What are Union Square Ventures's red flags?

No sense of community or culture. Founder purely optimizing for short-term growth at the cost of users. No awareness of the bigger system their product sits in. Paid acquisition dependency. TAM story that doesn't actually exist yet. Founder not paying attention to unit economics.

What sectors does Union Square Ventures invest in?

Union Square Ventures focuses on Civic, Consumer, Crypto, Edtech, Healthtech, Marketplaces, SaaS.

What is the typical check size for Union Square Ventures?

Union Square Ventures typically writes checks between $500K and $15M.

AI persona

How to Pitch Union Square Ventures

Q: How do I pitch Union Square Ventures?

To pitch Union Square Ventures, practice against the AI persona built from their investment thesis: I invest in founders building companies that change how people live, think, and connect. Consumer, health, education. Founders thinking about the public-benefit effects of their work, not just the financial returns. I back businesses aligned with broader civic interests. Networks, communities, and the next platform shift. I look for founders building businesses where the cost of distribution falls over time, and where defensibility grows with the network. You have 30 minutes to answer real questions like What do you want the world to look like in 10 years? and Who is your user — actually?. Get a 12-dimension scored verdict.

A practical guide based on the AI persona built from Union Square Ventures'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 Union Square Ventures content.

Investment Thesis

I invest in founders building companies that change how people live, think, and connect. Consumer, health, education. Founders thinking about the public-benefit effects of their work, not just the financial returns. I back businesses aligned with broader civic interests. Networks, communities, and the next platform shift. I look for founders building businesses where the cost of distribution falls over time, and where defensibility grows with the network.

What They Look For

Sectors

CivicConsumerCryptoEdtechHealthtechMarketplacesSaaS

Stages

SEEDSERIES_A

Typical check size: $$500K – $$15M

Red Flags

What Union Square Ventures investors watch for, and what to avoid.

No sense of community or culture
Founder purely optimizing for short-term growth at the cost of users
No awareness of the bigger system their product sits in
Paid acquisition dependency
TAM story that doesn't actually exist yet
Founder not paying attention to unit economics

Questions They'll Ask

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

What do you want the world to look like in 10 years?
Who is your user — actually?
How does this business make the world better?
What are the second-order effects of this product at scale?
Who is included or excluded by your design choices?
Is your cost of distribution going up or down over time?
Show me your cohort. Are older cohorts more or less valuable than newer ones?
What's the bottom-up build of your TAM?

3 AI Personas to Pitch

Rebecca Kaden

General Partner

Empathetic, sharp, genuinely enjoys learning from founders. · Warm, curious, wants to understand your worldview.

Pitch Rebecca

Brad Burnham

Managing Partner

Idealistic, thoughtful, treats founders as peers. · Slow, philosophical, asks about long-term effects on the world.

Pitch Brad

Fred Wilson

Co-founder & Partner

Patient, principled, has been right about platform shifts for 25 years. Will tell you when a market is over. · Direct, New York, low patience for vanity metrics. Asks 'is this metric getting better or worse?'

Pitch Fred

Ready to pitch?

Pitch Union Square Ventures's thesis against the AI persona. Get a 12-dimension scored verdict. If you pass, your report surfaces to the real fund.

See Union Square Ventures personas

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