Investor mandates

California Angel and VC Investor Mandate: Nuno's Early Stage Focus

California Angel & Venture Capital Investor Mandate

Founders and fund managers raising early stage or seed capital for consumer or software-as-a-service companies, and investors who want to see how a data driven fund screens deals.

What to take from this talk

1. Check sizes are moving up. Nuno's firm began as a micro venture firm writing 500k to a million. Its third vehicle aims at two to five million checks, up to ten million over the lifetime of the investment.
2. Analytics support early diligence. The firm built a tech team and in-house analytics engines to help with deal flow and due diligence. Nuno says a human will always be in the loop for conversations, calls and judging the team.
3. Retention and engagement signal fit. Nuno says the firm focuses on product market fit and believes it can be seen early. It looks at retention and engagement numbers, especially in consumer and software-as-a-service, and compares them to benchmarks.
4. Do the market analysis first. Nuno's first lesson is that markets win. He suggests basic analysis of growth, moving from total addressable market down to serviceable market. He says investing in bad markets never worked for him, even with an exceptional team.
5. Back A or A plus founders. His second lesson is to invest in A or A plus players. He says that in his experience subpar founding teams also never work. He learned both lessons the hard way over the last ten years.

What you will hear

Nuno invests from a single family office in San Francisco. He focuses on early stage deals at seed and Series A, with more recent interest in late stage. His main areas are consumer and software-as-a-service companies, plus broad enterprise software across a few verticals. His earlier checks ran 500k to a million. His third vehicle targets two to five million checks, up to ten million over the life of an investment.

Nuno's firm builds its own analytics engines, which he compares to a quant fund for early stage. The tools help with deal flow and due diligence, while a human stays in the loop for calls and team assessment. He also shares two lessons from ten years of investing: market quality matters, and in his experience weak founding teams do not work. He says a warm intro is the best way to reach him.

Facts from this talk

• Nuno estimates that about 95% of venture capital firms in Silicon Valley have fewer than 10 people.
• His third vehicle targets two to five million checks, up to ten million over the lifetime of the investment.
• His earlier micro venture checks ranged from 500k to a million, and he invests out of a single family office in San Francisco.

General education only. Not legal, tax or investment advice.

Quotes from the session

Related questions

• How do I close a funding round?I close a funding round by focusing on investors who fit the opportunity and moving each interested prospect through clear, consistent follow-up.
• What documents do investors request during due diligence?Prepare a clear, organized package covering your operations, investments, compensation, team, and track record.
• How do I raise capital for my business?I raise capital by building a repeatable system for attracting the right investors, establishing credibility, and developing relationships before asking for money.

Questions about this video

Put this into practice with the family office fit check. See all investor mandates resources.