bwagy, the blog of Ben Young

I was listening to this Jack Altman interviewing Keith Rabois podcast, and he touched on some of the things that make him a good investor and/or board member. Which I liked.

Riffing off that, I think of some of the benefits having fellow founders as investors/board members.

• As a fellow founder, who is active, they are in market. Meaning they can find/intro to live opportunities or see openings in the market as they happen…
• They (typically) have an active network, and founders know other founders.
• They’ve experienced a lot, meaning which you hit a speed bump or need specific advice/framework on how to handle something. They can share it. Vice versa, they’re learning from you too. You’re broadening your lesson/solution catchment net.
• They can act as a counter balance to the VC firms representation.
• Typically available to speak whenever or whatever hours.
• They get it, they’ve been there.
• Not afraid to do the hard work, you know that saying if you want something done, give it to a busy person. Founders are busy.

He touches on some interesting points, about board members from VC firms. If things get hard, the partner now might be under water, or have to think about how they position it to their partners. They don’t want to lose face. Or in the recent downturn, some VC firms had loaned against their carry, making them literally underwater once the market corrected. Founder investors have a lot more agency. They don’t have that same pressure. You can have a better more constructive conversation with a founder investor on navigating tough times.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 27th, 2025 at 9:55 am.