Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

How has M13 Investing Partner Anna Barber's philosophy has changed over the years?

4 May 2023 · 1 min

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In a brief interview, venture capital partner Anna Barber reflects on how her investment philosophy has evolved since she began investing at Techstars seven years ago. She explains that early in her career, when making pre‑seed investments, she relied heavily on the founding team because there was little product or market data available. Her focus was on founder‑market fit and identifying teams that demonstrated resilience, flexibility, and a learning mindset—qualities that would enable them to navigate uncertainty and pivot as needed. This shift underscores a continued emphasis on team dynamics as the primary signal in early‑stage investing.

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From your standpoint as a venture capitalist, how would you say your investment philosophy has changed over the years?
That's an interesting question. So I've changed how I invest really significantly from when I started 7 years ago investing at Techstars, because then I was doing pre-seed investing very early, very focused on the team, because at pre-seed you just don't have a lot of data or information about the product or You know, whether there's product-market fit or what the go-to-market strategy is, really all you have is the team and the market and the idea. So I was really focused on looking for founder-market fit and looking for teams that I felt like had the resilience, flexibility, learning mindset to, you know, go all the way and find their way, even if it meant pivoting a lot.