Ben Taft

Founder & General Partner, Genius Ventures · 5 appearances on the record.

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investorfounder@benmtaft ↗geniusventures.xyz ↗

Ben Taft is the founder and General Partner of Genius Ventures, an early-stage venture fund. He previously co-founded augmented reality startup Mira, which was acquired by Apple, and served as an investor for Sequoia's Scout Program.

6statements → 1claims → 0claims resolved → 3.5/5average certainty → 1.5/5average debate potential →

1 not checkable as stated how the 1 claim stands · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 2 insights · 3 disclosures · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 1 claim: statements the public record can support or contradict. 0 are resolved, and 1 names 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.

What they said6 Episodes5

Everything Ben Taft said on the Pitch that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight

Taft: Pre-seed startups should sell vision instead of feigning hard traction

“We're selling sizzle at the pre-seed, right? And as soon as it's like stake, it's, you know, there's something to measure, then you can start to scrutinize the business, and if you start to insinuate that there's maybe more stake than there is, then we'll star…”

Ben Taft Nov 6, 2024 ▶ 22:22 Will These VCs Bet on Her Startup? | $100K on the Line for Remynt!

Disclosure

Ben Taft offers to invest $250,000 in Party Trick

“I'm in the same boat, and if Cyan would have us and our diligence checks out, then we'd love to sneak in a quarter million into that same round.”

Ben Taft Oct 16, 2024 ▶ 11:50 Party Trick's $47M Pipeline: Can They Secure VC Funding?

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Ben Taft predicts Party Trick could quickly reach $100M in ARR

“I mean, if that's at all real to any degree, we could see her going to 10 to a hundred million in ARR and, you know, a pretty finite amount of time.”

Ben Taft Oct 16, 2024 ▶ 14:09 Party Trick's $47M Pipeline: Can They Secure VC Funding?

Insight

Taft: Venture capital optimizes for unrealistic moonshots over realistic outcomes

“Realistic is not the thing we're optimizing for. It's like the unrealistic things that Have some small probability of working, and you take that bet.”

Ben Taft Sep 4, 2024 ▶ 17:02 Will VCs Bet $1.5M on This AI That Prevents Hospital Falls?

Disclosure

Taft: Passing on Remynt until initial debt collection milestone is proven

“Where I stand and where we stand as a fund is it would go a long way for us if you were past that first milestone because that's the furthest you can get on your own to prove that this business will work. And now you're at the obstacle where you need the money…”

Ben Taft Nov 6, 2024 ▶ 13:16 Will These VCs Bet on Her Startup? | $100K on the Line for Remynt!

Disclosure

Taft: Angels and I will invest roughly $50K into Christy's Chips

“Probably like the 50,000 dollar total range for all of us, and then we'll make a lot of introductions to a lot of the funds that can maybe take the rest.”

Ben Taft Aug 28, 2024 ▶ 19:27 Will Investors Bite? Christy’s $4M Plant-Based Chip Pitch!

Appearances (5)

Episode	Date	Speaking time
Season 12 Finale: What Happened After The Pitch?	Dec 12, 2024	59s
Will These VCs Bet on Her Startup? \| $100K on the Line for Remynt!	Nov 6, 2024	1m
Party Trick's $47M Pipeline: Can They Secure VC Funding?	Oct 16, 2024	1m
Will VCs Bet $1.5M on This AI That Prevents Hospital Falls?	Sep 4, 2024	1m
Will Investors Bite? Christy’s $4M Plant-Based Chip Pitch!	Aug 28, 2024	2m

Ben Taft

Appearances (5)

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