flâneur

Saar Gur | General Partner

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Feeling is first. I invest early in startups that tap into not-yet-obvious-but-soon-to-be-massive changes in consumer behavior — especially those that create and deliver experiences, rather than just things. We’ve been partners with Tony Xu, DoorDash founder and CEO, since the company’s seed round in 2013. Tony was inspired by his mom — an immigrant who worked as a restaurant manager. You might know DoorDash as the magic button that helps you put dinner on the table, no matter how busy and exhausted you are. DoorDash is driven by a broader mission to empower local economies, communities and small business owners. That purpose led the team to do things like deliver food to kids and the elderly, and reduce restaurant commissions when restaurants were struggling during the pandemic. My wife and I are both entrepreneurs. She created a chain of small businesses, which she ran for eleven years, 365 days a year. I helped start a company called Brightroll, a video advertising business, out of

Most of what I do at CRV happens before there's much to point at. I lead seed and Series A investments — often when the product is only days or weeks old. My sweet spot is post-product, pre-traction: I don't need huge adoption or obvious proof points to invest. Conviction has to come from the founder, the insight and the product itself — not from a chart. DoorDash founder and CEO Tony Xu on a delivery run. What I'm drawn to are two things: products that have the potential to touch millions of people and founders with a unique insight into a market they believe they can create or disrupt. I…

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