Six Pre-Seed Investors Every Founder Should Work With. Who Would You Add?

I had the good fortune to have a ton of great investors who backed my last company, Seedscout. Most of them are generally more private online, but I wanted to highlight some of them for founders on the fundraising trail to learn about. I’d work with these folks 10/10 times again if I start something else up (no plans to right now).

Kenny Tucker (Tucker Seed Fund) – Kenny is a machine. He was previously an exec at PlanGrid and Proxy, has a wealth of knowledge about this industry, and is just a gem of a human. He was incredibly helpful to me—from brainstorming to capital strategy—even when Seedscout was going sideways.

Randy Holloway (Angel Investor) – Randy works at Microsoft (he was at Google when he backed us), and I believe Seedscout was one of his first investments. When he invested in other deals, he was decisive and always treated founders well. Most importantly, he gave me tough feedback when I really needed it. Honest, upfront, and a great partner.

John Diaz (Stone Mountain Ventures) – John was one of the first five to invest in Seedscout! He’s a younger investor—but very smart, savvy, and relatable. He doubled down a couple of times and, in general, is someone I think will be a bright light in the VC industry for decades to come.

Dave Goldblatt (Vibe Capital) – Dave invested before everything, as my first or second investor (he and Eric Ries invested within a day of each other). He spent a decade at Facebook and is an insanely smart futurist at heart. He backs some of the wildest founders he can find—and helps them succeed. His portfolio is wild. If you’re a genius and a little out of your mind, hit Dave up.

Stephen Cole (Angel) – Stephen is the definition of a Super Angel. We met for coffee for the second time, and by the end of the conversation, he asked how much he could put in! He’s invested in 70+ companies at the pre-seed seed stage and is just an incredible human being. He lived in PHX for a few years, and we’ve developed a great relationship. He’s likely the most active angel in the state.

Francis Santora (Angel) – Francis writes smaller checks but approaches investing like he’s running a top-tier VC firm—and I mean that in the best possible way. Thoughtful, fair, and a genuinely good partner to founders. He also writes about angel investing on his blog, which I highly recommend to anyone in tech.

If you’re reading this, who are your ride-or-die investors that you’ve worked with? If you haven’t raised yet, who would you LOVE to get a check from? Comment below, and maybe we can make something happen with the magic of Product Hunt!