All of our First Round articles

The Tactical Guide to Making Better Decisions When Starting and Scaling Companies

The First Round team has been lucky to work with retired poker player and decision-making expert Annie Duke in a special capacity these past few years. Here, we open-source some of the advice she gives to help founders face down uncertainty and make better decisions.

This GTM-Leader-Turned-Investor Crowdsources Early Lessons From Stripe, Figma & More

As he makes the transition from operator to investor, Meka Asonye looks back on his career as a sales leader at Stripe and Mixpanel to offer tactical takeaways and go-to-market lessons — crowdsourcing additional advice from the top revenue leaders in his network.

After 15 Years as a Product Leader, CEO and Now VC, Here’s the Advice I Always Share with Future Founders

As he makes the transition from operator to investor, Todd Jackson looks back on his career at Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Dropbox (as well as his own chapter as a startup founder) to offer tactical takeaways and frameworks for company builders and product leaders alike.

So You Think You’re Ready to Hire a Marketer? Read This First.

As First Round’s Marketing Expert in Residence, Arielle Jackson often helps early-stage founders navigate the search for a full-time marketer of their own. From the when and the why to the who and the how, Jackson offers a crash course on every aspect of the marketer hiring process.

The Imperative Practice of Relaxing Constraints

Founders are always told to "think big," but it's not always clear how or where to begin. First Round Capital co-founder Howard Morgan challenges founding teams to start by relaxing four key constraints.

Cut Through The Small Talk and Connect — Lessons from 130+ Dinners, Summits and Salons

Anita Hossain has a gift for turning conversations into community. Throughout her career, she's found ways to help leaders cut through the small talk and surface what matters.

We Studied 100 Mentor-Mentee Matches — Here’s What Makes Mentorship Work

Whitnie Narcisse runs First Round's Mentorship Program and has learned exactly what it takes to make mentor-mentee relationships truly transformative.

How to Become Insanely Well-Connected

Chris Fralic is a world-class super-connector. Here's how the long-time First Round Partner has methodically built bonds spanning years and careers.

The Fundraising Wisdom That Helped Our Founders Raise $18B in Follow-On Capital

Two years ago, First Round launched its Pitch Assist program to help founders raise follow-on capital. Here are the most important fundraising lessons we share.