Reflecting on 4 years in venture, I’ve found it generally falls into the below categories
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VCs work with multiple companies and have seen them through different stages of growth; they can share learnings to augment your strategy and prevent you from making the same mistakes as others (we advise a lot on GTM)
Early-stage VCs will have relationships with later-stage VCs so have a sense of the milestones needed for a successful future raise; they can also advise on the best firms/partners for your space
Founders can tap VC relationships to get intros to the right stakeholders at potential customers (particularly for large enterprise)
Founders can tap their VC’s network for hiring, particularly VP and above or outside board members/advisors; VCs can also help sell candidates
VCs will have relationships with debt providers, law firms, the press, bankers, PR firms, media agencies, real estate brokers, etc. that their founders can leverage
VCs can advise on and provide comparable data for hiring plans based on what they’ve learned from other relevant companies and from databases like VCECS (ie. the going % FDE for VP Eng at your stage/location/sector)
VCs can provide benchmarks for key metrics (retention, freemium conversions, etc.) and orient you on what metrics matter; sometimes they can also help build/tweak the model if you ask nicely 🙃
Sometimes things don’t go as planned, your early-stage investors can extend runway so the team doesn’t have to fundraise during a challenging time or accept unfavorable terms from an outside investor; they can also help think through a venture-debt strategy
VCs host events for functional areas (marketing, sales, etc.) and for specific topics (D&I initiatives, etc.) that can provide relevant insights and access to a community of other founders and functional leaders to learn from
VCs can be your second set of eyes monitoring competitor activity and M&A in your space; they may also have relationships with potential acquirers (we recommend getting to know these folks early, reality is most companies get acquired vs. IPO)
Some VCs have a fairly public presence so can get your announcements out to a broader audience
Finally, being an early-stage founder can be a hard and lonely job; having someone you trust to bounce ideas off of and RIFF with can be super productive (& help keep you sane 🙏)