Over a third of our investments in Fund I Redbud was the first check in the company, and in over 50% of our investments we were the first VC.

Now, we don't really have a view on leading, following, or co-investing. But if something makes sense, we move on it in 24 hours. I think entrepreneurs appreciate us making a quick decision and saying yes before anyone else has even looked. Being a first believer certainly builds goodwill and trust early. It’s also an opportunity for an emerging fund like Redbud to deepen its co-investment relationships by bringing in others and generating strong market signals. 

The obvious objection to this approach is risk. A first check means the company doesn't have the rest of its capital lined up yet. But for the type of founders we want to back, it doesn’t matter. They'll find a way to make that amount of capital work. They'll find a way to create scarcity and FOMO. They’ll find a way to raise the rest. 

Being early also means we get to set our own price instead of chasing one a hot round has already set for us. Most investors give up that leverage the moment they wait for consensus.

We end up writing first checks in two different situations.

Sometimes we find a company first. Nobody else has seen it yet. We move quickly, help the founder build momentum, and use our conviction to pull in the rest of the round before it gets crowded or overpriced.

That's what happened with Atlas Motion. We wrote the first check into the company in February. By August, they'd come out of stealth with $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Greycroft: building AI software that designs drone and robot motors in minutes instead of months, and moving production out of China's grip on the supply chain. We try to let conviction do the work consensus won't.

Other times, the company has been passed on a few times already. We're comfortable being the outsider investor betting on a founder who doesn't check every box someone else needs to get to conviction. 

I think if everybody thinks something's obvious, then it's probably not a great investment.

Everyone has different biases and reasons for investing in certain companies, and having other people pass can be a positive signal. 

Not every decision we make is quick. Sometimes the “aha” isn't immediate, so we’ll track a company for a few weeks before deciding. In that window, we do a gut check on the round itself. Is this going to get hot, and if it does, do we still want in? If the answer's yes, waiting doesn't cost us the opportunity to be first. It just means we did the diligence before committing.

The first check also lets us actually be useful in a way a later check can't. We're the first believer, the first supporter, the one making intros to early customers and helping raise the rest of the round.

Founders remember who said yes first. That's the pitch we make to our own LPs too. In Fund I, we were first. It's evidence we can source, move fast, and back the right founder before the market agrees with us.

If you want us to be your first check, pitch us here.