Financial
services
shape
who
participates
in
the
economy
and
who
is
left
out.
One
of
our
latest
commitments
is
to
Better
Tomorrow
Ventures
(BTV),
a
venture
firm
investing
in
pre-seed
and
seed-stage
fintech
companies.
While
BTV
doesn’t
explicitly
position
itself
as
an
impact
fund,
its
strategy
backs
ambitious
founders
tackling
access
and
affordability
challenges,
making
inclusion
a
natural
byproduct.
As
cofounder
Jake
Gibson
puts
it:
“Financial
services
are
a
big
lever
that
can
change
outcomes
by
giving
people
better
access
to
financial
information,
credit,
and
the
economy.
Those
are
the
ideas
that
get
us
out
of
bed.”
One
of
the
reasons
we
partnered
with
BTV
is
the
hands-on
approach
and
credibility
Jake
and
cofounder
Sheel
Mohnot
bring
to
supporting
companies.
They’re
both
successful
founders
and
operators:
Jake
founded
NerdWallet,
and
Sheel
founded
and
sold
two
companies,
one
of
them
to
Groupon.
We
like
hearing
from
portfolio
company
founders
that
trust
and
engagement
are
among
the
meaningful
ways
BTV
adds
value,
particularly
during
critical
moments
for
their
businesses.
We
asked
Jake
and
Sheel
to
share
how
they
assess
founders
at
the
earliest
stages
and
here
is
what
we
learned:
What
are
the
behaviors
you
look
for
in
early-stage
founders?
Sheel:
Speed
is
important.
Both
speed
of
execution
and
speed
of
learning.
We
try
to
assess
whether
a
founder
is
iterating
their
business
based
on
what
they’ve
learned
from
customers.
How
quickly
is
that
happening?
We
believe
the
more
things
you
try,
the
better
your
chances
of
finding
the
right
thing
that
works.
It’s
also
important
to
be
a
talent
magnet.
The
team
you
build
is
the
company
you
build
and
being
able
to
hire
and
retain
great
people
is
important.
It’s
something
we
think
about
a
lot.
The
third
thing
we
look
for
is
tenacity.
Is
a
founder
going
to
break
through
walls
to
make
things
happen?
In
our
fintech
world,
roadblocks
come
up.
Maybe
it’s
a
regulatory
issue
or
a
situation
with
a
partner
that
means
you
need
to
rethink
things.
It's
easy
to
give
up.
It’s
hard
to
persevere.
We
look
for
founders
who
push
through
when
challenges
arise.
Jake:
When
I
was
starting
NerdWallet,
the
only
thing
we
had
in
the
early
days
was
urgency.
We
didn't
really
have
a
skill
set.
We
had
to
learn
and
build
everything
ourselves.
We
didn’t
pay
ourselves
for
two
years
or
so.
The
tenacity,
the
hunger,
the
urgency
led
to
everything.
Are
there
qualities
or
experiences
that
are
overrated?
Jake:
Pedigree,
especially
educational
pedigree,
and
experience
at
larger
companies
like
Facebook,
Google,
or
a
bank.
It
doesn’t
translate
into
being
a
founder.
But
experience
at
a
high-growth,
successful
startup
can
be
critically
important
because
you’ve
seen
what
“great”
and
“fast”
look
like.
Sheel:
The
other
thing
I'd
say
is
overrated
is
the
business
idea.
Often,
at
the
stage
that
we're
investing
in,
execution
matters
more.
As
investors,
we
need
to
like
your
concept,
but
we’ve
seen
founders
with
great
ideas
fail
and
founders
with
imperfect
ones
succeed.
It's
more
about
the
team
and
their
ability
to
execute
than
it
is
about
the
idea.
Any
examples
of
a
business
that
didn’t
seem
strong
at
first?
Sheel:
Albert
started
out
as
a
personal
finance
manager
when
there
were
a
number
of
them
out
there.
For
that
reason,
the
idea
wasn’t
interesting
to
some
investors,
including
us.
But
we
saw
something
in
cofounder
and
CEO
Yinon
Ravid,
who
kept
building
more
products
off
its
starting
base.
Because
the
founder
was
all
the
things
we
talked
about—fast
at
executing
and
iterating,
tenacious
and
breaking
through
walls
to
make
things
happen,
and
able
to
hire
a
strong
team—the
company
ended
up
being
successful.
For
all
the
thought
you
put
into
vetting
founders,
can
you
share
a
mistake
you’ve
made?
Jake:
Sometimes
we’ve
passed
on
investing
in
founders
we
really
like
because
we
didn’t
like
their
idea,
only
to
see
them
immediately
change
the
idea
and
go
on
to
become
successful.
As
much
as
we
try
to
bet
on
people,
there
are
times
we
just
can’t
get
excited
about
what
they’re
building,
and
that
has
cost
us.
You’re
known
for
working
closely
with
the
founders
you
invest
in.
How
do
you
support
them?
Jake:
We’ve
mediated
founder
breakups
and
helped
negotiate
exit
packages.
We’ve
supported
every
fundraising
round
throughout
a
company’s
life,
even
after
we’ve
stopped
investing.
We’re
often
on
a
company’s
board
through
Series
B
or
C,
and
for
some
companies
we’ve
stayed
close
all
the
way
through
IPO.
We’re
also
deeply
involved
in
talent.
We
help
hire,
source,
and
secure
senior
leaders
for
a
company.
Recently,
one
of
our
companies
was
shutting
down,
but
we
really
believed
in
the
founder
and
helped
place
him
in
an
executive
role
at
another
high-performing
company
in
our
portfolio.
We
now
have
a
full-time
talent
partner
at
our
firm.
Sheel:
We
help
with
business
development,
too.
Because
we’re
focused
on
fintech,
we
know
the
stakeholders
that
founders
need
to
work
with.
In
banking,
for
example,
they
may
need
providers
for
compliance
or
banking-as-a-service.
It
can
be
hard
for
founders
to
know
who
to
trust
and
how
to
evaluate
them.
We
can
lend
credibility
and
make
introductions,
and
that
goes
a
long
way.
It
sounds
like
you’re
the
investors
you
wish
you’d
had
as
founders.
Sheel:
The
world
was
a
different
place
when
we
were
founders.
It
took
us
time
to
realize
the
importance
of
this
kind
of
support.
And
as
we
say
now,
the
founder
journey
doesn’t
have
to
be
a
lonely
one.