People first

Most of your job as an investor is to make intelligent investment decisions based on a thoroughly researched thesis and diligence process on an industry, technology, product or founder.

But every once and a while, you just have a gut feeling about a founder… even if you don’t fully understand the tech or initial product vision they lay out.

I’ve experienced this more than a few times before. I’m so confident in this instinct by now that when I sense this feeling in my gut, I lean in instead of bowing out.

Crstl and Grocers List are two such examples.

Both companies are captained by extremely accomplished founders who are building promising tech in their fields. But, in each case, I was investing in the FOUNDER before the company and business model were fully formed.

When I invested in Crstl, Dipti Desai was still figuring out the business model for the company. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t fully understand what she was working on. But, I had such conviction in Dipti and her process that I confidently wrote a check.

Same thing at Grocers List, where I wrote a pre-seed check as a way of betting on the founder. Now, the business is just starting to take off and Ben Jabbawy is proving my instinct correct!

My takeaway from all this?

Building businesses is all about the people. And sometimes an investment decision has nothing to do with the business.