Venture capitalist Jenny Fielding made a stir on X in October when she posted, “Y’all have strong opinions about pre-seed founders who have EAs to help them schedule? Just checking.” As the Co-Founder of Everywhere Ventures and former managing director of Techstars, her light-hearted taunt triggered a flood of responses.
With her experience as one of the most active global pre-seed investors in the market, Fielding has plenty more words of advice for early-stage startup founders.
An Extensive Profile in Seeding VC
As detailed in her faculty profile at Cornell Tech, Jenny Fielding has invested in over 300 companies as an early investor. Her founder collective, Everywhere Ventures, has built a community of more than 500 founders and operators within the startup industry, helping source and invest in new generations of startups.
Prior to co-founding Everywhere Ventures, Fielding spent over seven years as the managing director of Techstars. During this time, she built a portfolio of companies with a current market cap valued at over $10 billion. She also holds a law degree and teaches as an adjunct professor at Columbia University and Cornell Tech.
Fielding’s Social Media Conversations
With experience as an educator, investor, and startup guru, it comes as no surprise that Fielding’s remarks on X can garner a lot of attention. Her tongue-in-cheek remark about startups having their own executive assistants seems to taunt the view of a glamorous pre-seed founder, with the implication that early-stage founders should focus their funds elsewhere.
As Fielding’s remark sparked a conversation, many piled in with assenting opinions. John Januszczak chimed in with, “It could be worse—they could have a life coach on payroll.” Many others remarked that early-stage founders could save on organizational costs through the use of an AI assistant.
Some were not as impressed with Fielding’s suggestion, such as Andrew Hoag, who claimed that his part-time EA helped him coordinate 17 meetings with investors over two days, some of whom closed.
Advice for Early-Stage Startup Founders
Regardless of the X reception of that conversation, it is clear that Fielding’s words hold weight in the startup world. Since the interview, she has given TechCrunch a more detailed examination of her view on the spending habits of early-stage founders.
One of the major points she wished to highlight with her X remark is that many founders hold misconceptions about appropriate cash management. Some still carry preconceptions dating to the explosive startup era of 2020 to 2021, when many startups saw excess funding.
During the early stages of a startup, Fielding advises focusing on building a viable product. One of the dangers of excess spending is that it can turn away early-stage VCs, who may be judging the founders’ cash management and organization style.
“We’re entrusting this cash to founders,” Fielding states, remarking on her own experience as a VC. “And so yeah, we look at the operating budget, and we have calls with them quarterly.”
Other Organizational Red Flags Per Fielding
Beyond the presence of an EA at an early-stage startup, Fielding expressed skepticism when seeing additional roles added to these startups. Among these “red flags” are COO and CFO titles. According to Fielding, complex organizational structures can slow down a startup that still needs to get its product running, as well as accruing additional salary and stock costs.
“Oftentimes, it’s a third co-founder who doesn’t really know where they fit,” Fielding states. “You need to develop a product and then get customers. Not really sure you need the organizational structure of a CFO and COO.”
Whether in agreement with Jenny Fieldings about these “red flags” or not, her influence in the startup world is unquestionable. As her collective continues to spread VC and support founders, many pre-seed founders turn to her words as a guiding campus.
