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

Precursor VC Managing Partner Charles Hudson on why it is crucial to invest early in the seed market

20 Oct 2022 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:58

Charles Hudson, Managing Partner at Precursor VC, launched his fund in late 2014 when most seed investors wanted companies with traction. He filled the gap by asking Series A partners for referrals of pre-seed founders, building a pipeline of deals others weren't seeing yet.

We're co-investors in a handful of incredible founders, including Lauren from Bloom and Maggie Norris from Eataly. I would love if you could speak a bit more about your unique sourcing style at Precursor.
I think sometimes the moment when you start your fund creates advantages that are hard to replicate. And so when I started working at Precursor in late '14, early '15, there weren't a lot of people out there who were saying, I want to meet companies that are really early. If anything, the seed market was going the other way. People were looking for more traction, more data. So it was very easy for me to go to all of my seed and Series A VC friends and say, look, any company that you think is great, but it's too early for you, just absolutely send him.
Mm-hmm.
And I was able, like, for a couple of years to kind of pound that message into people's heads. And it still pays dividends today because people are like, oh, he's the guy who does all those crazy, wacky early stage deals.