Our mission as a seed VC firm is to help founders and startup teams gain initial traction in anything important. To do so, we're building a platform of exclusive resources, from educational content and workshops to portfolio-only talent-sourcing projects to broader community building initiatives in Boston, New York, and beyond. This deck contains our strategy and guiding principles for how we'll execute.

1. How do we best help founders and
their teams during the seed stage?
Strategy + Principles
V4.6
PLATFORM

2. About this deck:
• This was originally an internal document created to
guide our platform strategy (with far worse design).
• We’re sharing publicly for transparency and
accountability, but also to keep up the momentum
behind supporting founders and startup teams in the
tech world. Our industry only benefits.
• This is intentionally aspirational. Some of it is already
happening. Some of it is happening but needs work.
Some of it has yet to happen.

3. About this deck:
PS: We are – high conviction, hands-on seed investors
(we invest in tech in the US, like to lead, and have offices in Boston & NYC)
• This was originally an internal document created to
guide our platform strategy (with far worse design).
• We’re sharing publicly for transparency and
accountability, but also to keep up the momentum
behind supporting founders and startup teams in the
tech world. Our industry only benefits.
• This is intentionally aspirational. Some of it is already
happening. Some of it is happening but needs work.
Some of it has yet to happen.

4. So…what’s “platform”
at a VC, anyway?

5. It’s been called many things:
Value-Add. Support. Services. Community.
So…what’s “platform”
at a VC, anyway?

6. It’s been called many things:
Value-Add. Support. Services. Community.
And it comes in many forms:
Content. Intros. Advice. Workshops. Networks. Apps.
So…what’s “platform”
at a VC, anyway?

7. But when we asked founders for their
input, they told us loud & clear:

8. Quote via Max Goldman, co-founder & CEO of Directr
(Directr is a NextView company recently acquired by Google)
“It’s all about
tactical help
delivered in
timely ways.”
But when we asked founders for their
input, they told us loud & clear:

9. So why should NextView, as a
seed fund, dedicate resources to
building a platform of support?
Here’s what we believe…

10. Later stage firms are ill-equipped to support the needs of seed-stage
companies and largely focus support elsewhere. Meanwhile, industry
blogs perpetuate shortcut culture and (false) silver bullets, while much of
the tech media idolizes (untrue) overnight success stories. But in reality?

11. Later stage firms are ill-equipped to support the needs of seed-stage
companies and largely focus support elsewhere. Meanwhile, industry
blogs perpetuate shortcut culture and (false) silver bullets, while much of
the tech media idolizes (untrue) overnight success stories. But in reality?
It’s a grind.

12. Later stage firms are ill-equipped to support the needs of seed-stage
companies and largely focus support elsewhere. Meanwhile, industry
blogs perpetuate shortcut culture and (false) silver bullets, while much of
the tech media idolizes (untrue) overnight success stories. But in reality?
It’s a grind.
The seed stage is hard. It’s uncertain and unclear. So what can we do?
Help startups gain initial traction.

13. Later stage firms are ill-equipped to support the needs of seed-stage
companies and largely focus support elsewhere. Meanwhile, industry
blogs perpetuate shortcut culture and (false) silver bullets, while much of
the tech media idolizes (untrue) overnight success stories. But in reality?
It’s a grind.
The seed stage is hard. It’s uncertain and unclear. So what can we do?
Help startups gain initial traction.

14. Later stage firms are ill-equipped to support the needs of seed-stage
companies and largely focus support elsewhere. Meanwhile, industry
blogs perpetuate shortcut culture and (false) silver bullets, while much of
the tech media idolizes (untrue) overnight success stories. But in reality?
It’s a grind.
The seed stage is hard. It’s uncertain and unclear. So what can we do?
Help startups gain initial traction.
This is our platform’s sole focus, and as seed
investors, it shouldn’t feel new. Our capital,
advice, and networks have always done this.
Platform is a logical extension.

15. Note: early traction is about more than just
growth or user acquisition. At the seed stage,
startups go from 0 to 1 in lots of things:

16. Hiring your early team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting initial team goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Finding your first lawyer or PR firm . . . . . . . .
Raising Series A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Managing board meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Designing new products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leading effective management teams . . . . . . .
Vetting technical talent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gaining traction in anything important . . . . . .
Traction Needed: NextView Initiative:
Talent Exchange
OKRs for Startups Workshop
Annual Service Provider List
Shared VC CRM, Pitch Reviews
Deck Templates, Checklists
Product Manager Breakfasts
(Aspirational)
(Aspirational)
Blog, Podcast, Guides
Note: early traction is about more than just
growth or user acquisition. At the seed stage,
startups go from 0 to 1 in lots of things:
…and many more

17. Hiring your early team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting initial team goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Finding your first lawyer or PR firm . . . . . . . .
Raising Series A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Managing board meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Designing new products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leading effective management teams . . . . . . .
Vetting technical talent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gaining traction in anything important . . . . . .
Traction Needed: NextView Initiative:
…and many more
Talent Exchange
OKRs for Startups Workshop
Annual Service Provider List
Shared VC CRM, Pitch Reviews
Deck Templates, Checklists
Product Manager Breakfasts
(Aspirational)
(Aspirational)
Blog, Podcast, Guides
Note: early traction is about more than just
growth or user acquisition. At the seed stage,
startups go from 0 to 1 in lots of things:
What other challenges should we address?
Email us: platform@nextviewventures.com

18. So if that’s where we’re trying to go
and why, how will we ensure we’re
heading in the right direction?
We need some guardrails…

19. …which we refuse to cross.

20. for building the
5 Operating principles
PLATFORM

21. 1
2
3
4
5
Focus on being great at ONE thing.
Behave like an invited guest.
Bring a deep bench of experts.
Ground all projects in founders’ reality.
Aim for usefulness, not reach.

22. 1
Ground all projects in founders’ reality.

23. NextView
Platform
To make sure our platform actually
delivers tactical help in timely ways, we
need to be careful about what we let
influence our initiatives. For example…

24. NextView
Platform
Startup Community
Needs
Market
Trends
Our
Mission
Portfolio
Needs
Strong
influences

25. NextView
Platform
Popular
Dialogue
Our
Internal
Expertise
Our Investment Strategy
Our
Network’s
Expertise
Our
Geography
Mild
influences

26. NextView
Platform
Should not
influence
platform
Ego
Competitors
“Going
Viral”
Our!
LPs
Press

27. What this means for
our platform:

28. What this means for
our platform:
We need to act like problem solvers,
not just investors. And what do great
problem solvers in tech do?
A ton of customer development.
We’re lucky that our business necessitates discussions with
our customers every single day. These are now valuable
not just to understand companies, trends, and founders
but to seek out problems and ways we can solve them.

29. What this means for
our platform:
We need to act like problem solvers,
not just investors. And what do great
problem solvers in tech do?
A ton of customer development.
We’re lucky that our business requires meeting with our
customers every single day. These are now vital not only
for understanding companies and founders but for
understanding problems and ways we can address them.

30. 2 Aim for usefulness, not reach.

31. This is all about out-helping
the competition.

32. If we’re unsure about something going viral or generating
PR opportunities, but we know it’ll be genuinely useful,
we should do it without hesitation!
This is all about out-helping
the competition.

33. What this means for
our platform:

34. What this means for
our platform:
We should take the Ev Williams
approach to innovation:
Identify something founders need to do to gain initial
traction, and use our platform to remove steps.

35. What this means for
our platform:
“Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-
dollar internet company: Take a human desire,
preferably one that has been around for a really
long time…Identify that desire and use modern
technology to take out steps.” (Source: Wired)
We should take the Ev Williams
approach to innovation:
Identify something founders need to do to gain initial
traction, and use our platform to remove steps.

36. Founder Task:
Hire Front-Line Operators
Source Vet Connect Hire

37. Source Vet Connect Hire
We can remove these steps and save founders time
Founder Task:
Hire Front-Line Operators

38. Source Vet Connect Hire
X X X
“Finding good operators and managers is quite literally the most important
thing to maintain and accelerate our growth. To get hand-picked and hand-
delivered talent who are actively searching – and get direct intros to them –
makes our process easier.” – Sam Clemens, Co-founder, InsightSquared
Founder Task:
Hire Front-Line Operators

39. Design Arrange Add Data Present
Founder Task:
Create a Workable Board Deck

40. Design Arrange Add Data Present
We can remove
these steps and save
founders time
Founder Task:
Create a Workable Board Deck

41. Design Arrange Add Data Present
X X
“You guys are terrific. Most
involved VC. Really appreciate
it! – Eric Groves, CEO, Alignable
Founder Task:
Create a Workable Board Deck

42. Design Arrange Add Data Present
X X
“You guys are terrific. Most
involved VC. Really appreciate
it! – Eric Groves, CEO, Alignable
Founder Task:
Create a Workable Board Deck
How else should we get involved?
Email us: platform@nextviewventures.com

43. Here’s the best part:
Truly useful things tend to spread in
better ways than when you try to force
“thought leadership.”
• 200K+ views (and growing)
• Syndicated to TechStars’ CEO list
• Selected by LinkedIn’s editors as
a Featured Resource
• Directly affected multiple
NextView-led seed rounds

44. 3 Focus on being great at ONE thing.

45. We like to say we’re taking a craft
brewer approach to venture capital.
(more thoughts on that here)
Craft brewers are highly focused. They care about being
great at one thing.

46. We like to say we’re taking a craft
brewer approach to venture capital.
(more thoughts on that here)
Craft brewers are highly focused. They care about being
great at one thing.
As investors, the only and most important thing in the
NextView world is seed. As a result…

47. What this means for
our platform:

48. What this means for
our platform:
We should maintain a similar, singular
focus applicable to the seed stage:
Helping founders and their teams gain initial traction in
anything important to their business right now.

49. What this means for
our platform:
We should maintain a similar, singular
focus applicable to the seed stage:
Helping founders and their teams gain initial traction in
anything important to their business right now.
This is as much about deciding what we WON’T do as
what we will. Take blogging as an example…

50. We Should Write… We Shouldn’t Write…
Why, how, and when
should you hire a COO?
What do the best seed
VC pitches look like?
Why Twitter should hire some
friend of ours as CEO.
What does Uber’s
future look like?
Here’s what a startup
unicorn CEO says they did
right & wrong early on.
Here’s what my latest
family trip can teach you
about startups.

51. We Should Write… We Shouldn’t Write…
Why, how, and when
should you hire a COO?
What do the best seed
VC pitches look like?
Why Twitter should hire some
friend of ours as CEO.
What does Uber’s
future look like?
Here’s what a startup
unicorn CEO says they did
right & wrong early on.
Here’s what my latest
family trip can teach you
about startups.
This isn’t always easy, and these posts are tempting.
(Plus, we really love bragging about our families
J)

52. 4 Behave like an invited guest.

53. The way in which entrepreneurs
build and fund their startups isn’t
changing. It already changed.

54. The way in which entrepreneurs
build and fund their startups isn’t
changing. It already changed.
Our platform needs to live in THIS reality.
(All VCs should, too.)

55. In a world where founders launch
products by acting like this

56. And move at the
speed of this

57. And face options for early
funding as numerous as this

58. VCs can’t
operate
like this… Capital Partners

59. What this means for
our platform:
We think it should look and
feel much more like this…

61. We sit at the entrepreneur’s table.
(Not vice versa.)

62. What this means for
our platform:
All our initiatives should be
on-demand, not demanding.
This is about serving others on their terms. As VCs, we’ve
chosen to be the stage, not the star. We can’t forget that.
As a result, we need to be careful about requiring
founders’ time. (Events are fun. Getting more tweets is
fun. But there are better ways to deliver practical support
while also respecting an entrepreneur’s schedule & inbox.)

63. Note to Selves

64. Dear Selves:
Note to Selves

65. Dear Selves:
Being an “invited guest” doesn’t mean being more liberal
with meetings or investments. Just the opposite: If we
really want to serve entrepreneurs better, then being a
good invited guest means being more focused, strategic,
and present in every interaction.
Sincerely,
Ourselves
Note to Selves

66. Dear Selves:
Being an “invited guest” doesn’t mean being more liberal
with meetings or investments. Just the opposite: If we
really want to serve entrepreneurs better, then being a
good invited guest means being more focused, strategic,
and present in every interaction.
Sincerely,
Ourselves
PS: We think you’re incredibly handsome.
Note to Selves

67. 5 Bring a deep bench of experts.

68. Sometimes, we have the domain expertise in-house.

69. Sometimes, we have the domain expertise in-house.
Sometimes, we can use our position to find and share it.

70. Sometimes, we have the domain expertise in-house.
Sometimes, we can use our position to find and share it.
Sometimes, we should simply provide the forum for
others to share knowledge and stories.

71. What this means for
our platform:

72. What this means for
our platform:
As a VC, we have a unique vantage
point. We can more easily spot and
solve problems across companies.
Experts outside our firm must be a major part of that.
This can’t just be the NextView team’s thoughts on a blog.

73. What this means for
our platform:
What
NextView
Knows
What Seed-Stage
Founders Will Use
What
Experts
Know

74. What this means for
our platform:
What
NextView
Knows
What
Experts
Know
What Seed-Stage
Founders Will Use
Magic

75. 1
2
3
4
5
Focus on being great at ONE thing.
Behave like an invited guest.
Bring a deep bench of experts.
Ground all projects in founders’ reality.
Aim for usefulness, not reach.
These are our operating principles to create a world-class,
genuinely useful platform of resources for startups.

76. 1
2
3
4
5
Focus on being great at ONE thing.
Behave like an invited guest.
Bring a deep bench of experts.
Ground all projects in founders’ reality.
Aim for usefulness, not reach.
These are our operating principles to create a world-class,
genuinely useful platform of resources for startups.
However

77. In the tech startup world, there’s no
shortage of hand-waving…

78. In the tech startup world, there’s no
shortage of hand-waving…
People who are “totally crushing it.”

79. We know these are just words on some
slides. With this direction in place,
it’s now the execution that matters.
So let us know how we’re doing:
platform@nextviewventures.com

80. We know these are just words on some
slides. With this direction in place,
it’s now the execution that matters.
So let us know how we’re doing:
platform@nextviewventures.com
And one more thing:

81. “If you’re going through hell, keep going!
And maybe bring the NextView platform.”
– Winston Churchill
We know these are just words on some
slides. With this direction in place,
it’s now the execution that matters.
So let us know how we’re doing:
platform@nextviewventures.com
And one more thing:

82. “If you’re going through hell, keep going!
And maybe bring the NextView platform.”
– Winston Churchill
(Okay, so we added that last part.)
We know these are just words on some
slides. With this direction in place,
it’s now the execution that matters.
So let us know how we’re doing:
platform@nextviewventures.com
And one more thing:

83. Thank you to the entire NextView
portfolio and community, as well as the
founders who helped review this deck:
Tamiz Ahmed, Matt Brand, Grant Burgess,
Patrick Campbell, and Derek Haswell
Explore Our Platform
Created by:
Jay Acunzo, NextView VP of Platform
@Jay_zo | linkedin.com/in/jayacunzo