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VC Jenny Fielding ( pictured above ) , conscientious objector - laminitis of Everywhere Ventures and former Techstars managing director , was basically trolling on Xwhen she post , “ Y’all have impregnable opinions about pre - seed founders who have EAs to serve them agenda ? Just checking . ”
Fielding bang the Wiley Post was “ a small flake snarky , ” she state TechCrunch , but it sparked a big conversation . Some people suggested that other - stage founders could simply use AI executive assistants . Othersgrew affrontedthat a VC implied that they should n’t hire a human to assist , even at the earlier level of their company .
Fielding ’s point , however , was that founders still hold some misconception from the excess financial support twenty-four hours of 2020 - 2021 about appropriate cash direction , especially during a startup ’s early eld , when tax income is scarce . That ’s when companies should be working on the staple of building a product that the great unwashed desire to buy .
“ I was a founding father . I start two companies , ” she said . “ Then I spent seven and a one-half years at Techstars , really helping very plastic companies . ” So she tries to “ give founders the real entropy they need , not the fuzzy poppycock , ” she laughed .
While most seed investor , including Fielding , believe father should spend their raised John Cash “ how they want to , ” other - stage VCs will still be judging founders ’ cash management , even if the VC is fundamentally a silent pardner .
“ We invest at the earliest microscope stage . We do n’t take circuit card arse . We ’re leave this cash to founders . And so yeah , we look at the operate budget , and we have calls with them quarterly , ” Fielding said .
Those judgments will materialise when the inauguration require to evoke its next rung and want its seed / pre - seed VCs to give them fond introductions and spout recommendation to the next crop of investors .
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So , while executive help can be priceless at ground companies , they are also operational overhead position — not people helping to work up and hold the early product .
Beyond an EA for the CEO , there other deed of conveyance at an early - phase inauguration that can be a “ cherry-red masthead ” to VCs : COO and CFO .
“ Oftentimes it ’s a third co - beginner who does n’t really have sex where they jibe , ” she said , add up that third - roulette wheel conscientious objector - founders can be “ very expensive ” both in term of stock and salaries . “ You need to uprise a intersection and then get customers . Not really trusted you need the organizational structure of a CFO and COO . ”
Which brings up the salaries themselves . This is another surface area where early investors might keep mum but are pay up attention . Fielding actually ended a deal when she analyzed the operating expenses of the inauguration and saw that “ the founder was pay up himself $ 300,000 , ” she said .
While that wage might just be matching the pay at the previous Google or Microsoft office , a reasonable pay at the pre - seed level is between $ 85,000 and $ 125,000 , she advise . It ’s a topic of the math . Even if a founder has raised a healthy $ 1 million pre - seeded player but yield themselves $ 200,000 , they ’ve already expend a fifth of the money .
“ We ’re not saying you should make $ 100,000 forever , ” she warned , but at the early point , “ you just do n’t have that John Cash to burn . ”
This story originally published November 24 , 2024 .
