Investor at First Round Capital
Check size: Firm-level: First Round says initial investments typically range from $1M-$7M, average about $3.5M, and have ranged below and above that; participating rounds have ranged from $100K-$20M.
Nick is a generalist early-stage investor whose personal lens comes from building and coding: he is drawn to ambitious founders obsessed with turning bold ideas into products people genuinely love. His history in developer infrastructure, AI tooling, consumer information products, hackathons, and technology's social effects gives him a builder-oriented perspective; First Round's broader selection lens emphasizes contrarian insight, exceptional founders, early customer passion, and a market worth winning.
Show what you have personally built, why users love it or will love it, and the non-obvious insight behind the product. Explain why this team has earned unusual knowledge of the problem, demonstrate technical or product craft, and make the market's upside concrete. As a generalist, Nick does not require a published sector-specific angle; authentic builder obsession and evidence of user pull are stronger anchors.
Ambitious founders who share a builder's obsession with bringing bold ideas to life and making products that people truly love. At the firm level, First Round also prioritizes a compelling contrarian insight, founder resourcefulness and resilience, creative go-to-market thinking, and a large market.
No personal pass criteria are public. Firm-level mismatches include later Series B/C rounds, direct conflicts with an existing portfolio company, companies that have already raised more than several million dollars, and pitches without a distinctive founder insight or a sufficiently valuable market.
Look for founders who have repeatedly built things, understand the exhilaration and humility of shipping, and display unusual obsession with converting a bold idea into a product users genuinely love.
“There's nothing more fulfilling than bringing a product to life that people truly love.”
— https://www.firstround.com/team/investing/nick-rubin
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