A short excerpt from a Precursor Ventures video exploring whether pre-existing relationships and industry context are a reliable predictor of startup success. The speaker argues that relying on founder relationships has not consistently worked, that it's unclear which founder attributes truly matter, and that many now treat execution and speed as the main investable moats — though measuring those up front is difficult.
I've got this AI powered thing that can meet your needs. And so I think there's something comforting in VCs believing that, like, oh, the answer is just fund the people who already have the relationships and context in this industry, and they'll be the winners. And I think that hasn't worked. And then we've gone through various iterations, and I think we've, we've landed in this place where I think the answer is, like, nobody knows. Nobody knows what actually matters in terms of founder pedigree and attributes. And I think we've ended up in this world where I think most people believe the only investable moat, whether it's at an individual level for keeping your job and getting promoted, or as an investor investing companies, it seems to be that it's like execution and speed. And I'm just like, but how do you measure those things up front.
