FC ❤️’s NYC
Founder Collective has reopened its NYC office.
Dear portfolio founders, collaborators, and friends,
I’m back! Founder Collective has reopened its NYC office, and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s where I started my venture career and where I’ll spend the rest of it. There’s just something special about NYC that I missed too damn much. And best of all, we’re hiring! Learn more about a Day in the Life of our Principal.
When Founder Collective launched in 2009, many of our largest investments were in NYC.
The east coast will always be the heart and soul of the fund. We were among the first to invest in promising entrepreneurs from Flatiron to Bushwick including SeatGeek, Dia&Co, Buzzfeed, Olo, Makerbot and 47…48…49…other NYC-based companies — We’ve made nine investments in the last twelve months in the city!
While NYC is the largest city in the US, the ecosystem is one that feels more like a close family than an industry. The city’s tech scene is vibrant, diverse, and commercially-oriented. NYC founders are scrappy and often make the choice to leave cushy alternatives to start a company. And the pace is completely unique — I can visit 5 companies a day with a few swipes of a Metrocard. I literally run into founders and VCs on the streets nearly every day. BTW, did I mention we’re hiring? Read below.
Above all, NYC is rising. The amount of growth I’ve seen since returning a few months ago is exceptional including emerging startups in spaces from AI and deep tech, to robotics, to SAAS to, of course, consumer products and tech. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen the IPOs of Peloton and DataDog, and the acquisition of CTRL-Labs.
At Founder Collective, we believe now more than ever investors need to be intentional about their core beliefs and strengths. We ascribe many of our values to our East Coast roots. Despite offers to double or triple our size, and most of our peer group growing their funds, we’ve stayed small and focused. We believe that in a world where capital is seen as a commodity, the most valuable currency is our relationships with our founders. It’s our mission and our only focus. The Bay Area is awash in venture capital like no other time in history, but in many ways, the NY ecosystem is still developing. We believe our capital, coupled with our experience and network, can provide tremendous leverage to the next generation of great NY ventures.
We’re still immensely proud of the relationships we’ve built and the investments we made in the Bay Area. During the past nine years, we’ve invested in a number of amazing companies, including Uber, HotelTonight, Verkada, Omada Health, Airtable, Kasa, Trusted Health, and 90 others. Our commitment to the Golden State — investments, portfolio support, and events remains unchanged.
Our headquarters may be in Boston and New York, but we love contributing to the startup ecosystem on the coasts, in the middle and beyond. And I should mention that we’re hiring!
With gratitude,
P.S. YES! We’re hiring.
