The Diligent Observer Podcast

Episode 51: "Obsess Over Founder DNA" | Denver Ventures Co-Founder Amy Brandenburg on Founder Assessment Methods, Angel Community Scaling Strategies, and Portfolio Discipline

Listen Later

 Today's episode explores three ideas that caught my attention: 

  1. Angel investment dollar-cost averaging - The vintage year matters, and Amy's comments got me thinking about how traditional finance concepts like DCA can be applied effectively in the angel investing world.
  2. Curation creates commitment - Amy's insight that showing fewer, highly-vetted deals can increase member engagement challenges a common assumption I see in the angel space that more deal flow equals more value.
  3. The founder is everything - Amy's collaboration with clinical psychologist Marty Dubin to systematically assess founder DNA made me think about how tempting (at least, at the pre-seed and seed stage) it is to focus on evaluate a business when we really should be evaluating the person.

I explore these ideas and more with Amy Brandenburg, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Denver Ventures Seed Fund, which has grown from an informal angel group to managing $65M+ AUM in just five years. Amy brings an iterative mindset thanks to her time at GitLab, as well as a distinctive focus on "founder DNA", collaborating with clinical psychologist and serial entrepreneur Marty Dubin to develop proprietary psychological evaluation methods that go beyond traditional due diligence in early-stage investing.

During our conversation, Amy shares:

  • Member activation strategies that helped Denver Ventures grow from informal group to 850+ investors including why partner skin-in-the-game was crucial for credibility.
  • Lessons from GitLab's asynchronous culture including the "no agenda, no meeting" rule and iteration-over-perfection mindset that shaped her leadership approach.
  • Why Colorado's 20-year ecosystem building strategy succeeded where others failed and how coastal capital migration during COVID accelerated regional growth opportunities.

Connect with Amy

LinkedIn | X

Stuff We Reference 

  • Brad Feld
  • Chris Petersen
  • Brian Leach
  • Ibotta
  • Dan Caruso
  • Secrets of Sand Hill Road

Know someone who would enjoy this episode? Share it with them!

P.S. Your feedback is important to me. Also, it tells the algorithms to pay more attention, which helps me out a lot. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the "like" button or leave a comment with your thoughts.

Want more?

  • Get essential angel intel straight to your inbox every week with The Diligent Observer Newsletter.
  • Check out the entire show library and follow via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Connect with Andrew

LinkedIn | X | Angel Ops E-Book

All opinions are personal and may not reflect the views of The Diligent Observer. Not investment advice.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store
The Diligent Observer PodcastBy Andrew Kazlow