Richard Kerby

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

I started my career as an Investment Banker at Credit Suisse. While at Credit Suisse, I realized that I was interested in spending more time with founders and venture seemed like the best way to do so. I was fortunate to join IVP and Venrock before launching Equal Ventures.
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Investment Approach: What are the key factors you consider when evaluating a founding team?

We look for several factors when evaluating a founding team, but at the top of the list for us is founder-market fit. We think that founders can have founder-market fit by either having previously worked in the industry their new business operates in, or by having a personal experience that has led the founder to pursue their new idea.
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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?

We work quite closely with our founders. We generally join the board of the vast majority of investments that we make, and we have scheduled check-ins with our founders every 2 weeks, and we have several impromptu interactions between our check-ins. We work well with founders who have a strong understanding of how their markets operate and those that are transparent and good communicators.

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

We are always looking to understand how any business can have an economic advantage versus other players in the space. If a founder can explain their economic advantages to us, we are more likely to dig in.

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

I am dedicated to doing what I can to promote diversity throughout the tech ecosystem, from venture capitalists to founders, to operators. This has a big impact on how our firm and I operate.
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What do you like best about investing in NYC, and what’s your outlook on the future of NYC tech?

I love how collaborative the NYC tech ecosystem is, and I believe we will continue to see large businesses being built that are headquartered in NYC, even as remote working continues to grow in popularity.