Eliot Durbin

General Partner

Eliot is General Partner @ BOLDstart Ventures, a first check investor in enterprise founders based in New York City. Eliot’s investments include Divide (acquired by Google), Replicated, Preact (sold to Spotify), SecurityScorecard, Rapportive (acquired by LinkedIn), Snyk, BigID, Front, Kustomer, Superhuman, Catalytic, Blaze (acq. by Akamai), Look.io (acquired by LivePerson), GoInstant (acquired by Salesforce), TrulyWireless, YHat, Handshake, WeVR, Techstars (NYC), and Amplify.LA.

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Notable Investments

Superhuman, Snyk, Kustomer, Replicated, BigID, Jeli

Questions & Answers

Origin Story: In a couple sentences, how would you describe your path to becoming an investor?

Tried being a founder, turns out much better player coach so started down the investor path.
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Investment Approach: What are the key factors you consider when evaluating a founding team?

People and big markets.
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What's your style and approach when it comes to working with founders post-investment? What are the characteristics of founders you've worked well with?

I match their pace, creating options and leverage.
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If I'm coming to pitch to you or your firm, what's the one piece of advice you'd give me?

Focus on pain, product, and what you want to prove.
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How would you describe your own personal mission and values, and how do they impact the way you invest?

Helping founders create something out of nothing, building our firm like a startup.
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What do you like best about investing in NYC, and what’s your outlook on the future of NYC tech?

Strong.