#011 Accel

After discussing two venture firms, a16z and Initialized Capital, both founded in the last 15 years, we’re going way back to 1983, the founding year of Accel.  Accel has been an early investor in massive companies like Atlassian, Slack, Etsy, Discord, and Dropbox, among others. Its portfolio also includes the three companies we’ll discuss today: Facebook, Scale AI, and Flipkart.  Though there have been bumps in the road on their journey, as with any firm that has been around for 40 years, Accel has always been at the forefront of innovation, investing in technologies and trends before many others see it.  Today, we’ll learn why Accel invested in Facebook as the only VC firm the founders ever considered, why Accel invested in Scale AI before the AI movement was flourishing as it is today, and despite the founding CEO being 19 years old, and lastly why Accel invested in Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company that was operating in a minuscule technology market in 2008 when Accel invested.  As we investigate why Accel invested in these three companies, we will analyze the firm’s general investment thesis, what they look for in founders, what traits make good VCs, and some general advice they have for founders.  At the end, we’ll examine some billion-dollar mistakes Accel has made in their storied career, including one they won’t be too upset about for reasons you’ll see later.  More All Things VC: To read this podcast in an abbreviated format, check out the substack: All Things VC. It has the same content as the podcast, just a little more direct with less improv. To read more about Initialized Capital and many other companies they invested in that we didn’t discuss, more on their general investment theses, what makes a good VC, what they look for in founders, and general advice for founders, head to allthingsvc.blog to read more. You can also follow me on X at Justin_Pryor_ for more information I post throughout the week based on what I discussed in this episode. Likewise, you can find All Things VC on YouTube to see clips of these episodes separated by each major topic I discuss.

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