“Venture Capital is a world of contrarians who love following each other.” - @agarfinks

Today, we're announcing A* III, a $450 million early-stage fund. We started @A_StarVC with the simple idea to be a founder's first believer. We are generalists by sector, but specialists in the stage and craft of seed investing. We partner with founders before there is consensus, before there is traction, and often before there is even a product. We are not organized around a market thesis. We back exceptional builders and follow them into the most important categories. That matters because seed investing has changed. It is more crowded, more visible, and increasingly transactional. Too often, firms use seed to secure an option and then wait for proof before investing real time and attention. Seed has become a market of access. We believe it should be a market of conviction. We built A* around a different model. We commit early. We show up before external validation, deploying both time and capital from day zero to help founders find their first customer, make an early hire, or work through the decisions that define the company. We are selective at the start and concentrated over time. We partner with a small number of founders and deepen our commitment as their companies take shape. The best outcomes come from knowing where to go deep and having the discipline to do it. This approach has led us to companies like Ramp, Decagon, Whop, Cape, Simile, Paraform, Watney Robotics, and Mercor. We're grateful to the founders who have chosen to build with us and to the limited partners who have backed us. With this fund, A* manages over $1 billion in assets less than five years after launch. Our job remains what it was on day one: back exceptional founders early and be the partner they need when it matters most.

Who are Tier 1 VC funds? (updated) Sequoia Benchmark a16z Founders Fund Khosla Accel Lightspeed General Catalyst NEA Kleiner Perkins Index Thrive GV USV Bessemer Greylock First Round Insight Contenders / rising stars / sector-dependent: Menlo Craft 8VC Sutter Hill Conviction Elad Gil Neo Eclipse HF0 Ribbit Lux Redpoint Forerunner Coatue Still not ranking them, and sector/stage matters a lot. This reflects comments from my last post. Who is still obviously missing or in the wrong spot?