Dec 18, 2019 · 1h 2m · y-combinator
Amber Atherton of Zyper and Iba Masood of TARA on Raising a Series A as a Female Founder · Y Combinator
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In this Y Combinator podcast episode, founders Iba Masood of TARA AI and Amber Atherton of Zyper share practical strategies for navigating Series A fundraising, vetting venture capital partners, overcoming female founder stereotypes, and scaling post-investment operations.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The partners as informed peer 3.3 Guest teaching 4.4 Guest disagreement 1.4 The partners pushing back 1.1
speaking balance: gold is the partners, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 58:42 Amber rejects Iba's eight-week board cadence recommendation
Amber directly pushes back against Iba's advice for frequent board meetings, arguing it wastes valuable founder execution time preparing decks.
Hardest push from the partners ▶ 6:46 Craig presses for concrete details on the investment memoCraig interrupts Amber's general summary to demand granular specifics on the contents and financial depth of her investment memo.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:24 Iba clarifies term sheets are non-binding LOIsIba educates the audience and host on the legal reality that term sheets frequently fall through and that founders should not celebrate until funds clear in the bank.
The partners hold their own ▶ 28:28 Craig articulates the hidden cognitive overhead of fundraisingCraig demonstrates founder empathy and domain expertise by explaining why fundraising consumes all mental bandwidth beyond scheduled meeting times.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The partners as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The partners pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Seed Fundraising and Company Pivots | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Craig asks standard conversational kickoff questions about early seed funding and pivots. The guests explain how their early concepts and grant research evolved into their current companies in a collaborative manner. | |
| Navigating the YC Series A Batch and Investment Memos | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Amber recounts her experience in the YC Series A batch and drafting investment memos. Craig pushes for granular specifics regarding how deep into financials the memo went. | |
| Term Sheet Dynamics, Fast Rounds, and Evaluating Fit | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Iba and Amber walk through managing competitive term sheets and partner evaluation over valuation. Iba explains the legal reality of term sheets being non-binding letters of intent. | |
| Due Diligence, Partner Vetting, and Managing Pipeline Focus | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | The guests detail how to assess venture associates versus general partners and manage diligence timelines. Craig contributes observations on investor optionality and time-boxing. | |
| Female Founder Dynamics and Industry Representation | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | The founders discuss navigation of industry expectations as female founders, warning against token partner matches and emphasizing domain expertise. | |
| Pitching Vision, Founder Mindset, and Avoiding Traps | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Amber and Iba share insights on founder conviction, executive coaching, and avoiding vanity traps like unvetted celebrity introductions. | |
| Back-Channeling VCs and Scaling Teams Post-Series A | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Guests dive into back-channeling VC references and common Series A hiring mistakes, such as bringing on late-stage corporate executives too early. | |
| Running Board Meetings and Final Advice for Founders | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 | The guests discuss board meeting frequency and OKR setting, with Amber offering a direct counterpoint to Iba regarding meeting cadences before sharing closing advice. |
Statements from this episode (19)
Atherton: Zyper raised $1.2M in London before applying to Y Combinator
“Started the company in 2017, and I raised raised 1.2 seed in London from a VC in London, and a lot of angels involved in that, great angels involved in that round two and then and then I applied to YC, and got in then.”
Masood: TARA raised $2.8M after pivot for a $3M seed round
“About a fourth of our investors doubled down. And so from that 200 K when we pivoted, we raised 2.8 million. And so we had a three million Called it a three million seed.”
Atherton: Forerunner Ventures led Zyper's $4M seed pre-Demo Day
“Forerunner Ventures led our seed pre-demo day, and that was exciting. So we raised four million then”
Atherton: Zyper wrote its own investment memos to send to VCs
“What we did was kind of do the VC's jobs for them and Write, you know, a memo as to why you should invest in us. And that sort of went out, you know, with the deck after the first meeting.”
Masood: TARA secured a Series A term sheet in nine days
“Our total fundraise process to go from first coffee meeting to term sheet was nine days.”
Masood: Founders should not maximize valuation over partner alignment
“You shouldn't maximize for valuation because the thing is that if you maximize for valuation then you know incentives aren't necessarily aligned, and so what you really want to maximize for is, are we getting to work with the right people?”
Atherton: Founders should never fake competing term sheets to create urgency
“You can be tempted to say, oh, well, we have this other time sheet. We have this other offer, blah, blah, blah. Just don't ever do that because it's so small as a community and just be honest.”
Atherton: Startups should negotiate legal fee caps during fundraising
“Negotiate a cap with your law firm to do the regals because it will go over and it will end up being 30 days or maybe even 60 days.”
Masood: Vet VC associate influence via LinkedIn tenure and board roles
“I think the most important thing is to meet with senior associates that have influence and how you can figure that out is really just go onto their LinkedIn and see how long have they been at the firm. Are they someone who's really an analyst, but has the asso…”
Masood: Committed VC partners will work weekends to prep founders
“If the GP really wants, you know, you to present your best foot forward in terms, in front of the full partner meeting, they will work through that weekend or, you know, whatever that date period is to make sure that your presentation is as good as it can be.”
Atherton: Founders cannot blame missing term sheets on gender or race
“Like, if you have a great product and great traction, then you have a hot deal, and like, any other kind of justification as to why you're not getting term sheet is, you can't really say that. Like, you either have product market fit and a hot deal, and that's…”
Masood: VCs shouldn't route diverse founders to diverse partners by default
“Founders should be able to talk to the partner at the fund that understands their industry and their business. That's really, it's that simple. It's, you know, they shouldn't automatically assume that because, you know, this person is a female founder or a min…”
Atherton: VC-funded female-founded startups grew from 410 in 2009 to 2,700
“There's a great, like, all-raised statistic that, 2009, 410 companies who had female founders got VC funding, whereas last 2019, 2700 companies got VC funding.”
Atherton: Female founders pitch market sizes less aggressively than male peers
“I feel like the appetite for risk for a lot of female founders to really answer that question, you know, how big can this be is it's more realistic perhaps of like, okay, well, we have product market fit, the product's going to change a bit. So, Realistically,…”
Masood: Founders should ignore fund brand and choose the best partner
“Building a company is a longterm game at the end of the day. And so what that means is you want to ensure that you're finding the best partner for your company or your business and really take the fund out of the equation.”
Masood: Ask portfolio founders how VC partners acted when things failed
“Do your homework, but then come armed with very specific questions and really try to ask about, What did that partner do when things went south?”
Masood: Product-market fit is a stepladder you repeatedly gain and lose
“Product market fit is a stepladder. So, you're going to have it for a little bit, and then you're gonna suddenly lose it, and then you have to change your product again, and so, that's really how it is.”