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First Round Capital

also referred to as: first round

includes First Round Review, First Round Capital II

63 statements across 19 episodes · 26 bullish · 12 bearish · 17 people on the record · first statement Jun 8, 2015 by Charlie O'Donnell · said 290 times in 95 episodes since 2015 · across every show →

Mentions by year, the whole family

brought up most by Harry Stebbings (142), Phin Barnes (15), Josh Kopelman (14), Todd Jackson (9), Gokul Rajaram (5), Chris Fralic (5), Josh Udashkin (4), Paul Martino (3)

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2018 27 mentions in 11 episodes 2 per episode
2017 19 mentions in 12 episodes 2 per episode
2016 51 mentions in 15 episodes 3 per episode
2015 18 mentions in 7 episodes 3 per episode

every mention, scene by scene, with the transcript →

Everything said about First Round Capital, oldest first

Jun 8, 2015
Assertion Supported
USV partners do 1-2 deals yearly versus First Round's 4-5
“And then also they're two different types of firms, too, so the likelihood that you'd get a deal done at USV when each partner's doing one or two deals a year was, Very different than first round when they're doing four or five because they're seed deals.”
Charlie O'Donnell Jun 8, 2015 ▶ 15:16 20 VC 043: How To Be A VC Analyst and Lessons From Union Square and First Round with Charlie O'Donnell, Founder @ Brooklyn Bridge Venture
Jun 8, 2015 positive
Assertion Supported
Charlie O'Donnell sourced First Round's early investments in GroupMe and SinglePlatform
“Prior to founding Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Charlie was at First Round Capital, where he sourced the firm's first investments in single-platform Sold to Constant Contact, and GroupMe, sold to Skype.”
Harry Stebbings Jun 8, 2015 ▶ 0:20 20 VC 043: How To Be A VC Analyst and Lessons From Union Square and First Round with Charlie O'Donnell, Founder @ Brooklyn Bridge Venture
Dec 9, 2015 neutral
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Teten: Only a Handful of VC Firms Build Full Platform Teams
“Besides us and Google ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, first round capital OpenView does some work on this area. A lot of other firms talk about it, but they've hired one or two people, right? They don't have a whole set of resources”
David Teten Dec 9, 2015 ▶ 13:01 20 VC 095: How VCs Find Startups and How To Add Value Once Invested with David Teten @ ff Venture Capital
Feb 10, 2016 bullish
Prediction Held up
Consensus VC decisions will decline as conviction investing and LP directs grow
“We're going to see three pretty basic models emerge for how decisions are made, all the way up from LPs down, down to small seed funds. And the three buckets are going to be consensus-based decision-making, and that's every fund that, you know, has pretty much…”
Dustin Dolginow Feb 10, 2016 ▶ 17:46 20VC: The First Online Venture Fund Built On AngelList with Dustin Dolginow @ Maiden Lane
Mar 21, 2016 negative
Disclosure
First Round lost the Dropbox deal over a small valuation gap
“Actually had a term sheet out to him. Ended up losing on valuation and a very, very small differential on ballot valuation, which was a massive lesson for me in that, you know, there are crazy valuations and there are not crazy valuations, but when you're talk…”
Rob Hayes Mar 21, 2016 ▶ 23:21 Uber's First Investor, First Round Capital's Rob Hayes on How The Deal Of The Decade Originated and Why Product Orientated VC Is The Future
Mar 21, 2016 neutral
Disclosure
Uber's 2010 seed funding round was not overly competitive
“It wasn't, no, it wasn't a terribly competitive round. I don't think, I mean, it was a real negotiation around it, and there were a few other people around the table. You know, I don't think that, you know, it wasn't one of these crazy, I mean, this was You kn…”
Rob Hayes Mar 21, 2016 ▶ 11:51 Uber's First Investor, First Round Capital's Rob Hayes on How The Deal Of The Decade Originated and Why Product Orientated VC Is The Future
Mar 21, 2016 positive
Insight
VCs should treat founders as customers and LPs as shareholders
“Now, listen, we think of, you know, our LPs are, you know, our investors are very important to us, obviously, but I think of them as our shareholders. And if I make my customers very happy and have the best product out there, Then my shareholders are going to …”
Rob Hayes Mar 21, 2016 ▶ 17:20 Uber's First Investor, First Round Capital's Rob Hayes on How The Deal Of The Decade Originated and Why Product Orientated VC Is The Future
Mar 21, 2016 neutral
Disclosure
First Round will not declare Uber a win until cash is returned
“I mean, my ultimate goal is to, you know, take money from my investors and invest it in companies and return multiples on that one. I haven't done that. Right. And so until that happens, I don't think I don't even call it a success right now. Come on. It's a m…”
Rob Hayes Mar 21, 2016 ▶ 12:47 Uber's First Investor, First Round Capital's Rob Hayes on How The Deal Of The Decade Originated and Why Product Orientated VC Is The Future
Mar 21, 2016 bullish
Insight
Standard VC market size analysis failed to predict Uber's potential
“The market analysis that, that a lot of people were using was the wrong market analysis, because even though there was an actual car and it was black and it pulled up and it picked you up, this was not the black car market. This was something very, very differ…”
Rob Hayes Mar 21, 2016 ▶ 8:45 Uber's First Investor, First Round Capital's Rob Hayes on How The Deal Of The Decade Originated and Why Product Orientated VC Is The Future
Nov 16, 2016 positive
Opinion
Josh Koppelman's seed model was venture's most innovative move in 60 years
“Josh truly innovated, and his For lack of a better word, early stage option buying model. I don't know exactly the right phrase to use it, but to basically say, I'm going to let these companies fail fast and write small checks to them. It was perhaps the singl…”
Paul Martino Nov 16, 2016 ▶ 29:01 20VC: Investing In Sectors That Were Cool 2 Years Ago, What Accel's Facebook Fund Taught a Generation of LPs & Why LPs Need A New Discovery Process with Paul Martino, Founding Partner @ Bullpen Capital
Dec 28, 2016 neutral
Assertion Supported
Josh Koppelman ran Facebook ads targeting Yahoo employees during 2008 takeover
“Josh Koppelman, who had just started First Round Capital, had decided when he saw the news of the takeover attempt, he wanted to see if there's anyone at Yahoo who is sort of loose in the saddle and maybe thinking about joining a startup or starting a company.…”
Kent Goldman Dec 28, 2016 ▶ 3:51 20VC: Using Valuation As A Litmus Test, Why Valuation Does Not Matter At Seed Stage & How Seed Funds Can Serve Founders Better with Kent Goldman, Founder @ Upside Partnership
Jan 2, 2017
Prediction Not checkable as stated
O'Donnell: Brooklyn Bridge Ventures allocates 80-90% of capital to initial rounds
“I will follow on, and anybody who's able to raise an outside round. If you can get somebody else, I will not lead an extra round, but if you can get somebody else to participate, you know, I will do a small amount of follow on across the board, and it's not go…”
Charlie O'Donnell Jan 2, 2017 ▶ 12:12 20VC: Why Companies Going Bust Is Part Of The Plan, Why Most VCs Are Later Stage Than They Think & Why Venture Capital Is Humbling with Charlie O'Donnell, Founder @ Brooklyn Bridge Ventures
May 24, 2017 positive
Assertion Supported
11 of 13 Pear Launchpad Companies Raised Top 2016 Seed Rounds
“So, you know, last year we had about 13 companies 11 of them ended up raising a seed round from great people. Accel, first round, Index, just really, really top name people. And the other two went back to school.”
Mar Hershenson May 24, 2017 ▶ 5:17 20VC: The Biggest Indicators Of Success In Founding Teams, How To Balance Both Vision and Operations & Taking Money From "The Man At The Rug Store" with Mar Hershenson, Founding Managing Partner @ Pear.vc
Oct 15, 2018
Insight
Phin Barnes: Seed Startups Must Prioritize PMF, Survival, and Co-Founder Alignment
“Because ultimately, at the seed stage, your job is to find product market fit, don't die, and don't fight with your co-founder.”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 27:29 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Phin Barnes: Over 70% of First Round Capital LPs Are Non-Profits
“At first round, over 70% of our limited partners are non-profit”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 33:33 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018 negative
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Phin Barnes: Capital Abundance Decreases Founders' Learning Per Dollar Spent
“And I think that over time, what we're seeing in this market anyway, is that people are decreasing that ratio of learning per dollar spent because capital is so plentiful.”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 22:07 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018 negative
Insight
Phin Barnes: Startups With Early Diversity Debt Rarely Achieve Diversity at Scale
“I think that burden quickly becomes untenable for the vast majority of people, and it becomes unlikely that that company will ever achieve diversity between 10 people and a hundred or 200 or 500 people”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 29:36 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018 bullish
Prediction Open · timeframe Oct 2028
Phin Barnes: Most Top Venture Outcomes Next Decade Will Have Diverse Founders
“For me, when I think about the next 10 years and the five to seven massive venture outcomes, right, so these are the Facebooks, the Ubers, the Airbnbs of the venture industry, my belief is that of those five to seven, somewhere between four and seven of them a…”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 31:36 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018 neutral
Opinion
Phin Barnes: Entry Price Matters Even in Outlier Investments Like Uber
“The basic math is even if you invest in Uber at a five million dollar post versus a fifteen million dollar post, the return that you generate is three X, like the basic math still holds. And so while it's an Epic investment, if you invested in a fifteen millio…”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 19:45 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018 neutral
Disclosure
First Round Reserves $40M to $50M Per Fund for Initial Seed Investments
“What our model generally is, we make our initial investments, we reserve 40 to fifty million dollars for initial investments and the remainder of the fund for follow-on.”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 24:18 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018 bearish
Insight
Phin Barnes: High Capital Velocity Lowers Startup Quality and Venture Returns
“When you think about what it takes to get funded as the velocity of capital increases, what it takes to raise money. Decreases. So not only do you have increasing prices due to increased supply, but you also have a lowering of quality due to the increase in ve…”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 17:39 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018 positive
Insight
Phin Barnes: First Round Operates on the Sell Side of Venture
“I believe that we at first round are on the sell side of the equation, not the buy side. And so we build a product that founders decide whether they want to buy with their equity. And we set a price for that product and that price needs to be in line with the …”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 18:24 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018
Insight
Phin Barnes: VCs Must Provide Psychological Support Beyond Professional Distance
“In that process, I think having someone there with you To support you psychologically as well as strategically is critical, and it's hard to do that through the glass of a professional as, you know, in quotes professional relationship.”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 10:40 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018
Insight
Phin Barnes: VCs Have Little Control Over Long-Term Financial Outcomes
“The challenge with that measure is as an investor, I think you have very little control over that success metric.”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 8:07 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Oct 15, 2018 negative
Insight
Phin Barnes: Retaining Underrepresented Talent Is Exponentially Harder Than Recruiting Them
“At the same time, retaining them, because of the DNA of those businesses, because of the cultures that have been established, is a whole nother challenge, which is exponentially harder than recruiting them in the first place.”
Phin Barnes Oct 15, 2018 ▶ 30:16 20VC: First Round's Phin Barnes on How The Best Founders Optimize for Learning Per Dollar Spent, What Makes A Truly Special Founder/VC Relationship and Why Pattern Recognition is Another Term For Intellectual Laziness
Nov 12, 2018 positive
Disclosure
Polovets uses post-meeting surveys to gather founder feedback on pitch meetings
“I actually got this idea from Finn at first round where he started sending a survey to founders he met with to basically ask them what they thought of the meeting. So I've been doing that for the last year or two, and it's a really short survey.”
Leo Polovets Nov 12, 2018 ▶ 20:56 20VC: Why Warm Intros Are Mostly Dumb, Why Ownership is Built On First Check and 4 Crucial Elements To Make Cold Inbound Attractive with Leo Polovets, General Partner @ Susa Ventures
Jan 28, 2019 positive
Disclosure
First Round flexed on valuation to back Square at $40M pre-money
“So when Jack was starting square and we met with him, he said, well, you know, if you thought Twitter was expensive, this is going to be even more expensive. And his first round was at a 40 pre and we learned our lesson and we were fortunate enough to be the S…”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 10:13 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019
Disclosure
First Round allocates roughly 50% of capital to initial checks
“Today, we're putting a little more up front. We're kind of back to where we started. We're pretty close to fifty-fifty, primarily because what we've seen is later stage valuations have increased Far faster and far greater than seed stage valuations”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 11:11 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 neutral
Disclosure
Experiencing market crashes made Kopelman First Round's most cautious partner
“So, I think that it's probably made me the most cautious of the investors in the first round partnership, and that's not necessarily a good thing.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 6:44 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019
Assertion Not checkable as stated
First Round requires two-thirds majority vote for investment decisions
“As a partnership, we decide investments together. It's two-thirds. We don't need unanimity. No partner has a veto, and fundamentally, it's a pretty collaborative process.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 12:43 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 positive
Insight
Kopelman: Venture capitalists are paid to take risk, not avoid risk
“Having seen the pain that companies went through, that my friends went through, that founders went through in the dot-com bus, I've had to consciously try to remember that we get paid to take risk, not avoid risk, and it's one of the real strengths of having a…”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 6:53 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019
Insight
Kopelman: VC ownership must be established on the initial check
“Our view is that it's pretty important to build it on first check. I think that it just gets so expensive to accumulate ownership in the later rounds that to some degree, I think your ownership is your first check and later investments are more of a cash on ca…”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 12:18 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019
Disclosure
First Round focuses proactive investor support on companies' first 24 months
“I tend to be far more proactive during that first 18 to 24 months, where I think we've built up a skill set and a competency around those go-to-market muscle movements, around the hunt for product market fit, And then we kind of shift to be a little more react…”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 19:03 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019
Insight
Kopelman: Partner meetings should focus on finding truth, not winning deals
“The goal isn't to sort of win, but rather the goal is to find truth. And a successful outcome could be when I learn something from my partners, and we don't invest in a company that I brought in, and vice versa.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 13:16 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019
Disclosure
First Round Capital's inaugural 2004 fund was $7M
“Our first fund was just a seven million dollar fund raised in 2004, primarily our capital with some friends.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 4:36 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 negative
Disclosure
First Round lost Twitter and Dropbox seed deals over valuation limits
“First round offered Twitter their first term sheet months before Union Square led their round. We offered Dropbox their first term sheet, and I'd say we lost both of those due to sticking to price.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 7:53 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 positive
Insight
Kopelman: Deal selection takes 10% of VC time, drives 80% of returns
“Maybe when you sort of look at the amount of time we spend in partner meetings and in diligence sort of doing the pick, it's 10% of our time, but it probably drives 80 plus percent of the return.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 20:43 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 negative
Disclosure
Kopelman passed on Twitter at $5M and $20M pre-money valuations
“So, we offered Twitter a term sheet at a five million pre-money valuation. We were an investor in Odeo, Eb Prior companies. So I think I was user Twitter user number 275. We were right there. We offered five. Fred came in at 20 a few months later, and to make …”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 9:25 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 positive
Disclosure
Kopelman: First Round takes pro-rata in 100% of outside-led follow-on rounds
“Like first round, we pretty much tell founders when you get the first round, the second round comes free. We will take our prorata and a hundred percent of outside leads Second rounds.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 24:17 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 negative
Disclosure
Kopelman: First Round does not track or report individual partner IRR
“We don't track individual partner IRR of individual track partner Performance, and nor do we share it with our LPs when they ask us during diligence.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 31:22 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 positive
Insight
Kopelman: Partner selection matters more than company picking for firm longevity
“I believe that when I look back at my career in venture, I would rather be known as a better picker of partners than a picker of companies, because that's what enables a venture firm to scale, grow, and endure just beyond any one person.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 26:30 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019
Insight
Kopelman: Founder community cannot be sprinkled into a venture firm post-hoc
“Virality is really hard to engineer and build in and you have to build it in from scratch. And I think that community is not something that could be Sprinkled in. Like, you really have to work hard, and it has to be part of your DNA, and it has to be part of t…”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 34:43 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Jan 28, 2019 positive
Disclosure
Kopelman: First Round treats each new fund as a fresh cap table
“At first round, we really view each new fund as a new cap table so that there isn't that partner tax from the prior generations of partners”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 29:11 20VC: First Round's Josh Kopelman on Why Price Is Both An Art and A Science, Why Ownership Must Be Built on First Check and The Negative Consequences of Attribution in Venture
Feb 8, 2019 positive
Opinion
Midha: Index, Benchmark, and First Round operate as service providers, not financiers
“And all three of these firms, index, benchmark, and first round operate as if they're being evaluated as a service provider. Not as financiers.”
Anjney Midha Feb 8, 2019 ▶ 17:42 20VC: What Makes The Best Venture Firms Today So Special, The 3 Structural Impediments That Face Venture Today and Why The Debate on AR vs VR is BS with Anjney Midha, Founder & CEO @ Ubiquity6
Apr 8, 2019 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
First Round Capital pioneered the institutional seed fund movement
“I credit Josh Koppelman and First Round Capital for really starting that movement, and that's gone from 20 to 50 to a hundred million dollar size funds, and then we've also seen the advent of the larger funds, such as NEA, and I think what you've really seen i…”
Dayna Grayson Apr 8, 2019 ▶ 28:22 20VC: NEA Partner, Dayna Grayson on Sourcing, Picking, Winning, Gut vs Data in Investment Decision-Making & The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Expectations of Venture
Feb 4, 2020
Insight
First-year VC partner success is measured by influencing the partnership
“It's a hard question, because of course, it's a long-term game, and given we form our partnerships with founders at the earliest stages, a new partner, you certainly won't be able to measure returns for some time. So for me, it's really about being able to mov…”
Phin Barnes Feb 4, 2020 ▶ 32:51 Breaking News: Meet First Round Capital's Newest Partner, How To Approach Generational Transition as a Venture Firm & The Dangers of Attribution In Venture
Feb 4, 2020
Insight
New hires in learning mode miss early opportunities for impact
“So I think there can be a bias when you join a team, and especially it's exacerbated when you join a small, close-knit team, frankly, in a role that you've never held before. And the bias is to shift into a hundred percent learning mode. And when you do that, …”
Phin Barnes Feb 4, 2020 ▶ 7:23 Breaking News: Meet First Round Capital's Newest Partner, How To Approach Generational Transition as a Venture Firm & The Dangers of Attribution In Venture
Feb 4, 2020 positive
Disclosure
First Round Capital does not use deal attribution or partner portfolios
“We don't have an attribution model, and so when we make an investment, it's a first-round company. I don't have my portfolio, and over time, Todd won't have his, and so on.”
Phin Barnes Feb 4, 2020 ▶ 28:04 Breaking News: Meet First Round Capital's Newest Partner, How To Approach Generational Transition as a Venture Firm & The Dangers of Attribution In Venture
Feb 4, 2020 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Over half of First Round Capital's investments come from founder referrals
“Similar to over half of our investments, Todd was referred to us by another founder that we'd already partnered with, Dave Gerard from Upstart.”
Phin Barnes Feb 4, 2020 ▶ 21:25 Breaking News: Meet First Round Capital's Newest Partner, How To Approach Generational Transition as a Venture Firm & The Dangers of Attribution In Venture
Apr 29, 2021 bullish
Disclosure
First Round Capital invested in Roblox six months after initial pass
“About six months later, we were able to make our first small investment and then later on did a larger investment.”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 4:52 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 negative
Disclosure
First Round passed on Etsy due to Fralic's misplaced eBay confidence
“We had the opportunity to look at Etsy, and I was almost dismissive, or I just thought of it as this little niche of handmade goods or something, and I think I was jaded. I mean, I thought I knew so much from eBay that it kind of turned me off to the whole cat…”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 16:30 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 negative
Insight
Fralic: Increasing Early-Stage VC Ownership Post-Initial Round Is Way Harder
“I think it's way harder for everything you mentioned, and there's so much more capital that's around so many more firms. Again, like, I think Roblox was unique in being under the radar company for so long, whereas anything that's got traction and visibility wi…”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 11:29 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 negative
Disclosure
First Round passed on Twitter over a $20M valuation limit
“Yeah, I think we might have been fortunate back in those days to have made a really poor investment decision, missed one of our biggest of all time, with Twitter. When we were all early users, we had an opportunity to invest at first round, and didn't, primari…”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 7:18 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 positive
Disclosure
First Round Capital's Second Fund Included Uber, Square, and Roblox
“It turns out that fund had Uber and Square and Roblox in it.”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 9:01 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 neutral
Disclosure
Fralic: Deployed $100M into ~75 companies over 15 years at First Round
“And then as an investor at first round for the last 15 years, I've deployed about a hundred million dollars in about 75 companies.”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 26:53 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 neutral
Disclosure
Chris Fralic: First Round took secondary liquidity in Uber and Roblox early
“If you look at our investments in our two most notable returns with Uber and with Roblox, we had taken some capital off the table along the way at various points, Which made sense and drove great returns relative to that investment, and yet what was left was s…”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 22:28 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 bullish
Disclosure
Fralic: First Round invested $3M in Roblox at a $40M valuation
“We invested at about an eleven million dollar valuation when we first came in, and then we led around And put in about three million dollars at what was around a forty million dollar valuation, which was very high, but we could see the traction in the revenue,…”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 8:02 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 bullish
Disclosure
First Round retained over 5% ownership in Roblox at direct listing
“Our initial investment was 500 K Roblox or so, and that was probably on the high end of an average investment. And we were starting to think about our best companies and opportunities. Where could we put more capital to work? How could we deploy more into the …”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 10:11 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Apr 29, 2021 negative
Disclosure
First Round passed on Roblox in 2008 at a $10M valuation
“We decided not to invest in January of 2008. A lot of it was based on the price. Your listeners might laugh, but a ten million dollar valuation seemed outrageous, was way out of our normal range back then, and the game really looked raw.”
Chris Fralic Apr 29, 2021 ▶ 4:16 20VC: The Roblox Memo: First Round's Chris Fralic on The 17 Year Journey to Build a $41BN Market Cap Company, Why It Is Way Harder To Increase Ownership Across Rounds Today & What Happens Post SPACMania
Jul 21, 2023 positive
Opinion
First Round Spends More Time Helping Founders Reach PMF Than Rivals
“I just like, I like those guys, and I think they I think they really care about helping founders get to product market fit. Like, I think they're, they will sit and spend more time with the founders to help them get there than other funds that I know, so that'…”
Jean-Denis Greze Jul 21, 2023 ▶ 58:40 Jean-Denis Greze: CTO of Plaid, the $18B Fintech Startup; How to Hire, Fire & Build Great UX | E1038 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Oct 2, 2023 positive
Disclosure
Barnes: Warby Parker Succeeded on Supply Chain and D2C, Not Design
“The first time we met Warby Parker, Those guys didn't have design sense. You know, Dave dresses pretty well now, but he didn't then. And like, there was no like style person on that team, but the truth is that the glasses had to look good, but that wasn't the …”
Phin Barnes Oct 2, 2023 ▶ 54:01 Phin Barnes: The Services Model of Venture Capital is Broken, The Best Founders Do Need Help | E1067 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Oct 14, 2024 positive
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Frankel: First Round Capital offered uncapped checks to top portfolio companies
“Josh Koppenman, I remember him saying to me, I'll give you two million dollars uncapped note ahead of the next round. A lot of this was in his portfolio already, where he went, like, what's the quadrant that's really killing it? What first round used to do is,…”
David Frankel Oct 14, 2024 ▶ 20:54 David Frankel, MP @Founder Collective: Investing Lessons from Seeding Coupang, Pillpack & Suno|E1214 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Mar 16, 2026 neutral
Assertion Partly supported
Rajaram: First Round Capital includes 80 companies per fund
“First round capital, I think, is one of the best seed firms. Guess how many companies they have in each fund? 80 companies.”
Gokul Rajaram Mar 16, 2026 ▶ 1:07:20 Gokul Rajaram: How to Analyse for Durability and Defensibility in a World of AI · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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