What criteria do you look for in founders you back at their earliest stages?

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

what are Cindy Bi's successful investments?

21 Aug 2022 · 1 min

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0:57

In a YouTube interview, the host asks Cindy Bi (Speaker B) about the specific criteria she uses when investing in early‑stage founders, especially given her impressive track record with unicorns such as Cruise, Rippling, and Zapier. Bi explains that many investors who have a strong unicorn history benefited from favorable market timing a decade ago, and that success is partly a function of that timing. She emphasizes that her investment decisions are evaluated on a case‑by‑case basis, with particular attention to the founder’s background—whether they have technical expertise, strong sales experience, or relevant work history. The response suggests that while patterns exist, there is no single formula; founder experience and the context of the market are the primary lenses through which she assesses opportunities.

Questions this video answers

Investors usually like to see a few things: the founder's own background, either technical, sales, or relevant work experience, and decisions are evaluated case by case.

Chapters

You mentioned sales skills right before this, but given your track record investing in these unicorns like Cruise, Rippling, Zapier, what criteria do you look for in founders that you back at their earliest stages? And I'm curious what patterns you might have seen arise given your incredible success and unicorn hit rate.
I think a lot of investors who started a decade ago have good track records, have a lot of unicorns because the time was good. You know, the time was good. And now it's been more than 10 years. So I've seen a lot of my peer investors, they have quite many unicorns. So as for criteria, I think it's really case by case. Investors usually like to see a few things. Founder's own background, either your technical, your sales, or your work experience.