developer tools

First Round Capital

Check: $500K-$3M (seed only)

The seed-stage specialist. Invests earliest and deepest at seed — First Round was one of the firms that pioneered institutional seed investing. Built First Round into a platform that punches well above its check size — extensive founder community (~1000 active founders), expert network (First Round Network), and operational support. First Round Review (their media arm) produces some of the best tactical startup content anywhere — deeply researched guides on hiring, product, management, and go-to-market. Believes the best seed investors win by helping, not just funding. Josh's personal background as a serial entrepreneur (Half.com, Infonautics) gives him deep empathy for founders. He's lived the founding journey and knows what early-stage companies actually need. First Round's community model is a key competitive advantage — founders help each other, creating a network effect that makes the fund more valuable with every new investment. Known for being one of the most founder-friendly VCs — fast to respond, honest about passing, and genuinely helpful when invested.

Bessemer Venture Partners

Check: $1M-$100M+ (multi-stage, BVP has $3.6B+ under management)

The cloud computing investor. His annual 'State of the Cloud' report is the definitive industry reference for cloud/SaaS metrics. Bessemer's 'Cloud Atlas' benchmarking tool is used by thousands of SaaS companies. The firm publicly lists its 'Anti-Portfolio' — companies they passed on (including Apple, Google, Facebook, Intel) — as a reminder of humility. Data-driven, metrics-obsessed approach to SaaS investing. Has been investing in cloud for over two decades, since before 'cloud' was even a common term. Believes AI will fundamentally transform labor-intensive enterprise processes and that the next generation of cloud companies will be 'AI-native' rather than AI-augmented. BVP created the BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index (EMCLOUD) tracking public cloud companies — a widely referenced industry benchmark. Byron sees vertical SaaS (purpose-built cloud for specific industries) as one of the largest remaining opportunities.

Gil Capital (Solo GP)

Check: $500K-$10M+ (flexible, has written checks as large as $50M+ in later-stage co-investments)

One of the largest and most successful solo GP funds ever ($1B+). Unusually dense hit rate across breakout companies — has invested in more unicorns than most institutional funds. Invests based on pattern recognition from decades of operating and investing. Moves fast, decides fast — known for making investment decisions in a single meeting. Written 'The High Growth Handbook,' the definitive guide on scaling from Series B to IPO. Being on your cap table is a strong signal to other investors — 'Elad Gil is on the cap table' has become a credibility marker in Silicon Valley. Currently most excited about AI as a platform shift comparable to mobile and cloud. Has shifted from primarily angel investing to writing larger checks ($5-50M+) as his fund has grown. Views the current AI wave as the most important technology shift since the internet.

Kleiner Perkins

Check: $1M-$50M+

Leads Kleiner Perkins' enterprise practice. Previously at Social Capital where he led the Slack and Figma investments — two of the most product-obsessed enterprise companies ever built. Strong product-first culture: believes the best enterprise companies feel like consumer products. The enterprise should be delightful, not just functional. Mamoon's core insight: enterprise software was historically sold top-down (CIO buys for the company), but the best modern enterprise companies grow bottom-up (individual users love the product, it spreads through the organization, and eventually the company buys an enterprise license). This 'product-led growth' (PLG) pattern defined Slack, Figma, Notion, and many of the best enterprise companies of the last decade. Now at Kleiner Perkins, Mamoon applies this same lens to AI-native enterprise products — looking for AI tools that are so delightful and useful that they spread organically within organizations.

Greylock Partners

Check: $500K-$200M (sweet spot ~$25M)

Coined the 'Systems of Intelligence' framework in his landmark 2017 blog post 'The New Moats' — the idea that AI and data create competitive advantages by sitting between systems of record (databases) and systems of engagement (apps). The intelligence layer crosses multiple data sets and multiple systems of record to predict behavior, churn, LTV, or serve timely content. This layer is where value accrues and where startups build defensible moats through data network effects. Updated the thesis in 2023 with 'The New New Moats,' addressing how foundation models and LLMs change the equation: open-source LLMs shift value to apps and infrastructure around the models, but startups risk 'thin IP' if they're just wrappers around ChatGPT. Also developed the 'Unit of Value' framework — the smallest measurable unit at which your product delivers value — which determines how you price, scale, and sell. Believes good investors must be optimists, and VCs get in trouble when they move outside their 'strike zone.'

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

Check: $1M-$100M+ (leads a16z's $1.25B+ infrastructure fund)

Leads a16z's infrastructure practice and is one of Silicon Valley's most technically credible VCs, having built VMware NSX and pioneered software-defined networking. Invests 'from markets in' rather than 'from companies out' — he maps massive market opportunities first, then finds founders who can serve them. Believes AI is analogous to 1996 of the internet boom with years of growth still ahead. Sees the AI coding market alone as a potential $3 trillion opportunity. Vocal advocate for open source in AI — co-authored a piece in The Economist with Ion Stoica arguing open source is critical to AI's future. Deeply concerned about Chinese dominance in open-source AI models (claims ~80% of his portfolio companies use Chinese open-source models). Thinks AI value will ultimately accrue at the application layer more than the model layer, drawing parallels to how SaaS-era startups captured more value at the application layer than infrastructure. Believes AI is fundamentally changing SaaS pricing from per-seat to outcome-based models. Champions spatial intelligence as AI's next frontier (deeply involved with World Labs / Fei-Fei Li).

Craft Ventures

Check: $1M-$50M

Pioneered 'Bottom-Up SaaS' — the strategy of applying consumer growth tactics to B2B products. At PayPal he learned viral distribution; at Yammer he proved it could work in the enterprise, growing from zero to $56M ARR in under four years before selling to Microsoft for $1.2B. The core filter is predictable, compounding recurring revenue with strong unit economics. Invented the 'Burn Multiple' metric (net burn / net new ARR) that has become an industry-standard efficiency benchmark. Believes the best SaaS companies combine the growth potential of B2C with the enterprise budgets of B2B. Invested in 20+ unicorns. Operator-investor who thinks in SaaS metrics and has published detailed frameworks (Burn Multiple, Difficulty Ratio, The Cadence, Pipeline Metrics) that founders can reverse-engineer. Recently transitioned from General Partner to Venture Partner at Craft as the firm moved away from seed-stage investing.

Bessemer Venture Partners

Greylock Partners

Menlo Park, CA

AUM: $5B+

Craft Ventures

San Francisco, CA

AUM: $3B

First Round Capital

New York, NY

AUM: $1B+

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

Kleiner Perkins

Menlo Park, CA

AUM: $10B+

Gil Capital (Solo GP)