Morph Capital

In 2007, I was working as a junior trader at Lehman Brothers. I hated it - the dehumanizing culture, lack of creativity, and singular focus on transactions and money left me feeling uninspired and lost. I didn’t know it then, but Lehman’s bankruptcy in ‘08 was a gift, and I left in search of a calling. I spent a few years meandering - writing, working odd jobs, grad school in Hong Kong - ultimately ending up back in NYC in 2009, having stumbled upon a young, passionate group of misfits that folks were calling “founders.” These founders felt more like artists than assets, more obsessives than executives. They were avant garde, they were building the things they wanted to see in the world, and to my surprise, people called venture capitalists gave them money to pursue their dreams. I was in love with their fringe eccentricity, extraordinary craftsmanship, and wild ambition. I was in love with the beautiful new works of art they called startups. For the next 15 years, I dedicated my life to working with founders – first at betaworks, and then over three funds at Notation with my partner Alex Lines. A lot has changed. The venture ecosystem went from cottage industry outsider to institutional insider – from a nascent practice to a consensus component of institutional portfolios. The result has been the industrialization–and bankerization–of venture. Firms that make dozens or even hundreds of investments per year, relentlessly focused on assets under management, using the same copy-paste transactional language, all drowning in a sea of sameness. Similarly, what was once a risky leap of faith has become a credentialing factory: accelerators churn out 1,000s of startups per year and fundraising rounds are the new requisite bullets in Linkedin resumes. The environment today feels eerily similar to the one I left on Wall Street so many years ago. Into the Asylum I’ve always believed the best early-stage founders are artists – they're obsessive about new and unusual things, they feel compelled to bring creation into the world, and they are often misunderstood for long periods of time–even lifetimes. Building businesses is their art. The good news is that as the new “banks” in venture continue to expand their tentacles, they also enable new alternatives. What if we treated founders like artists, instead of like assets? We plan to spend the next decade trying to answer this question. We think it means: A firm that’s small by design, that makes a handful of investments per year, and that eschews board seats and administrative control. A small team of partners moving mountains to help when asked and otherwise getting out of the way. A place for founders to tune out the noise and focus on making something truly great. A source of calm, trust, and support for founders who are manifesting beauty through one of the hardest things you can do: starting a company. The path forward We believe there are exceptional founders who, like us, want to win their own way, who want to work with VCs who care more about them and their companies than assets under management. If this sounds appealing to you, please get in touch. Whether you're a founder or in between things, we’d love for you to come visit us at our studio in Brooklyn. And if you would like to join a small team dedicated to the art of venture rather than the business of banking, contact us at hiring@asylum.vc.

Exceptional early talent is the greatest leading indicator of a company’s potential. Since 2017 our partners have backed or founded companies with over $1B of enterprise value. We’ve taken companies from napkin sketches to thriving businesses, hired world-class talent and raised capital from top-tier investors. From these experiences, we’ve learned how to identify great talent early, allowing us to lean in well before data, revenue, and sometimes even a deck. We lead pre-seed rounds in founders who:Are magnets for top-tier talent Have the clear, pragmatic vision needed to build a world-changing company, and Are a ton of fun to be around We blend the network of a top-tier fund with the value-add of your most impactful angel. We tailor founder support to optimize for impact. We can be high touch, high energy, or write a check and get out of the way.

We don’t just say we invest Pre-Seed. We’re a $300M fund focused on pre-seed, pre-traction, pre-everything. We don’t focus on what can go wrong. We look for what can go right. Just like you, we’re risk-takers - not risk-mitigators. All-in with you! We play to win. We don’t tell you something’s awesome just to be nice. We have your back and ask the tough questions. Think of us as your SWAT team. We don’t mind if your idea is raw. We’re product people who see your vision. Bring on the sushi-grade. We don’t wait 'til Monday morning. We work fast to make our decisions. We’re founders too - and waiting is the worst.

firstminute capital is a $320m sector-agnostic seed fund backed by 120 unicorn founders, including over 20 founders of $10bn+ businesses. Our General Partner Brent Hoberman is a double unicon founder. Yet, we are more than a fund. We’re an ecosystem of entrepreneurs from all over the world who, facilitated by firstminute capital’s team, come together to help one another, turn vision into reality and create the future. Our community is our edge. It is the source of the transformational support we offer to our partners who are warmly welcomed inside. An invitation into the firstminute capital community is secured by those with a special kind of spirit, not just a solid spreadsheet. A rare breed driven by a powerful characteristic we call, ‘Magnetic Ambition.’ Those with it often don’t recognise it in themselves, yet they are propelled forward by it, every day. We see it in their ability to capture hearts and minds with their vision, their belief and their commitment. When we find a founder with Magnetic Ambition, we open the door to the firstminute capital community and we give them everything they need. At your service What can founders expect from working with us? First of all, our 9-person investment team will fight for founders. Between us, members of the team have backed 10 unicorn startups at seed; we have IPO-ed companies; we have started companies; we have fundraised ourselves and we have failed and picked ourselves up again. So we are all here to help with advice, strategy brainstorming, product workshops, introductions to customers, raising a Series A or just being there for you in the tough times as well as the good times. If we can't help, we'll know someone in our extensive network who can and we'll make that intro. On top of the investment team, founders also get the whole "platform" team, which is another 11 people dedicated to helping founders scale their business and help with areas such as hiring and marketing. Our goal is to be the most helpful seed fund in Europe. We love to help founders build. Network effects At firstminute, we see ourselves as collaboration catalysts. We act to unlock the value our the community and bring our own expertise to bear when the time is right. Thanks to our 120 unicorn backers as well as a network of top CEO supporting us, firstminute has an extensive global reach. We like to bring on our investors - some of the top angels in the world - into our deals and as advisers to supercharge companies. firstminute's co-founder is Brent Hoberman, who after founding and exiting two unicorn startups himself created a network of companies under the 'Founders' umbrella. These include a world-class event series called Founders Forum as well as a consultancy, a recruitment firm, a charitable arm and Europe's largest incubator-accelerator. This whole ecosystem is part of our network, which helps with everything from sales introduction to finding top talent. We also have a large investor network to help with that Series A fundraise and beyond, having done deals with our friend at funds such as Tiger Global, Sequoia, Benchmark, a16z, Coatue and Atomico. Being part of our community, with our events and parties with some of the biggest names in tech and business, means you will be working with the best. We do an annual retreat for founders as well as regular drinks and dinners. Every year we hold our flagship summit in London which brings together firstminute investors, portfolio founders, partners from the top US and European multi-stage funds, and friends who are all bright lights in the tech community. Read more about that here.

We are a sector agnostic early-stage investor that wants to partner with founders from the very beginning of their journey and support them throughout their growth. Our team has global experience in building and scaling companies both as founders and in various CxO roles. We invest in ambitious and determined teams that can one day become industry leaders.

A global track record of supporting founders throughout the lifecycle From day zero through all the stages of growth, we support our founders through our platform. We have backed entrepreneurs from series seed to IPO on all continents. Global. We support founders in all geographies. Stage agnostic. We back companies across all stages and throughout the lifecycle. Operational. Our platform offers founders all the support they need to scale.