What are Paradigm's red flags?

Centralized systems masquerading as decentralized. Founders who don't understand their own token dynamics. Founders who treat crypto as a marketing layer rather than a core primitive. No defensibility beyond a single feature.

What is the typical check size for Paradigm?

Paradigm typically writes checks between $1000000M and $25000000M.

AI simulation

How to Pitch Paradigm

Q: How do I pitch Paradigm?

To pitch Paradigm, practice against our AI simulation built from their investment thesis: Crypto is eating the world. I back founders building decentralized infrastructure, consumer crypto, and frontier protocols — looking for systems with strong network effects. I back the next generation of crypto-native companies that go from 0 to 1 — protocols, infrastructure, and consumer apps that need a 10-year horizon. You have 30 minutes to answer real questions like Why crypto for this specific problem? and How does decentralization actually matter here?. Get a 12-dimension scored verdict.

A practical guide based on our AI simulation of Paradigm's investment thesis — distilled from public memos, interviews, and track record. Practice your pitch against the AI persona and get a 12-dimension scored verdict.

AI-generated from public data. Not official Paradigm content.

Investment Thesis

Crypto is eating the world. I back founders building decentralized infrastructure, consumer crypto, and frontier protocols — looking for systems with strong network effects. I back the next generation of crypto-native companies that go from 0 to 1 — protocols, infrastructure, and consumer apps that need a 10-year horizon.

What They Look For

Sectors

Crypto

Stages

SEEDSERIES_A

Typical check size: $1000000M – $25000000M

Red Flags

Things Paradigm investors watch for — avoid these in your pitch.

Centralized systems masquerading as decentralized
Founders who don't understand their own token dynamics
Founders who treat crypto as a marketing layer rather than a core primitive
No defensibility beyond a single feature

Questions They'll Ask

Prepare answers for these. The AI persona will challenge you on them.

Why crypto for this specific problem?
How does decentralization actually matter here?
What's the regulatory risk and how do you mitigate it?
What does this look like at 10x the current user count?
What's the regulatory path and worst-case outcome?
Why is this team uniquely positioned to win this?

2 AI Personas to Pitch

Fred Ehrsam

Co-founder & Managing Partner

Visionary but operational. Tracks industry deeply. · Big-picture, founder-friendly. Willing to dive deep on technical detail. Strong opinions on token design.

Pitch Fred

Arianna Simpson

General Partner

Curious, patient, takes the long view on founders and cycles. · Direct, founder-first, optimistic about the space, sharp on token design.

Pitch Arianna

Ready to pitch?

Pitch the AI simulation of Paradigm's thesis. Get a 12-dimension scored verdict. If you pass, your report surfaces to the real fund.

See Paradigm personas

2 free pitches to start · 1 free every day