Last week, True Ventures‘ Puneet Agarwal was in town to provide some insight on how Portland startups could go about securing funding from Bay Area investors. The event also featured commentary on investments in general. If you’re rueing the fact that you missed it, we have a bit of consolation: GeekWire covered the event in two parts.
Startup tip for finding VCs: Portland CEOs say it’s all about the personality fit
From the investor’s view, Agarwal actually had the same thoughts in terms of what he looks for in entrepreneurs. For True Ventures, an early stage firm investing in the $250,000-to-$2 million range, “people is everything.” Agarwal said both Kaines and Kveton exhibited “visionary” qualities and were building something much bigger than a product.
“We find not just founders, but founders of movements,” he said. “We’re looking for people who have a vision and who have that passion. You can just tell, even in the initial conversations, the level of passion someone has for an idea. You can feel it inside their offices and the flow they have with co-founders. We saw it right when we met [Kveton and Kaines].”
True Ventures’ VC Puneet Agarwal: The perception of Portland is very strong now
“People thought we were kind of crazy, honestly,” True Ventures’ Puneet Agarwal said. “There was a lot of misconception about Portland, at least back then. People thought we were insane.”
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“But that has totally changed now,” he said. “It’s in large part due to [Kanies and Kveton] and all the great startups that have popped up here. … The perception of Portland is very strong now because of these guys.”
For more, read GeekWire’s coverage on finding complementary VCs and the perception of the Portland startup scene.
