The ‘self-guided tour’
A thinking blog for founders
What is a self-guided tour for founders? We’ll add a new posts here to create an ‘art gallery' of our favorite startup building topics. The format uses open-ended questions that let you slow down and develop your own insights and answers. All of the content is relevant to pre-seed founders – and also to investors, students, and startup ecosystem supporters.
A 'zero-advice’ promise to founders. Over and over, we have extracted ‘ah ha!” moments with high-performing founders by drilling down on the “why?” and “so what?” questions that drive critical thinking. It is a better application of our operating experience than telling founders what we think they should do next! In these conversations, founders get unstuck on a problem, reframe a quandary or unlock an insight. For investors, our style of questioning can sharpen your analysis on your latest deal or in supporting a portfolio company.
With the wild abundance of prescriptive founder advice out there, you won’t find topics like “The 10 pitch deck slides you need!!” in this gallery of articles. We hope you get zero advice from us — and that you find new answers that drive your progress.
Exhibit: Total uncertainty and your MVP
This exhibit in our blog series targets the planning and decisions at the minimum viable product (MVP) stage. We highlight how using a “managerial mindset” creates the illusion of controlling outcomes, and we describe how expert advice can introduce the fallacy of survivor bias.
We the question, “What is your relationship with being wrong?"
To support founders embracing their inner “Lewis & Clark in 1804” instead of “airline pilot in 2026,” the article introduces Effectuation Theory for startups and its methods for planning and decisions. Built on a research study of expert entrepreneurs, the theory and approach focuses on situational awareness and existing resources.
The approach is about leverage current capabilities to make compounding plans of action. Does it sound kind of … abstract? We outline five real world examples to illustrate the theory and how critical questions can surface creative and meaningful ways to unlock opportunity.
Exhibit: MVPs
Many founders rush to build an MVP, following well-intentioned advice that often traps them in traditional management logic—predicting, planning, and avoiding failure rather than learning from it. This piece challenges that mindset, introducing the Five Principles of Effectuation Theory as a framework for navigating uncertainty with curiosity and adaptability. Instead of racing to launch a “version one,” founders are encouraged to test assumptions, leverage existing capabilities, and treat early feedback as the raw material for insight. The goal: build directional conviction, not just a product.
Exhibit: Vibe Coding & Customer Discovery
The prior “exhibit” in this series Customer Discoveryemphasized process and interaction, not tech. So, what impact does vibe coding have on Customer Discovery if, “English is the new coding language?”
And, with so much hype about vibe coding goes a healthy dose of skepticism. This exhibit digs in to find value beyond the hype.
Exhibit: Customer Discovery
For this issue, we’ll focus on customer discovery for enterprise software solutions that plan to solve existing business problems. This is where you are seeking to replace a bad situation/solution with your solution/product/service. Specifically, we’ll focus on how you discover insights related to the product, rather than broader “go to market” questions.
Connecting with First Row
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Pitch Us
We are glad to hear from founders who want to share their opportunity. Thank you for finding us! We only invest in companies domiciled in the US or Canada. Our investments are pre-seed stage and involve a software innovation.
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Deals & Drinks
Our flagship event, Deals & Drinks, is a Zoom workshop with 25-30 for startup ecosystem members. We create a social setting to deconstruct and share perspectives on a founder pitch.
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Higher Education
At the University of Washington, we teach graduate classes that integrate hand-on learning experiences. Each year, we lead the workshop week for the Jones + Foster Accelerator at the University of Washington.
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Events Calendar
Ready to learn more about tech investing as founder or early stage angel investor? We offer Early Stage Investing 101, Fundraising 101, and Understanding Due Diligence workshops to illuminate the founder-funder conversations from both sides of the table.