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Kopelman: Founder community cannot be sprinkled into a venture firm post-hoc

Josh Kopelman · 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 · at 34:43

Josh Kopelman is the founder of seed venture firm First Round Capital. He reflects on the operational challenges of building First Round's founder platform and network.

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“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 the implicit and explicit bargain that founders sign up for when they choose to work with you”

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More from Josh Kopelman

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
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
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
Insight
Kopelman: Startup failure is largely determined at idea selection, not execution
“I believe that a high degree of startup mortality is baked in at the pick and not on the execution.”
Josh Kopelman Jan 28, 2019 ▶ 22:42 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
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
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
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