2.6
2.2 
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2.8 
2.2 Charlie O'Donnell: Friendly, but Not Your Friend
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Cowboy on 2010-03-08
I've heard a lot of good things about First Round from a lot of good people and I am reluctant to say make any negative generalizations about them as a firm because of this, but based on my own experience and conversations with my peers, First Round has showed poor judgement in choosing Charlie O'Donnell to represent them in NYC as an Exec-In-Residence.
While Charlie's clearly a smart guy who's trying hard to make a name for himself, he seems unable to manage the responsibility and power that comes with being a VC. Essentially, if you have power or influence, he's the greatest guy in the world. But if you're not, he has a tendency to abuse his power. And that's what he wants: power.
In reality, Charlie is a guy you have to know and deal with if you're in the NYC ecosystem. But always remember: There's only one guy that Charlie O'Donnell cares about: Charlie O'Donnell.
PRIVATE: Members Only (1436 Characters)Kept Me in the Know - Phin Barnes
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by yonkly on 2010-02-21
I had the pleasure of pitching Phin an idea for one of my side-projects, Yonkly (http://yonkly.com). Although it didn't end up raising capital, I found Phin a pleasure to work with. He was excellent in keeping me in the know, and keeping me informed on when to expect a decision. Phin's attitude is a reflection of First Round Capital as a whole. For any entrepreneur, I recommend checking them out.
PRIVATE: Members Only (78 Characters)Don't Get Stuck with an Associate
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Bernajik on 2009-12-11
It's never advisable to meet with an associate at any firm. In the case of First Round, this piece of wisdom takes on a whole new meaning.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyGood Experience
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by SixthTimeStartUp on 2009-05-04
We pitched Rob Hayes, and even though he ended up passing, he did so quickly and efficiently, and spent time with me afterward so I could understand his reasons. He also introduced me to several other people who have been very helpful. Over all this was about as good an experience that a "no" could be; I won't hesitate to approach Rob/ First Round again.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyFast and Thoughtful "No"
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Anonymous on 2009-03-31
All the good things I heard were true (well, at least the ones I can confirm given that we didn't make it to terms). FOLLOW THEIR ADVICE: USE LINKEDIN TO GET INTRODUCED. We had our initial screening with Christine -- very open, very thoughtful, very direct. This was one of those "no"s that hurts because you realize how great she/they would be as a partner.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyAwesome Guidance
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by sellis on 2008-11-19
I've worked with Josh and Rob. Both are great guys. While Rob offers solid advice, Josh is the most amazing VC with whom I've ever worked. In one meeting I got writers cramp in about 10 minutes and the wisdom kept flowing for another 50 minutes. One piece of advice easily trippled our downloads in the first week after launch with no additional spending.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyPitched Chris & Josh
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by kickinit on 2008-11-01
Only met with Chris and Josh. The two are really nice guys. We liked Chris alot. Conversed via email, phone and met in person. Chris was great, easy to pitch, didn't ask the tough questions, was digging the product. Even put us in contact with someone to help with BD.
PRIVATE: Members Only (420 Characters)First Round are First Class
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Raining on 2008-10-22
I pitched Josh and Rob and found them to be extremely knowledgeable about the web 2.0 space. They drilled us well and we found the interaction to be a great learning process for us. They eventually chose not to pass, but were very professional about it. Would definitely pitch them again.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyBest Pitch Yet... However...
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-08-08
First of all I consider myself lucky to even have gotten the chance to pitch FRC... I was told by my introduction that they do very few deals... and they are a desirable fund. Yet I maintained hope because (based on their website) we seemed like a perfect match...
The pitch went great - I've been around a lot of people who know a lot about internet business, but none can even touch Josh... he presented the same questions I got from most VCs... but instead of asking because he didn't know the answer... I got the impression he was asking just to see if my answer was as good as his.
All in all - I walked out of there knowing a little bit more about my own company, and Josh (feigned") interest. I was promised a call back and never received (little surprised - very cordial until this point) it - which I consider a surprise considering how prompt they were getting back to me prior to meeting.
Read on....
PRIVATE: Members Only (458 Characters)Good Feedback, Considering...
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by bamboo on 2008-06-25
Don't be afraid of Josh Kopelman.
PRIVATE: Members Only (374 Characters)Good Experience
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by JamesMc on 2008-06-16
Pitched their associate Mazen over the phone (yeah I know nothing beats being in person). One of my better experiences with VCs, he was very engaged and informed and we had a good dialog going out the sector (digital media). In the end the partners passed
PRIVATE: Members OnlyCasual Meetings Possible
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-05-05
Willing to meet for casual discussions, but rescheduled a handful of times along the way.
PRIVATE: Members Only (336 Characters)Good Casual First Meeting
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by speedy on 2008-04-29
We recently met with Rob Hayes. We aren't looking for VC funding yet, but will be, and we had a warm introduction. Rob struck is very positively, had good questions, and even has made an introduction to a potentially valuable strategic partner. I was left with a feeling that they could be valuable contributors to my company's future success.
I look forward to following up with FRC when we start our VC cycle.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyGood Experience
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-02-02
I pitched Howard very early in the formation of the company. He was engaged and attentive. He asked good questions. In the end FRC decided to not invest in the company, but Howard's questions were very valuable in shaping the pitch.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyDecides with Subjective Bias
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by taurus on 2008-01-30
Pitched Chris over the phone. It was apparent that he had not spent much time reading & understanding my ES. So I went over everything with him. At the end he said it seems like I understood everything about the business quite well, and although it was in their sweet spot in terms of capital, stage etc. he was going to pass. The reasoning was that he and his colleagues had tried services in the past that overlapped in some aspects what my company was pursuing and had unsatisfactory experiences.
He also asked about what other VCs were interested, which seems like a typical VC question that conveys that they are not leaders where investment is concerned.
Otherwise he seemed unpretentious and nice enough, but basically was wasting my time and his own.
PRIVATE: Members Only (145 Characters)Honest and Straightforward
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by DavidSiegel on 2007-12-11
Their web site says to network your way to them, which I did. After an email introduction, Chris agreed to take my call. We went through my pitch on the phone, and he listened and was familiar with the space. He said it wasn't in their sweet spot, because we weren't far along enough to show breakout potential, but he was honest and helpful. He invited me to contact him as things progressed. I later met him at a TED event and, even though he's a foot taller than I am, he never looked down on me. Seems to have a lot of integrity and respect for entrepreneurs. I'd go back to him for a later round.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyPolite Persistence
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-12-06
I have found polite persistence is a good rule to use when contacting VC's, including FRC.
PRIVATE: Members Only (561 Characters)I'M Just Confused by the Interaction....
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by GrowthCapital on 2007-12-04
I'm genuinely confused by my interaction with FirstRound.
I spoke with Rob Hayes quite some time ago - a fellow entrepreneur made an introduction to Josh Kopelman and Rob followed up. We had a very brief conversation in which I mentioned we were not yet looking for funding but I wanted to connect and introduce myself because we would be shortly. Rob asked some very reasonable, very standard checklist questions, and I thanked him for his time and indicated that I'd follow up when ready.
A couple of months later, I was about to reach out again when yet a different contact alerted me that he would write to Josh at FirstRound recommending us. I figured that another endorsement couldn't hurt. Out of the blue, I got a Facebook friend request from Josh (who I've never met and my only interaction was via the above introduction). I accepted his request and wrote back saying that while we'd never connected, I had spoken with Rob and our company was actually ready to look for Series A financing. Josh never responded to me at all. He did respond to the contact trying to connect us, saying simply that he looked in the database and "they had already passed." I never heard anything from him or FirstRound again.
It was just a totally different interaction than I've had with any other VC. If a VC isn't interested in my plan, that's fine. There was just something unsettling about the weird contact and the fact that they "passed" on our plan without being offered an opportunity to invest, and without ever telling us.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyHelpful
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by tomtom on 2007-11-30
We met both Josh & Rob at a conference, and gave them a quick demo. Followed up with Rob later, and found him to be helpful, with constructive feedback and offers to introduce us to his contacts. They opted not to invest, as we are later stage than their sweet spot, but they got back to us quickly. I would definitely pitch them again.
PRIVATE: Members OnlyDown to Earth
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-11-12
FRC seemed to us to be pretty down to earth and smart. They have a good handle on what they think is a good investment, but they are also intellectually curious and willing to throw around ideas with you about your business.
PRIVATE: Members Only (312 Characters)First Round Has Worked Hard for Us... Glad We Got Them
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by secondtime on 2007-10-25
I was just starting my second company and raising angel money (primarily from people who had invested in the first one), when I got an intro to Josh Kopelman. I arranged a call to get to know him, not to pitch him on the business. We spoke for 30 minutes, spent some time on what I was working on and he said they wanted in to the round. He outlined the due dilligence steps... Amazingly, from there things went very smoothly, we closed the seed round oversubscribed, and they have been a wonderful partner in working with us on a business that is notably more complicated than most of the other deals out there. If you're starting a company, I wouldn't hesitate to encourage you to get an intro to one of the guys at First Round Capital.
PRIVATE: Members Only (469 Characters)Very Entrepreneurial
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by tempo on 2007-10-16
Rob Hayes was one of the first VCs we met with in our process, and he put us through our paces (as I've heard he's done to others). He didn't invest at first, but his early feedback resonated for months as we developed our product. It was only after several months of rapid iteration on our business that we felt comfortable returning to him, and it paid off. Rob immediately appreciated the subtle but profound business implications of what we were doing. After that First Round moved quickly, as they've done ever since we closed the round.
Awesome contributors every step of the way.
PRIVATE: Members Only (461 Characters)Smart, Hard Working, on Your Side
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by serialentrep on 2007-10-12
Disclaimer: I run a Firstround funded company. They were the first Fund we turned to, and we have not had any regrets ever since. The investment process was efficient, and - given my experience with many other VCs - I have been extremely pleased with their involvement since closing the deal. They work very hard for us, have made extremely valuable introductions, are always reachable, and their counsel has always been helpful.
PRIVATE: Members Only (307 Characters)Josh and Howard are Awesome
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by 750bat on 2007-09-27
I know Josh from his entrepreneur days and Howard from idealab NY and I can say they are, without a doubt, two of the smartest Internet guys out there. They're both investors (personally) in my company and I feel lucky to have them involved every time I interact with him. The only downside is their input is so helpful, you often find yourself wanting more and more of their time... and there's only so much time in the day.
PRIVATE: Members Only (349 Characters)Pp
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by anonymous on 2007-07-23
Polite & Professional-- a pass on an initial inquiry included a short phrase explaining why.
PRIVATE: Members Only (215 Characters)