The Foundations of a Successful VC Platform Pt. 1: It Takes a Village

Four years ago, I joined FirstMark to lead our platform efforts. At the time, I knew little about the world of venture capital, and even less about what “platform” (or its sibling term, “community”) meant in the context of venture. It has been quite the journey.

Last week represented a great milestone for FirstMark. We announced the closing of two funds totaling $480MM. For me personally, this was also an opportunity to reflect on the growth of our platform efforts over the past several years.

Our platform is built with two basic tenets in mind: (1) to accelerate the success of our entrepreneurs and their teams, and (2) to foster the tech ecosystem at large. Describing this effort is well beyond the scope of this post, but to summarize it includes:

• Building Community through four public, monthly events that touch ~25,000 members (Data Driven, Design Driven, Code Driven, and Hardwired.) Each is organized around a topic we are genuinely passionate about, and represent an opportunity to bring together like-minded people to learn from 200+ leaders across 40 events annually.
• The Customer Network is a deliberate effort to cultivate meaningful relationships between the startup world and industry (think Fortune 1000 companies, which have outsized representation in NYC.) We do this through demo days, one-to-one introductions, private events, and more.
• Our Talent Network, a series of initiatives designed to place the most talented individuals in the world in key positions at FirstMark companies.
• An annual calendar of 100+ events, which we call our Expert Network, to connect FirstMark founders and employees with tactical and strategic insights

Given the depth and breadth of our efforts, I have been approached a number of times by other firms who are just beginning to build similar “community” or “platform” efforts. If it is a partner at a firm, the fundamental question is usually what kind of person should I hire to build this team? And if it is someone hired into a community/platform role, the question is how do I make this role a success?

There are many answers to this question, several of which I intend to expand on in the future. But, there is one clear prerequisite that underpins a successful platform strategy in all of its forms: the active participation of a firm’s partnership.

This may seem somewhat obvious, but that does not mean every firm abides by it. As platform has become something of a mega-trend in venture capital, active partner involvement is far and away the factor most correlated with the success of a firm’s platform efforts. Providing occasional input and trusting that someone smart will figure it out is not enough.

Partners should be ready to invest their own time and energy to help a platform succeed. In FirstMark’s case, platform was “night and weekend” work for our partners for several years before I joined the firm, which gave me an enormous head start. For those launching from a cold start, partners should doubly expect to be deeply involved, at least in the early days.

Close involvement provides a number of practical benefits. Two major ones:

• Given partners’ board involvement, close personal relationships with founders, and understanding of the ecosystem, they are closely attuned to the specific needs of portfolio companies, and are therefore incredibly well-positioned to help craft initiatives that will be most valuable to the portfolio.
• By “walking a mile” in platform shoes, partners will develop an empathetic understanding of what it takes to launch and grow a platform initiative, and be better positioned to support a platform lead as that effort grows.

I have been fortunate to work with a partnership at FirstMark that takes our platform very seriously. A few simple, specific examples:

• This year, we are hosting our eighth annual private, invite-only Marketing Summit. This effort was started by our partner, Amish Jani. It draws 250+ senior leaders from the industry and startup worlds for insights that cannot be heard anywhere else.
• Data Driven NYC is the largest Big Data community in the world, with 11,000 members and monthly events that draw 800+ RSVPs and feature a who’s who of iconic figures from the Big Data world. Data Driven NYC was founded — and is today almost entirely run — by Matt Turck. We enjoyed this so much that we started three other communities, Hardwired NYC, Design Driven NYC, and Code Driven NYC.
• Our annual CEO Summit was organized by Rick Heitzmann for the first several years of its existence, and Rick continues to co-pilot the Summit today. It is hard to explain succinctly how much time and energy Rick invests, but — as a trite yet illustrative example — even the placement of FirstMark’s logo on our Summit swag does not cross Rick’s desk without thoughtful examination.

These examples understate just how much everyone at FirstMark contributes to our platform efforts. It is not just our partners, either; everyone on the team, from associates to the back office, is an active participant in everything that we do. During our Monday all-team meetings, for instance, we systematically review key platform metrics and ongoing initiatives in order to solicit feedback and support.

These examples are intended to echo a simple point: our partners care deeply about the success of our platform efforts. They do not “find time” to make this our platform a success; they “make time.”

In conclusion, while it’s not a sufficient factor to make a platform succeed in venture capital, active partner involvement is an entirely necessary one.