General Catalyst Backs Roughdraft.VC To Fund Student-Run Startups In Boston
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
This whole thing reminds me of the recruiting craze in the NBA. Remember when guys like KG really drove the trend of skipping college and going straight to the NBA? Recruiters started looking earlier and earlier to find the best talent. When I was like 14 I remember starting to see SLAM magazine articles about the best middle school players in the country. Recruiters tried to befriend the most talented earlier and earlier.
This is what the recent news of Roughdraft.VC and Dorm Room Fund remind me of... VC's trying to find founders who aren't looking for funding and maybe haven't founded something yet. And the best way to find them? The students on campus who are the most helpful and have built the most trust with these "about-to-be-founders".
That LITERALLY is the definition of Peter Boyce.
For those who don't know the story of Boyce, he is the essence of everything startups at Harvard. If you are working on a startup there, you have probably received advice/feedback from him -- or been told to reach out to him. I believe in Roughdraft.VC, and I believe in Peter Boyce.
It also helps your VC firm get repeat customers down the line. Fund a founder's first company and they'll come to you with their second and third.
It makes a ton of sense.
There's good economic logic to it (the same portfolio theory behind YC).