We work with business owners who are looking for a hands-on partner to help them scale and take some chips off the table.
Fireroad works with inspiring founders in your earliest days, primarily through pre-seed investment and hands-on guidance. Not sure if we're the right fit for you? Let's figure it out together.
Fireroad partners with individual and institutional investors who want to invest as a force for good in the world. Join us by participating in Fireroad Ventures, co-investing in direct deals, or sharing ownership in a company we hold at Fireroad Holdings.
Great people build great businesses. If you're an experienced leader, technologist, operator, etc, we're always looking for great people to join the Fireroad portfolio!
None of these categories fit you? We get it. You don’t like to be boxed in. We respect that.
Our
Investing Process
Our
Investing
Process
A bit more about how Fireroad Ventures makes investments.
- Get in touch.
This form is the best way to share what you're working on with our investing team. We make every effort to get back to founders within 7 days from when this form is submitted. - Introduction call.
~7 days
If it looks like your work is aligned with our thesis and investing strategy, one of our partners will be in touch to schedule a 30-minute introductory call.
The partner you spoke with during the introduction call will take their notes to our next pipeline meeting, which we have at the beginning of most weeks (sometimes we miss because of holidays or travel). If our team continues to be interested in investing, we'll let you know that we're kicking off initial diligence. If we decide not to move forward, we will also let you know as soon as possible. - Initial Diligence.
~45 days
In our initial diligence, we want to get to know you and your co-founders, as well as the problem you're solving and the advantage you have against your competitors. During this stage of our process, you'll meet with another partner from our team, and potentially be introduced to strategic partners or customers that are in our network. We'll also ask you to add your investment profile to Wendal, a platform that helps us understand some different parts of your team pacing, leadership styles, morale, and thinking styles. During this stage, we'll also be doing additional market and competitor research. You can also expect to share a demo of your product (in whatever stage makes the most sense).
Fireroad seeks to be helpful to our portfolio beyond capital, so our ability to quickly understand and add-value to your work in this stage is essential. We look to our network of follow-on investors, our LPs (many of whom are small-business owners), and our network in SMB and service-sectors to round-out our perspective on an opportunity.
If Fireroad seeks to move forward after initial diligence, we will begin working on a memo. - Memo Writing.
~14 days
After validating the opportunity through our customer, team, and market diligence, we move forward with a formal memo, which is prepared ahead of a final pitch meeting with our three investing partners. The partner sponsoring this deal will work with you on any lingering questions. We may have follow-up questions, want to review additional documents, and conduct some reference checks. - F
~7 days
Once the memo is prepared, we'll schedule a final pitch meeting with you, your co-founders, and our three investing partners. Our investment committee makes unanimous decisions, so all three will be present for this final meeting.We'll let you know the topics we'd like to cover ahead of time, and have time for you to ask us questions also. Fireroad may also invite LPs from our fund who have relevant experience to listen-in on this call. - Investment committee meets to vote.
~7 days
The committee meets within 7 days of a final meeting with a company to vote on capital allocation. After that meeting, you can expect to hear a final yes or no, an amount we are committed to, and the next steps for closing our investment in coordination with other investors in your round.
Why Wendal?
As early-stage investors, we believe there is nothing more important to the long-term outcomes of the company than the founding team. The standard ways of meeting and getting to know founders within venture capital have, unfortunately, left a lot to be desired.
The culture of "warm introductions" is notoriously biased and exclusive. The ability of winsome personalities to "sell the vision" has little correlation with their ability to build and execute from 0-1.
Wendal offers our team data to both mitigate bias and identify leaders with the unique skills and mindsets that are essential in venture-building.
While it is not the only input we weigh when making investment decisions, Wendal is an important part of our process. And, teams that apply with Fireroad on Wendal have the opportunity to share their investment opportunity with other VCs who use the tool, making you efficient with your time.
... and who knows, you might learn something about yourself.
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