The Secret Recipe behind Floodgate, Uncork Capital and Maven Ventures
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a huge growth of women investors launching their own venture firms (Trae Vasallo of Defy Partners, Eva Ho of Fika, Anu Duggal and Sutian Duong of Female Founders Fund) or joining them (Sequoia, Founders Fund, Storm Ventures), enabling more diversity in the innovation and venture industry.
Another approach firms such as Floodgate, Uncork (formerly SoftTech), and Maven Ventures have followed has been adding female leadership near the firm’s inception, which has not only helped broaden the diversity of thought within the firm, but also set their foundation.
Partner Sara Thomas Deshpande of Maven Ventures has been striving to build her pipeline of diverse entrepreneurs. As if sourcing and managing deal flow was not challenging enough! Sara is taking things to the next level and in any given week, she sets a goal that the top of her investing funnel consists of at least 50/50 female and male founders. We learned more about Sara and Maven Ventures in the following interview.
1. Why did you decide to become a venture investor?
The very first company I worked with closely was a consumer footwear brand called Feelgoodz. I fell in love with the product, team, and opportunity, and everything that came along with supporting a very early-stage company. I learned a tremendous amount about how to offer valuable advice and help to CEOs, and how to balance strategy and execution when everything is changing in the early days. I didn’t make an intentional choice at that time to get into VC, but I did continue pursuing my passion for supporting great founders at the earliest stages. That led me to running an accelerator program, launching my own advising practice, and eventually meeting my partner, Jim and joining him at Maven Ventures. Jim and I share a passion for early-stage investments and building companies that impact consumers’ lives, so it became clear soon after we met that we were a good match.
2. Given that the funnel of companies you see are fairly large, how do you effectively manage your pipeline and at what point during the diligence process do you bring the partnership in?
I keep a running list of all of the companies I’m currently engaged with, and have a bias toward either moving them up the list (for further diligence) or down the list (to a formal pass) rather than a state of limbo. Maven is a small firm, so the full team is typically engaged in an opportunity by the second meeting, though sometimes later if the company isn’t fundraising yet or they’re tracking toward certain milestones for a Seed raise. When Maven’s not going to invest, I strive for quick, “nice nos” when possible, often including a bit of feedback on why. It doesn’t always happen, but I like to have less than a week between each stage of the investment process. That means Maven can get to an investment in just a couple of weeks, and let founders know in just a few days if we’re not going to move forward.
3. How should founders think about the role of a venture associate/principal pre-, during, and post investment?
This will definitely vary by firm. So far, we’ve only had one associate at a time. Our full investment team is three people, so everyone is involved to some degree in each investment we make. Associates can help founders to understand the firm’s investment process and offer insight about what the partners really care about. Additionally, at Maven and many other firms, associates work on the diligence package, so making sure they understand your business and the market you’re tackling is very helpful in making your case for an investment. We are hands-on team players, so after an investment, associate support at Maven can vary based on what the company needs — everything from building a database of recruiting prospects, to providing competitive research, to direct marketing and sales support.
4. When a deal is done, what’s the best way for the founder to leverage the entire team they work with (partner and pre-partner team members)?
I like to get to work right away. To do so, I’ll start with a strategic onboarding working session with the founder to walk through the Maven Startup Kit that outlines many of the key areas Seed stage companies will need support in the first year. We try to identify where the Maven team and I will help the company, and then setup regular check points, at least monthly. If there are other large investors in the Seed round, I encourage founders to leverage that group by setting advisory board meetings quarterly or bi-monthly to work through strategic issues. Then the monthly check-ins can be about rolling up our sleeves around the most important needs at that time. I’m also in touch informally with founders much more frequently than that — weekly or daily over text, email, phone, etc. — for quicker turn around. It’s up to founders to engage and get the most out of your investors, so always let them know what you need and how they can help. Ask what they do for other companies, and if they have junior team members for you to leverage as well.
5. What are 2–3 traits that are critical and you look for in a founding team?
Since team is such an important part of a seed investment, there are characteristics I’m screening for from the first email intro and in every meeting after. We’ve spent a fair amount of time discussing the ideal Maven founding team — here’s what we have defined so far. The first thing we look for at Maven is passion. We define that as willingness to spend 10+ years working on this problem, based on a credible industry insight, and demonstrated comfort with the delayed gratification that comes with being a startup founder. We also look for technical teams that are capable of building and launching the early versions of the product and recruiting strong technical teams over time as the company scales. A coachable team is also key — founders who are transparent, admit what they don’t know and where they need help, and are willing to seek and consider advice. Ideally that’s balanced with a burning, competitive desire to win and a “brick wall” drive (the founder would tear through a brick wall to accomplish their vision).
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It was so impressive to learn how, even as a small team, Maven’s start-up support is solid and unique — from the Maven Startup Kit to their annual Hypergrowth Retreat, featuring today’s leaders in startup growth. Thank you, Sara for supporting this WIV interview series initiative and for sharing your story with us!
Sara’s Bio
Sara Thomas Deshpande is a Partner at Maven Ventures, a leading seed venture fund for emerging consumer software startups propelled by network effects and hypergrowth. She invests in seed-stage companies across consumer mobile, marketplaces, digital health, and autonomous vehicles, and is an active advisor to the companies in the Maven portfolio. At Maven since 2014, Sara has been part of six exits and over 20 investments including Chariot (acquired by Ford), Carrot, May Mobility, Eden, Neighborly, Gametime, Embark, Hello Heart, Foodworks, and more.
Sara has worked with consumer and tech startup founders around the globe for the last decade, from helping to launch a consumer footwear brand to running her own national consulting practice. Previously, she led the startup portfolio and programming for hundreds of high-growth startups at The Idea Village, an entrepreneurship engine in New Orleans, and was a management consultant in the Healthcare Strategy practice at Deloitte in San Francisco. Sara holds a BS in Finance from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
