Jeff Fagnan

Founding Partner, Accomplice · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

He is a Founding Partner at Accomplice, an early-stage fund with investments in AngelList, PillPack, Freshbooks, and Hopper. He also helped create firm initiatives including Spearhead, Maiden Lane, and Boston Syndicates.

13statements → 3claims → 1claims resolved → 3.92/5average certainty → 2/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated → 26said about them ↓

1 supported 0 partly supported 0 contradicted 2 not checkable as stated how the 3 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 2 assertions · 1 opinion · 4 insights · 3 disclosures · 2 what ifs · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 3 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 1 is resolved, and 2 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Jeff argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported

Atlas allowed partners to write $1M checks on individual conviction

“We set up where any partner on their own conviction could write up to a million dollar check on meeting an entrepreneur.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 15:35 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

How they sound: speaking style how? →

250 words/min while actually speaking · 0.9 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for Jeff Fagnan: no usable question→answer exchanges on raw tape (a fair score needs 8+). We do not score a sample that small. Roundtable and news formats yield far fewer direct exchanges than interviews. Their coarse estimate from 23 exchanges on the produced feed is ≈4.5/5, shown at half point precision because the sample is small and produced tape scores higher.

Measured by listening to 6,342 words across 1 episode, but every recording we have of Jeff Fagnan is the aired feed, and an editor cleaned that audio before release. Some of the hesitation was cut before we ever heard it, so read these as floors: the true rates are at least this high. These are measurements of speaking style, not scores. How it's measured →

How the interview went all their pushback → series average →

Across 1 rated episode:

host pushback ▾ 2/10

pushed back at the host 1/10

setup questions received 55%

host pushback: the hardest questions Harry asked, tap to play ▶ 20:35“Do you find that actually with some of the best companies, they escape you with the big boy's Come in once those inflection points pop, and how do you think about the best escaping…” ▶ 6:32“I do have to ask, a lot of people suggest that we're in a similar environment in terms of capital injection and capital infusion and kind of that capital gluttony in the market. Wo…” ▶ 12:53“Can I ask, was it a difficult decision to come to given the prestige and the history of the firm?”

What they said13 What others said26 Episodes1

Everything Jeff Fagnan said on 20VC that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight

Seed-stage startups should not have formal boards of directors

“First off, I don't think seed stage companies should have boards, I really think that they can get misdirected when all they really should be focusing on is talent aggregation and product market fit.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 30:30 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Insight

Individual partner accountability beats large VC consensus committees

“Fewer people taking deeper accountability for decisions was much better than this approach.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 12:03 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

What-if

Consensus decision-making cost Atlas Venture the Dropbox seed round

“And if that would have been the case, you know, Dropbox, we would have led to see the series a and probably kept a drew in Boston and it would have just changed everything.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 15:21 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Disclosure

Accomplice does not reserve follow-on capital for $1.5M seed checks

“When we write an initial seed check of say a million and a half, we are usually not reserving behind that company.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 18:52 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Insight

Force-ranking early-stage portfolio companies is a dangerous practice

“Forced ranking at an early stage portfolio is really dangerous.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 19:49 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Accomplice concentrates capital in portfolio companies under a $50M valuation

“And for a two hundred million dollar seed-led fund, we are trying to concentrate capital at a sub-fifty million dollar valuation.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 22:28 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Assertion Supported

Atlas allowed partners to write $1M checks on individual conviction

“We set up where any partner on their own conviction could write up to a million dollar check on meeting an entrepreneur.”

Insight

Outliers are the only investments that matter in venture capital

“Consensus beat out the outliers and the outliers are the only things that matter in this business.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 16:39 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Disclosure

Accomplice passed on follow-on rounds 10 to 15 times over valuation

“And I would say that's happened probably 10 to 15 times across the portfolio.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 21:18 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Opinion

Court Cunningham is the best independent board member Fagnan has seen

“Perch Homes is founded by Court Cunningham, who we were just talking about, who is on the board of Inside Squared, is the best independent board member I've ever worked with.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 33:26 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Disclosure

Fagnan's last three investments were with founders he knew for 10+ years

“My last three investments that I've made have all been with people that I've known at least for 10 years”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 34:37 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Fagnan attended three IPO parties in his first month in VC

“When I joined venture, I went to three IPO parties in my first month.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 5:10 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

What-if

Fagnan: Joining VC a year earlier would have ended my career

“If I probably would have joined venture a year earlier, I would have done a bunch of dumb investment and probably would have been, who knows what I'd be doing now, but I don't think I would be doing what I'm doing.”

Jeff Fagnan Aug 13, 2018 ▶ 6:21 20VC: Why Partners Are There To Save Each Other From Themselves, Why Effective Reserve Allocation Is The Hardest Question In Venture & What Makes The Truly Special Board Members with Jeff Fagnan, Founding Partner @ Accomplice

The other half of the tape: Jeff Fagnan's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 25 times in 6 episodes on 20VC. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 19 Patrick Morley 3 Brian Norgard 2 Ankur Nagpal 1

Statements about Jeff Fagnan, by other people (1)

Disclosure

Accomplice's Jeff Fagnan Is Vibe Capital's Largest LP

“He went from that to the starting Spearhead, giving me an angel fund, to now developing into our largest LP, where we're co-investing in deals together”

Ankur Nagpal Oct 20, 2021 ▶ 13:05 20VC: Breaking News: Ankur Nagpal Raises $70M for Vibe Capital, What The Next Decade For Venture Will Look Like, Do VCs Actually Add Any Value & Pre-Emptive Rounds, When To Take Them and When To Reject Them