY!
PARTNER & the First Round Team
We love your idea to build an ML system that takes in natural language and automates the creation of data models and SQL queries. And we believe that when you do it, you’ll be in the best position to capitalize on the resulting BI paradigm shift — where non-technical roles will own their own data problems and metrics, and a ton of new use cases and markets will open up.
You're an incredible pair of founders with ideal backgrounds for tackling this problem, combining research and industry experience. You each had glowing references from people who are exceptional in their own rights, which speaks volumes about your talent and accomplishments.
Very few research teams have the skill to create a model that beats Codex in a head-to-head task, while consuming a fraction of the resources. And even fewer of those teams are also willing to conduct 100+ customer interviews and manage a set of design partners! We believe you're uniquely positioned to win.
We see huge potential in a product that enables non-technical users to build their own data models in the data warehouse, removes the technical middlemen (Data Engineers), and empowers PMs, product-leaning data analysts, and marketers to start owning their data problems more and earlier. The paradigm shift this will create has the potential to radically change the way organizations manage and leverage their data.
After your presentation, all of the partners individually fill out a voting form. The results showed everyone was unanimously excited about both you and the opportunity.
“Big shoutout Emery, Julien, Brett, and the FRC team for customer discovery assistance!”
Founder Nat Turner was an intern at First Round in 2005 long before we invested in his company.
Our design team provided feedback and support on the product that became Notion 2.0.
“The First Round Network thing works :)”
“Thank you, Josh. So grateful to FR for support along the entire way.”
We helped them hire 6 team members and made dozens of intros to potential customers in our community. 16 Flexport employees have participated in our Fast Track mentorship program.
“Working with [Bill] and the First Round team was the best decision we made during the seed round.”
We coached their early team on GTM and helped them hire an inside sales team. We connected them with expert Marketing and Sales resources and led the team through multiple research sprints.
“Emery [First Round's VP of GTM] is the best thing that ever happened to us!”
“First Round is one of the most hands-on investors we've worked with. Whether it's recruiting, positioning, sales, pricing or events — they've helped us with almost every aspect of running LogicLoop. I recommend them to every founder friend of mine!”
“Thank you for all the help so far on our journey. I really do appreciate it. Having FRC's belief and assistance behind has been an incredible experience, and I look forward to working with you all for many more years to come. From me and the team, 'Thank you!'”
“Working with First Round has been phenomenal — the value of both the platform and the community is so real. I've loved getting to know every founder I've spent time with in the portfolio, and learned so much from them. And we've gotten so much value from the help First Round has given us — everything from customer research, to sales coaching, to putting on events for our target persona.”
“From the earliest days, our partnership with First Round felt different — from the entire partnership being invaluable thought partners to the community eager to uplift one another. Choosing First Round was one of the best decisions we have ever made.”
“What surprised me the most with First Round was the community. Yes, the partners are bright, honorable, and eager to help but the community of First Round companies is something different. The folks in the First Round companies in Looker's cohort are some of the best people in my network. We all learned from each other and were successful together.”
“Todd and the First Round team helped me evolve from a founder to a successful startup leader. They provide the advice, mentorship, talent, data, and humor to help you navigate the adventure of startup growth — and surround you with the people you want on your side when things get tough.”
“I wanted to thank you deeply for the unwavering support you gave us and other FRC companies during the SVB situation. For me, this was way bigger than company building. It was deeply personal and I am forever grateful. I can't tell you how much pride I have to be part of your community. Consider me to be a devoted supporter for the remainder of my life.”
“I've had the privilege of working with great investors through multiple startups, but none have been as valuable or had as large an impact as First Round. They're in a league of their own — not just for the strength of their team, but for their incredible platform and community. You couldn't ask for a better partner at the early stage.”
“Ossium's Series B fundraising process was a terrific success. We exceeded our fundraising target and brought great investors on board. First Round helped us create a stellar deck. The quality of the materials was a huge boon to our fundraising effort, and I want to give a special thanks to the Pitch Assist team for their support.”
I’m always here as your first call, no matter how big or small the question. Whether it’s a product jam, strategizing on GTM, finding the right design partners, launch planning, or anything team-related, I’d love to help!
After investing in 100+ companies in addition to being a founder myself, I’ve weathered my share of highs and lows. I do my best to translate those experiences into advice and try to provide two things: my candid opinion & my unwavering support.
I’d love to help you figure out the best economic and pricing model when you’re ready for it! Also happy to weigh in on topics like when to lean into sales growth, or how to minimize future dilution and maximize optionality as you fundraise.
I’m extremely data-driven and believe all problems are solvable. I think creativity, teamwork and iteration can break through walls. Have a gnarly issue? Let’s hang out with a whiteboard for few hours and jam until we sort it out.
I’d love to help you on all things GTM, from sales comp and segmentation, to landing your first 20 customers and optimizing your funnel.
I’m here to be your resource on both First Round and our full network and community. My goal is to make sure we can connect you to any person, company, or resource you need as your build your company.
I'm your guide to First Round. Consider me your "founder success manager" to help you get connected to all the right resources. You can call me to discuss compensation, founder coaching, vendor discounts -- literally anything!
Our Talent Team is here to help recruit your key hires, whether that’s through candidate introductions, building your top-of-funnel, creating a hiring plan, or pulling compensation data. We've placed heads of sales, CTOs, and everyone in between. We’ll work with you to build the foundations of your recruitment process and set you up for long-term hiring success. We've also put together resources like a Founder's Recruiting Guide and a Job Description Repository to teach you how to find these candidates yourself.
We hired Candid Health’s first recruiter and founding sales team member. We refined their interview process, sourced and screened candidates, and built out their employer branding.
Of course, we source candidates in traditional ways, but we also surface candidates you might not find otherwise by vetting leads from the First Round website and hosting invite-only recruiting roundtables where you can pitch open roles to candidates in specific functional areas. We are dedicated to proactively sourcing underrepresented candidates from across the country, primarily in technical roles. You'll also have access to our Careers Platform, where you can search through and contact candidates who are looking for new roles and have opted-in to being discovered and contacted by First Round companies.
We partnered with the founders of Arketa and hired one of their first engineers through sourcing, outreach, and weekly working sessions.
We embedded with Spline for 12 weeks and hired their founding growth team: Caroline Mack (Growth at Canva) and Nikki Nguyen (Growth at Dropbox).
VP, GTM
Emery will help you land your first customers, achieve your revenue targets, and navigate the challenges along the way.
Partnerships Manager
Julien will create a space where you'll be welcomed by a community of design partners, customers, and advisors who want you to succeed.
Board Partner
Richard coaches founders on GTM, covering strategy, customer segmentation, product strategy, team building, and running a company at scale.
GTM Enablement Manager
Jarod will help you develop your sales pipeline, hone your ICP, and make key introductions to folks in the greater First Round network.
We're ready to kick off Sales Assist, an 8-week, tactical consulting engagement to help you get to your first million in revenue faster. We’ll work with you (and your GTM leadership if applicable) to identify key challenges to solve or initiatives to implement towards your revenue goals.
"Emery is the best thing that ever happened to us. She's in the top 1% of value-add to Pocus. She helped us close our first enterprise deals, navigate difficult sales motions, and build an efficient POC process. She also seems to know EVERYTHING about go-to-market in startups and is super responsive with all of my questions."
— Alexa, CEO @ Pocus
We also have a full-time team member dedicated to Customer Sprints, reaching out to your ICP to get you more potential design partners and early customers, faster.
"Just wanted to let you know that all these intros have been incredibly helpful. We needed a peek at how a bunch of different analytical models inside companies are created, and that's exactly what you were able to give us. Very much appreciated."
— Jake, CEO @ Cascade
PR Expert
Ally can help you prep for and land your initial public launch announcement by pitching the right reporters.
Marketing Expert
Arielle can help you nail product positioning, develop your brand identity and website, and get you ready for launch and beyond.
People Operations Expert
Bailey can help you design your org structure, explore employee benefits, and navigate tricky employee relations issues.
Growth Marketing Expert
Ben can help you with demand generation across multiple channels — from SEO to email to paid marketing — and guide you through relevant analytics.
User Research Expert
Ashley can help with early user research — from learning best practices for customer interviews to synthesizing results.
User Research Expert
Jeannette can help with early user research — from learning best practices for customer interviews to synthesizing results.
Security Expert
Justin can help you build your company's security, privacy, and risk systems and support SOC2 and general security audits.
Revenue Operations Expert
Justin can help you navigate revenue operations from onboarding your first CRM to figuring out how to forecast accurately.
Customer Advisory Board Expert
Kalina can help you launch and scale a customer advisory board.
Consumer Growth/Marketplace Expert
Libby can help you navigate marketplace dynamics and develop relevant acquisition and retention strategies.
Pricing Expert
Madhavan can help you mature your pricing strategies through customer segmentation and price operationalization.
Engineering Expert
Omer can help you design your engineering org structure, navigate build vs. buy decisions, and evaluate your tech stack and tools.
Provider-Focused Expert
Molly can help you navigate the complexities of selling to large providers.
Finance Expert
Myoung can help you get your finances in order — from accounting best practices to financial modeling and strategic planning.
Coach in Residence
Sierra can help you with 360 reviews to identify leadership gaps, coaching, and team offsites (ask her about Enneagram assessments!).
Pricing Expert
Trish can help you establish and validate early pricing to create a performant pricing page for your website.
Customer Success Expert
David can help you set up your customer success team and playbook.
Hospital Systems & Digital Health Expert
Ben can help you navigate hospital systems and digital health systems.
Healthcare Supply Chain Expert
Zarrah can help you with supply chain, supplies, and drug distribution.
Compensation Expert
Meghana can help you with advice on compensation plans and leveling.
Recruiting Expert
Greg can help you build your team and up-level your recruiting practices.
First Round’s Pitch Assist Program is specifically designed to help our community of founders raise their next round. Through a combination of powerful storytelling, effective design and rigorous rehearsals, our Pitch Assist team will work with you to craft a narrative and develop a powerful pitch deck to help you get that term sheet. First Round companies see an 80% graduation rate to Series A vs. an industry average of 31%. Our process has been honed by over 130+ engagements, and the team behind our Pitch Assist program has helped raise over $2.6 Billion in funding.
First Round Network is our curated and private online portal where you can get support from our portfolio companies, use our resources, and learn tactical advice from thousands of Q&A questions. Network provides an opportunity for you to gain advice and answers to any current problem you’re facing, and also share your knowledge with others.
Fast Track is a 90-day mentorship experience that pairs hundreds of tech leaders with high-potential operators. Mentees go through our powerful matching process to find the best Mentor for their career goals and maximize the Mentor’s impact. Once each pair is matched, we provide plenty of playbooks and best practices on how to make the most of the mentorship experience, including conversation guides and questions. Our founders have found Fast Track is a valuable, attractive resource for their team members and love knowing their employees have access to specialized career development.
We love bringing founders together online and IRL to share and learn from one another.
We host topical forums, like our PMF Forum where small cohorts of early-stage CEOs meet regularly to share strategies in their journey to PMF. It's been a great experience with each founder having breakthrough moments and relying on the group to help them overcome challenges.
Founders tell us our retreats are “the most valuable professional event I’ve ever been to (hands down)” and that this group of peers not only “helps tackle tactical topics, but also provides a sense of belonging." We also make sure every experience is unforgettable.
