The Hard Part with Evan McCann

Gaurav Jain from Afore Capital

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Gaurav Jain is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Afore Capital.


Afore is a $300M fund to support product-oriented founders at the very earliest stage (pre-seed). Their sweet spot is the $1-3M round, where they can lead the pre-seed round as an institutional investor alongside high-value angels. They look for companies that are product-led and are built by founders with non-obvious insights and infectious ambitions


Takeaways

  • Gaurav's journey as an immigrant.
  • The co-op program at Waterloo was pivotal in shaping his career.
  • Founding Polar Mobile provided his first exposure to venture capital.
  • Afore Capital was created to address the gap in pre-seed funding.
  • Key traits of successful founders.
  • Investing in founders is more about the team than the idea.
  • Afore's investment process.
  • The importance of AI and future of investing.


    • Chapters

    00:00 Foundational Journey: From Immigrant to Investor

    04:12 The Birth of Afore Capital: Filling the Pre-Seed Gap

    10:44 Identifying Winning Teams: Key Traits of Founders

    14:00 Navigating the Investment Process: From Idea to Execution

    20:21 The Future of Investing: Embracing AI and Personal Growth


    Keywords

    Gaurav, Afore Capital, venture capital, pre-seed investing, founder traits, AI, entrepreneurship, investment process, startup funding, technology

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    The Hard Part with Evan McCannBy Evan McCann