1,503 US Early-Stage Investors… | The VC Corner Summary

1. Key Themes

The Series A crunch is a structural supply problem, not a sentiment issue

For every fund that leads a Series A, there are roughly 5.3 investors writing earlier checks — meaning far more companies are funneled toward a stage with dramatically less capital available to catch them.

"Founders talk about the Series A crunch as a feeling. It's arithmetic." / "For every fund that leads an A in America, roughly 5.3 investors are writing earlier checks, feeding companies toward a gate that half the country's Series A capital guards from one state."

Capital concentration is extreme and regionally lopsided

Investor headcount is heavily skewed toward two coasts, with California and New York dominating the landscape and vast swaths of the country underrepresented.

"California and New York together account for 52% of the mapped list, and the Midwest, all twelve states of it, holds under 7%."

Bay Area's dominance over even NYC is understated by most founders

Despite NYC's reputation as a rival hub, the concentration of capital in the Bay Area still outstrips it substantially.

"The Bay Area alone outnumbers all of New York City. San Francisco, Palo Alto, Menlo Park and the peninsula towns hold 394 investors against NYC's 244."

Where you raise pre-seed and where you raise Series A are different games

The geography of capital shifts dramatically between stages — a critical, underappreciated planning variable for founders.

"Which leaves founders with a fact almost nobody plans around: where you raise your pre-seed and where you raise your A are different maps, and most people only ever look at one."

2. Contrarian Perspectives

Arizona, not Massachusetts, is the real pre-seed surprise hub — but this reverses sharply by Series A. Conventional wisdom would place Boston/Massachusetts ahead of Arizona in early-stage investor density given its biotech and academic pedigree, but the data shows Arizona actually leads at the earliest stage before the funnel snaps back toward traditional hubs at Series A.

"The surprise is Arizona. It ranks 4th nationally with 63 investors, ahead of Massachusetts at 56, driven almost entirely by pre-seed programs. At that stage, Phoenix outnumbers Boston. Then the funnel narrows and the map snaps back: at Series A, Massachusetts jumps to 3rd on biotech money, and 54% of the country's A-stage firms sit in California."

3. Companies Identified

a16z (Andreessen Horowitz) — Venture capital firm. Mentioned as having the deepest publicly mapped team among early-stage investors in the database.

"a16z lists 98 people"

Accel — Venture capital firm. Cited for team size/depth in the investor database.

"Accel 61"

Kleiner Perkins — Venture capital firm. Cited for team size/depth in the investor database.

"Kleiner Perkins 51"

Sequoia — Venture capital firm. Cited for team size/depth in the investor database.

"Sequoia 42"

4. People Identified

Ruben Dominguez — Author/creator of The VC Corner newsletter and compiler of the 1,503-investor database. Mentioned as the person behind the mapping project and its methodology.

(Byline attribution; no additional direct quote beyond authorship of the analysis: "I mapped 1,503 US-headquartered early-stage investors for this one...")

5. Operating Insights

Segment your target investor list by stage-specific geography, not a single national map. Founders should identify separate targeting strategies for pre-seed/seed versus Series A, since "when to leave your city and when your city is actually the edge" changes by stage.

"The stage-by-stage raising strategy the geography implies, including when to leave your city and when your city is actually the edge"

Qualify a large raw list down to a small, high-fit target set before outreach. Rather than mass-emailing all mapped investors, the recommended approach is to filter down to a workable shortlist.

"The qualification pass that turns 1,503 rows into the 40 worth writing to"

6. Overlooked Insights

The pre-seed/seed ecosystem includes a surprisingly diverse set of institutional formats beyond traditional funds — accelerators, incubators, labs, studios, and university programs each represent distinct sourcing channels founders might not systematically target.

"614 pre-seed and angel (including 66 accelerators, 42 incubators, 19 labs, 8 studios and 17 university programs)"

Illinois' thin Series A bench reveals how shallow the bench is outside the top few states. Despite being ranked 4th nationally at the Series A stage, its absolute count is tiny, underscoring just how concentrated late-early-stage capital really is.

"Illinois, the 4th-place state at that stage, has five."