The Ideal Investor Is A Little Bit Like Finding The One. These Are The Things To Look Out For In VCs.

I’ve known Monk’s Hill Ventures for ten years. They just invested in my startup.

Doyobi just raised a pre A round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures. I’ve known the founding partners of MHV for a decade, even before they set up the fund. Over the years, I’ve made ten co-investments with MHV. I currently sit on the board of Ninja Van with Kuo-yi and ErudiFi with Peng.

Here are some things to look out for in a VC. MHV checks all of these boxes.

Investors who were founders themselves.

Founder life is hard. It is very difficult to empathise with what a founder is going through if the VC haven’t been founders themselves. Not only do founder-VCs have more empathy, they also give better advice. All VCs can give high level advice if they see enough deals, but founder-VCs can give operational and tactical advice. Very helpful for startups across all stages, whether you’re looking to find product-market fit or trying to scale.

Investors who reason from first principles.

If someone gave me a dollar every time I hear Kuo-yi say ‘first principles’, I’d be a rich man. Most VCs say similar things on their website about focusing on the fundamentals, but here’s a secret. VCs are human too. They are fallible, susceptible to trends and market forces like the rest of us. Not many VCs have the strength of will to ignore the noise and invest only in startups solving real problems, especially when the market is frothy.

Investors who give their portcos time of day.

Again, something you’ll see on most VCs’ websites. Supporting founders, opening doors yada yada. Venture capital is a hit-driven business. A home run investment that returns 50–100X is the difference between a great fund and one that doesn’t return LP money. Between finding the next Airbnb/Stripe/Grab and raising the next fund, VCs are a busy lot. The best VCs consistently spend time with their portfolio companies to help them navigate challenges to reach the next product/traction/funding milestone.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that ten years and nearly a hundred startups into my angel investing journey, my best investments are both with MHV. Ninja Van just raised US$578m, and Padlet ranks in the top 200 in global internet engagement.

Special shout out to Hustle Fund. They check all the boxes above too, and they have an awesome tagline. ‘We invest in hilariously early startups.’

Doyobi is very lucky to count both Hustle Fund and Monk’s Hill Ventures as investors.