2.6
3.2 
2.7 
3.3 
3.3 Casual 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 OnlyVISIT OUR SPONSOR: (ADVERTISE HERE)
Polite 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)VISIT OUR SPONSOR: (ADVERTISE HERE)
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)President
Fund: First Round Capital
Posted by Ken on 2007-07-20
They passed. I don't care. It was a great experience and I would recommend them to anyone. These guys are smart, and professional. They asked the right questions, got what we were doing, took less then 4 days and got back to us to say no, we didn't fit their business model. Just the fact that he took the time to call me back puts First Round ahead of 95% of the other VC's out there.
PRIVATE: Members Only (658 Characters)