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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.

Contrary is a venture firm, backed by the world's most iconic entrepreneurs, that identifies and invests in exceptional talent. We invest up to $2M in a small number of startups each year, and work closely alongside them to build enduring businesses. We're built like the startups we serve. We combine sophisticated software, a world-class talent team, and scouts to identify and invest in the world’s top talent – first – and then relentlessly support them from seed to scale. Because at the root of every category-defining startup are exceptional people.

Seven Seven Six is a technology company that deploys venture capital. We are a thesis and stage agnostic, software-enabled VC firm that partners with exceptional founders. We believe people, culture, and community are core to producing outsized returns. Our portfolio companies are focused on building the businesses that will positively impact our world for generations to come. Founded by Alexis Ohanian in September 2020 alongside investing partner Katelin Holloway, the firm currently manages assets totaling more than $750M, and is a fully remote US-based organization. We are an equal opportunity employer that deeply values a diverse community - from our Limited Partners, to our firm, and our founder community. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, ability status, family or parental status, or age. Seven Seven Six prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We are committed to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We translate this policy to all aspects of employment including recruitment, hiring, promotions, performance management, terminations, wage and salary administration, benefits, and training.

Positive Sum helps founders build their companies and tell their stories. We devote time to meeting the most talented entrepreneurs and investors in the world, and we strategically deploy our network on behalf of our portfolio companies. What we look for in companies The creation of new businesses, especially those fueled by technology, can lead to Positive Sum outcomes: where companies, customers, and investors all win together. Our team searches for such companies, with the following criteria guiding our way. Life’s Work: We look for founders doing their “life’s work.” We always ask how the founding team came upon the problem they are solving and assess the alignment between that problem and their own path in life. We find that these founders tend to be driven and obsessive, they tend to build domain knowledge quickly, and they tend to be disagreeable, with their own clear point of view for how things ought to be. We love these qualities. Ultimately, we find that founders doing their “life’s work” become magnets for talent and have the perseverance necessary to survive and thrive in difficult periods. Synchronized Team: Speed is an unbelievable advantage for young companies. Teams that communicate well ship products faster. We look for smart and efficient team communication, chemistry, and the right mix of business and technical talent. Market Signal: We can evaluate teams directly, but markets help us evaluate products. We look for clear signals from customers that a given idea or product is valuable. We deeply respect a market signal even if we don’t yet understand what is behind it, but then seek to understand the customer’s motivation in a deep way. A Compounding Customer: The question “will customers use this product often, and will the product get better and more valuable as they do?” is at the center of our investigation. Products that get embedded in their user’s lives or workflows tend to be more defensible. Compounding has to start somewhere, and our experience suggests that companies focused on “one thing” early on maximize the odds they can do more things in the future, because the customer grows to love them for the original solution. Profit Persistence: We want to invest in companies that can earn enormous profits over time. The odds of this happening go up when 1) a business demonstrates (or we can foresee) positive unit economics, 2) the business model can scale with demand and 3) the product gets harder for others to copy as it grows. We look for all three components. Timing, Alignment, and Impact: We focus intently on why now is the right time to build this company. New technologies, changes in regulation, cultural shifts, and other enabling factors create opportunities for unnatural growth in a business. We always look for alignment between a company and the world at large. We also want great alignment between our two teams. We hope to have decades-long relationships with the companies we support, so the fit between Positive Sum and the founding team is paramount. We make fewer investments than many comparable funds so that we can be closer with portfolio companies and spend more time with each of them.

Motivate Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed stage startups. We have been successfully building and investing in startups since 2003. Our energy and inspiration comes from working with exceptional founders to build tomorrow's greatest companies. Target first check size is $500k-$2mm and ours is typically the first professional capital in a business. We target 15%+ ownership and 10x+ returns on each of our investments. OUR APPROACH MVC invests in optimism, ingenuity and humanity’s insatiable desire to creatively improve. We back incredible founders with strong domain knowledge who are tackling real, durable problems. We look for opportunities with very high growth potential in large and growing markets. Warm email intros from other professional investors are best or entrepreneurs can reach out and tell us more about their startup and its funding needs here: www.motivate.vc/funding