Welcome, Shawn Xu…Floodgate’s newest Thunderlizard Hunter
Seed investing has come a long way since its early days as a crazy experiment almost fifteen years ago. I remember regular get-togethers with Josh Kopelman at First Round and Steve Anderson at Baseline. We barely had enough money in those days to even lead a tiny round, but we were certain that $500 thousand was the new $5 Million. And I smile at the memory of jam sessions with Ann Miura-Ko, Eric Ries, and Steve Blank about the yet-to-be-named trend of lean startups. We knew the world of startups was heading for profound change. But if you had told any of us what was to come, I don’t think we would have believed it. I’m an optimist by nature but did not anticipate that the most important companies of the coming digital age, such as Lyft, Twitter, Twitch, Okta, Uber, Instagram, and Stitch Fix would take their first checks from the seed fund “OG”s.
It’s a very different world today. The Lean Startup movement explained by Eric Ries and Steve Blank has become a global phenomenon and exported startup values throughout organizations in business, politics, and even the military. There are now more than 850 seed funds raising billions of dollars and almost all of the old-school firms have felt compelled to react with seed programs of their own. And that doesn’t include all of the other permutations of seed investing, such as accelerators, scout programs, and AngelList syndicates. Heck, even college students have venture vehicles to write checks today.
To find the Thunderlizards of tomorrow, we need to up our game and build for the future. This is true in terms of the new people we bring on board as well as creating new breakthroughs for finding and helping the next great Founders. With this in mind, I’m thrilled to announce that Shawn Xu is joining the Floodgate investment team.
Meet Shawn Xu
Shawn just graduated from Wharton’s MBA program. Although he is new at Floodgate, he is not new to the venture business. While in Business School, he was a Managing Partner at the Dorm Room Fund, an initiative led by First Round Capital. It should come as no surprise that we have great respect for First Round Capital’s approach to community building and its core values in how it treats entrepreneurs. Shawn also worked with Bessemer Venture Partners and learned important skills in how to develop investment roadmaps. Having a prepared mind is increasingly important in the crowded world of startups today, and nobody has mastered this process better than the Bessemer team. While at Wharton, he also spent time at Village Global, who is applying network theories to the venture business as part of its core mission.
Shawn has also experienced the front lines of startups like Square and Vungle, so he knows what it takes to build great companies in addition to what it takes to fund them. He has an innate empathy for Founders and the miracles they need to create in the face of impossible odds.
Most importantly, I’m thrilled to have Shawn on our team because of our respect and affection for him. I would unhesitatingly introduce him to anyone I admire because I know he will reflect well on us. And I would enjoy sitting next to him on a flight all the way to Beijing just as much as tag-teaming to find the next great Thunderlizard.
In terms of building for the future, we have more ideas on the horizon than at any time since our founding. And Shawn will be central to making them real. Stay tuned :)
We look forward to Shawn’s impact in helping us to up our game in finding and supporting the great founders of the future. And we can’t wait to see his impact on the broader world of seed investing. Welcome, Shawn!
