Revolutionizing pre-seed investing - an AMA with Charles Hudson
The concept of "pre-seed" investing never used to exist. Most entrepreneurs relied on credit cards, side jobs, and rich uncles to help them jump start their businesses. But in this AMA, Elizabeth Yin (GP of Hustle Fund) is going to interview Charles Hudson (GP of Precursor Ventures), the man who made pre-seed investing a concept that has ballooned into an entire industry. We'll rewind the clock to 2015 and will learn:
What was the opportunity he saw?
Didn't pre-seed investing feel risky?
Why did he decide to start his own firm back then?
What tips does he have for founders in pitching their pre-seed companies?
Bring your questions!
About Charles:
Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Precursor Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm focused on investing in the first institutional round of investment for the most promising software and hardware companies. Under his leadership, Precursor Ventures has raised four funds and has over $175 million under management. He has invested in 250 companies and supported more than 400 founders, including the teams behind Clearco, Juniper Square, The Athletic, Incredible Health, Carrot, and Pair Eyewear.
Prior to founding Precursor Ventures, Charles was a Partner at Uncork Capital and CoFounder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Stanford University.
Charles maintains close connections with his alma mater through volunteer service and teaching at GSB. He is an active member of the VC community, serving on several advisory boards and as a mentor to a number of emerging managers. Charles also serves on the Advisory Board for the San Francisco Opera Association.
About Elizabeth:
Elizabeth Yin is a co-founder and General Partner at Hustle Fund, a pre-seed fund for software entrepreneurs. Previously, Elizabeth was a partner at 500 Startups where she invested in seed stage companies and ran the Mountain View accelerator. In a prior life, Elizabeth co-founded and ran an adtech company called LaunchBit (acq 2014). Elizabeth has a BSEE from Stanford and an MBA from MIT Sloan.