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Sam Blond is leaving Founders Fund , as well as the professing of venture capitalist , just 18 month after he conjoin the historied Silicon Valley business firm .
In a tweet on Monday , Blond expressed his gratitude at the chance to play at Peter Thiel ’s VC firm and explained , “ Full time put / being a VC is n’t the good fit for me and I ’ve decided to go back to operating . ” That likely means he ’s either accepted / about to accept a position at a inauguration or another technical school fellowship , or is in the physical process of founding one . hit in the beginning today , Blond tell TechCrunch he had “ no comment outside of the stake for now . ”
Some personal word – last workweek was my last week at Founders Fund . Full time endue / being a VC is n’t the right conniption for me and I ’ve decide to go back to operating . More on what ’s next for me later on . For now just vast gratitude to FF and all the unbelievable people and …
Before joining the VC house , Blond was best known as the former principal revenue officer atBrex . Brex is not a Founders Fund portfolio party , although Founders Fund is an investor in one of Brex ’s biggest rival : Ramp . SoBlond ’s jump to the VC house raise a few curious eyebrows , peculiarly because at the time — September 2022 — Brex had give decacorn status with a $ 300 million raise . That ’s an remaining time for a top sales rep to bow out . Typically , startup employees are salivate at the riches to come via an initial offering or another exit when their company is see such winner . Prior to that , he was VP of cut-rate sale at Zenefits , the oncehigh - flying - then - discommode hour tech startupthat was bet on by Founders Fund . TriNet buy Zenefits in 2022 .
The difference is a publicly well-disposed one . “ Sam is a antic operator and he ’s been a great resource for our founder . We desire to have the chance to exercise with him again , ” Founders Fund interpreter Erin Gleason differentiate TechCrunch . And maybe there ’s a cue in there that the VC firm may one day back whatever Modern thing Blond is doing — or at least listen to the sales pitch .
But this is the second flamboyant departure of a Founders Fund partner over the preceding couple of months . Keith Rabois outrage the startup worldwhen he left in January to rejoin to his former house Khosla Ventures .
It ’s middling rarified for aged partners to lead their pecuniary resource for other funds — especially fertile dealmakers like Rabois — because their earnings are tied to the results of their investiture , and such investment can take geezerhood to mature . The situation creates some solid golden cuff . It is more vulgar for those who come up from a inauguration operations populace , like Blond , and who have endow with their own money , to pass on a VC role after a forgetful time . invest other people ’s money is a very unlike acquisition .
And Founders Fund is a turn unusual in how it operates , too . While all Silicon Valley business firm give lip service to being pro - founder and founder favorable ( otherwise , no founder would deal them a glob of their company ) , Founders Fund has some more tight rules about that .
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AsFounders Fund pardner Trae Stephens told TechCrunch ’s Connie Loizosat the StrictlyVC LA event last workweek , “ We are founder absolutist , ” he said . The firm ’s better half rarely take board buns : “ we always vote with founder . And at the point that a company no longer has a beginner as CEO , we are out . We do n’t endow in non - founder - lead businesses . ”
Still , the house does n’t disqualify its married person from simultaneously being founders of their own startups , too . Thiel famously found Palantir , for instance . Rabois founded OpenStore and Stephens co - founded Anduril . Many other VC firms also have partners who simultaneously run startups . If being a laminitis and a VC is n’t mechanically mutually sole , that have in mind a desire to be “ an operator ” may not fully explain why Blond take his farewell .
Other than what he ’s tell publicly , we do n’t get laid the other reasons . However , many VCs opt to mean of themselves as a “ time value - add ” partner , meaning they desire to be take in helping the business they back , and at Founders Fund such affaire is lower upon .
“ The more that a VC says , ‘ I ’m move to add value , ’ the more you should hear them say , ‘ I ’m going to annoy the ever living crap out of you for the rest of the time that I ’m on the chapiter table , ’ ” Stephens tell the StrictlyVC audience . “ So I think our approach is more , you know , we ’re endure to endow in the company because we believe that that laminitis or that group of beginner are the people that are lead to originate this business . ”
And that think of that a VC ’s calling there bet on choosing winners while having very niggling say in how those selection operate .
