Lucy Deland

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

My path as an investor has been full circle: my first job out of college was as an Analyst at Insight Venture Partners. After spending two years there, I knew I wanted to have the founder experience myself, so I joined two friends in founding Paperless Post. I spent over a decade there as COO (leading finance, operations, strategic planning, marketing, etc.) as we scaled to a network of 100M+ hosts and guests. In 2019, I leapt into my next founding adventure—but this time as a partner at Inspired Capital
‍

Investment Approach: What are the key factors you consider when evaluating a founding team?

I’m looking for teams that can bring me deeply and quickly into their company’s mission, root me in the problem and get me excited about brainstorming the solutions today and tomorrow. I like teams married to a problem, not a prescriptive solution, and I appreciate transparency and candor about what has been and will be challenging.
‍

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?

We work deeply with teams (me and my whole partnership) from Seed through Series B/C. We like to engage to help put the building blocks of your strategy and leadership team together, and to help transition from product-market-fit to a clear go-to-market strategy that will scale.  Personally, I like to engage to help the founder think about their own growth curve and how it can both be the propellant and the limiting factor of their success. I’ve been on that steep growth curve as a founder myself and know how it can be thrilling and frightening in equal measure.
‍

If I'm coming to pitch to you or your firm, what's the one piece of advice you'd give me?

Bring your energy. It will activate our team. We want to see your poise and clarity but above all, we want to hear, feel, and see your drive—the drive that will entice employees, customers, partners and everyone along the way to join you.
‍

How would you describe your own personal mission and values, and how do they impact the way you invest?

I deeply believe that technology should help solve real world problems and create social value on top of economic value. I most enjoy working with businesses that help improve the state of the world.
‍

What do you like best about investing in NYC, and what’s your outlook on the future of NYC tech?

I’ve been part of the NY tech scene since 2006 and as much as it’s changed and grown (dramatically) over those 15 years, I think the momentum we have today -- the opportunity to scale, the talent pool, the focus on tech across every industry -- means the next 15 will be 10x as exciting and transformative. I love the diversity you find in the talent pool’s backgrounds and passions -- founders, investors, early employees, to devs across the stack. NYC is far from one-dimensional and that is reflected—really refreshingly—in the tech scene here as well.