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A seed investing framework. When I first started as an Associate in… | by Francesca (Check) Warner | Ada Ventures | Medium

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When I first started as an Associate in Venture, I couldn’t understand how to quickly evaluate a seed-stage company, which was often pre-revenue and sometimes pre-product.** Despite having limited data to rely on, or metrics to evaluate, it seemed easy for my colleague Matt to look at a 15 page pitch deck and immediately hone in on the key points and whether it was a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ to taking this company to the next phase. He could also immediately tell where we’d need to focus efforts in due diligence. He didn’t use notes, and almost did it with his eyes closed. Some of this was what Daniel Kahneman would call heuristics or ‘thinking fast’, using learned bias based on experience and instinct. However, Matt’s judgement also came from rapidly running through a set of questions in his head. An investor friend calls this parallel processing (using emotional intelligence or instinct) vs linear processing (using multiple questions). I believe as an investor you need a balance of both, part

A seed investing framework Francesca (Check) Warner 6 min read · Feb 19, 2018 -- 8 Listen Share When I first started as an Associate in Venture , I couldn’t understand how to quickly evaluate a seed-stage company, which was often pre-revenue and sometimes pre-product.** Despite having limited data to rely on, or metrics to evaluate, it seemed easy for my colleague Matt to look at a 15 page pitch deck and immediately hone in on the key points and whether it was a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ to taking this company to the next phase. He could also immediately tell where we’d need to focus efforts in due dili

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