Insight certainty 4/5 debate potential 3/5

Denehy: The size of a VC's support team reveals their true value

Ryan Denehy · 20VC: Why Pre-Product Market Fit Is About Systems Design Not Engineering, The Right Way For Leaders To Approach Wartime Leadership Today & A Guide To Recruitment Forward Planning with Ryan Denehy, Founder & CEO @ Electric · Nov 8, 2019 · at 30:11

Ryan Dennehy is the founder and CEO of Electric.ai. He discusses how founders should evaluate venture capital firms at the seed stage.

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“At the seed stage, VCs always say they add value beyond cash, but If you actually do the best way, and at the seed stage, you need all the help you can get. So you really want a VC that's going to be able to step up and support you. Well, the best way to kind of call bullshit on people is just look at the size of the portfolio support team, right?”

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