Alex Algard Blog

I was reflecting on the Seattle VC community after recent coverage in TechCrunch and TechFlash of the annual VC survey by Adeo Ressi’s The Funded. I don’t think popularity surveys are a good way to gauge VCs, so I figured that I’d offer my personal perspective (and in turn, I will assure loss in personal popularity points among some Seattle VCs).

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I love working in my industry in Seattle, and that’s why I chose to come here over the Bay Area or Boston, when I had my pick of location 10 years ago. We have a super-talented tech workforce, the best-educated population, and a scenic city to attract people, yet we’re still grounded in the needs of regular America in a way that’s much more difficult for our Bay Area friends, trapped in the bubble of the latest tech trend, to appreciate. We have so much potential, and just like you, I want Seattle’s tech industry to maximize success.

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But in order to reach our full potential, our local VC community needs to step up. In fact, it’s their responsibility to do so. They control the purse strings, they manage the CEOs, and they set the tone for the whole community. So given this responsibility, I figured that I’d evaluate our VCs based on real qualifications and ability to add value to early stage tech companies (late stage VC job requirements are different):

• Personal passion: Is the VC highly passionate about the online space even as a personal hobby? Is she tinkering with and evaluating new online services just for the geeky fun of it, and in the process becoming a go-to domain expert who can share that expertise with others?
• Relevant Operational Expertise: Does she have first-hand operational experience building and running a business that grows to significant success, as either CEO or founder? Providing third-party legal, management consulting, or investment banking services to these growth companies does not qualify as relevant experience for early stage VC. Neither does 15 years of management at a Fortune 500 company like Microsoft.
• Communications and networking skills: Some of the most critical value-add a VC can provide is being the central water cooler of the local community. Is the VC a part of the key fabric holding the community together? Does she show up consistently at tech events to meet and catch up with entrepreneurs, even if it means sacrificing dinner with the family? Or better yet, does she organize open events regularly? Does she participate actively in the community online, on Twitter or her own blog?

So how do the VCs rate? Based on my own personal interactions with the VCs in Seattle over the years, I can’t think of many who do well. But we do have a new generation of VCs in town who are each standouts in one or more of the areas above, and here’s a cheer to them:

• Andy Sack: Andy and his partner at Founders Co-op, Chris DeVore, provide in-the-trenches expertise that actually matters to entrepreneurs. After all, they are entrepreneurs themselves. Sure, entrepreneurs are often judged on their most recent business, and Judy’s Book failed. But let’s not forget that Andy founded Kefta, Abuzz, and Firefly, all of which had highly successful outcomes. In addition, he brings people together (e.g. Seattle Open Coffee meetings and brought TechStars to town), holds himself to high standards in being accessible, and is equally accessible online via Twitter and the blogosphere. That is why I chose to invest in his VC fund. It’s a tiny fund, but it’s making a disproportionate impact.
• Geoff Entress: Unlike the others on this list, Geoff is not a newcomer. He’s been a crucial pillar for the early stage investment community for many years. He’s a super networker in making angel deals happen. He’s highly accessible and will do the hard work required to help companies prepare for the funding pitch. He will also do the hard work required to lead angel rounds. If it weren’t for him, there might not be much of an angel investor community in Seattle. (Unrecognized fact: Many of the big Madrona successes were sourced by Geoff personally.)
• Brian McAndrews: He’s new to Madrona and the VC community. He has not yet proven himself in his new role, but has he ever proven himself in the past. He grew aQuantive/Avenue A from trading for less than the cash on the balance sheet to a new media powerhouse. Sold it for $6 billion to Microsoft. Knows online advertising and media inside out. The Seattle tech community should consider itself lucky that he chose to stick around here after leaving Microsoft.
• Bill Bryant: Honorable mention due to limited, part-time role as Venture Partner at Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He was one of the first employees at Visio and held founding roles in Netbot (Jango/Metacrawler), Qpass, and Medio. Battle-hardened veteran who understands how Internet businesses are built, is passionate about tech, proactively ferrets out the good start-ups, and seems to show up at more than his share of events. For example, at last year’s Seattle 2.0 Awards, he yelled out “must be present to win” to great laughter when the winner of the “Best VC” category was a no-show.
• Rich Barton: Honorable mention due to limited role as Venture Partner at Benchmark, while also running Zillow as CEO. Built Expedia. Super insightful on the Internet space and knows his stuff well enough that he’s not shy to speak his mind.

But that’s all I can think of based on people I’ve had meaningful interactions with, and keep in mind that the last two people on the list work for Bay Area firms. I know there are more qualified VCs here with good reputations, as there should be in one of the best cities in North America to start a tech company. I just wish that I bumped into them more often and that they were more connected with the entrepreneurial community.

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I urge our VC community to make the critical early-stage VC job skills outlined above mandatory in future hiring and promotion decisions. The future of Seattle as a vibrant tech community depends on the very best people being in these power seats. And if you as a member of the Seattle VC community disagree, or think that the job is already being done well, then please speak up too!