Why We Chose GC
We were thrilled earlier this week to announce HourlyNerd’s $22M Series C funding with General Catalyst Partners. The fresh capital will fund continued development of our industry-leading software solutions, and allow us to accelerate efforts to educate the market to a new way to solve critical challenges. We are so pleased to share the fruits of these investments with 25,000 “Nerds”, 65 world-class full-time employees, and a blue-chip client base including more than 10% of the Fortune 1000, anchored by key enterprises such as GE and Pfizer.
Selling part of your company to a new investor is never easy. We were fortunate to receive multiple term sheets for this round, all from well-respected and very thoughtful firms. We took this decision incredibly seriously: David Fialkow is the first board member we’ve added since late 2013.
We are proud to partner with GC for three key reasons:
(1) Vision: David and the partners of General Catalyst share our core belief that technology will empower human beings to work in a completely different way, accomplishing more than what they ever believed was possible. We feel strongly that independent talent will only be fully enabled with a dynamic software platform, and are willing to invest to make it as delightful as possible. We’ve been lucky to partner with incredible enterprises to co-imagine this future together.
(2) Road map: Vision alignment isn’t worth much without harmony on the path to get there. We are pleased that GC prioritizes the same metrics that we do, feels similarly about pacing, and appreciates that calculated risk-taking and rapid iteration is not optional if you are trying to do something extraordinary. Even before closing the deal, GC was massively helpful in constructing and iterating on a plan for 2016.
(3) People: We first met David Fialkow in 2013, and so had the benefit of nearly three full years of mutual “dating” before formalizing our partnership. Over that period both he and the other incredible partners at GC have been a source of inspiration, connections, advice and moral support. We were particularly touched at their continued efforts over the last few years despite not being investors in the company! We are lucky in David to have an incredibly committed, thoughtful, supportive, empowering partner for the next phase. His special blend of talents is a great complement to existing board members Dan Nova (Highland Capital) and Bob Doris (Accanto Partners). We have been further impressed with the remainder of the GC partnership, including Adam Valkin, whose lessons from other marketplaces have been invaluable, Larry Bohn, whose understanding of (and connections within) the Boston talent ecosystem is legendary, and new partner (Evernote founder) Phil Libin, one of the top few product and user experience experts in the world. It’s been fun re-connecting with new GC investor and our business school classmate Juan Leung Li, who has provided great analytical support. In just a few months, they have made an incredible impact.
Together with our new partner, we can’t wait to see what the future brings. Or, perhaps, to help shape and create it.
