1,605 Pre-Seed and Seed Investors…

1. Key Themes

Theme: The lead investor is the bottleneck in every seed round

Nothing moves until someone prices the round

The article's core premise is that followers and angels defer to a lead, so a raise stalls without one.

"Every seed round waits on one person: the lead." "Angels say 'let me know who's leading.' Funds that follow say 'come back when the terms are set.' Until someone writes the first cheque and prices the round, your raise sits still, and your runway keeps moving."

Targeting leads (not all investors) is the highest-leverage list to build

"So the most important list you can build is a list of people who lead." "1,605 pre-seed and seed investors who say yes to leading rounds, each with their firm, title, cheque size, sectors, stages, past investments, where they're based, LinkedIn, X and email where available."

Theme: Investor targeting is a filtering and fit exercise, not a volume exercise

Three checks turn a raw list into a shortlist

"Their cheque covers a big share of your round. The lead usually writes the largest cheque, so match their top bucket to what you're raising." "Their stage list includes yours. Many investors here list Seed through Series B. Stick to the ones whose stages start where you are." "The person can sign. Pitch the partner. Associates and principals are great at opening doors, and the partner still has to approve the deal."

Manual research is prohibitively expensive, creating a market for pre-built databases

"at three minutes of research per row, the full database is about 80 hours of work." "A 30-minute filter recipe that turns 1,605 names into your 40-name lead shortlist"

Theme: Lead capability spans the whole fund spectrum, from boutique seed funds to multi-stage platforms

Sample data shows large multi-stage firms and small specialist funds both lead early rounds

The exhibit's headline notes the first 34 rows "already include Accel, Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Bessemer and Lux Capital." Cheque buckets in the sample range from "$0–$100K" (Workday Ventures) up to "$3M–$10M" (Bain Capital Ventures), and many entries list Seed alongside Series A.

"Many investors here list Seed through Series B."

2. Contrarian Perspectives

Chase the "doer" of the first cheque, not the biggest name or the most enthusiastic angel

The article implies founders over-index on soft interest from angels and followers, when only a lead converts interest into a closed round.

"Angels say 'let me know who's leading.' Funds that follow say 'come back when the terms are set.'"

Supporting reasoning: warm-but-noncommittal interest does not count as progress, and runway burns while waiting. The practical implication is to prioritize the scarcer, decisive group (leads) over the larger pool of possible participants.

Seniority matters more than access: warm doors don't close deals

Founders often court associates and principals because they are easier to reach, but the article argues the partner is the real target.

"Pitch the partner. Associates and principals are great at opening doors, and the partner still has to approve the deal."

Note: this is a promotional piece for a paid product, so treat the framing with appropriate skepticism.

3. Companies Identified

The VC Corner

Description: Newsletter and investor-data publisher with 150,000+ subscribers.
Why mentioned: Author and seller of the lead-investor database, pitch deck library, and financial model library.
Quotes: "150,000+ subscribers read The VC Corner. Premium members raise with the full toolkit." / "7,900+ more investors across our investor lists library, from 1,503 US early-stage investors to 903 European seed funds"

Accel

Description: Venture firm; one of the featured logos on the database graphic.
Why mentioned: Included in the database with a partner (Abhinav Chaturvedi, India) listed as leading Seed and Series A.
Quotes: "The first 34 of 1,605 rows already include Accel, Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Bessemer and Lux Capital"

Kleiner Perkins

Description: Venture capital firm.
Why mentioned: Named among the firms in the first 34 database rows.
Quotes: "The first 34 of 1,605 rows already include Accel, Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Bessemer and Lux Capital"

General Catalyst

Description: Venture firm; featured logo.
Why mentioned: Adam Valkin (Managing Director, Cambridge, MA) listed with $500K–$1M and $1M–$3M cheques; backed Truss and Remesh.
Quotes: "Adam Valkin, Managing Director, General Catalyst"

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Description: Venture firm.
Why mentioned: Named among the firms in the sample rows (Aditya Sharma, Director, India).
Quotes: "The first 34 of 1,605 rows already include Accel, Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Bessemer and Lux Capital"

Bessemer Venture Partners

Description: Venture firm.
Why mentioned: Adam Fisher (Partner, Israel) listed with $500K–$1M and $1M–$3M cheques; backed Nym.
Quotes: "Adam Fisher, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners"

Lux Capital

Description: Venture firm.
Why mentioned: Cited as one of the firms in the first 34 rows.
Quotes: "The first 34 of 1,605 rows already include Accel, Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Bessemer and Lux Capital"

a16z and Sequoia

Description: Major venture firms.
Why mentioned: Logos featured on the database graphic alongside General Catalyst and Accel.
Quotes: None beyond the graphic.

Bain Capital Ventures

Description: Venture firm.
Why mentioned: Aaref Hilaly (Partner, San Francisco) listed with $1M–$3M and $3M–$10M cheques; backed ThousandEyes and Clari.
Quotes: "Aaref Hilaly, Partner, Bain Capital Ventures"

Haystack

Description: Early-stage fund.
Why mentioned: Aashay Sanghvi (Principal, New York); $100K–$500K and $500K–$1M cheques; backed Applied Intuition and Astranis.
Quotes: "Aashay Sanghvi, Principal, Haystack"

Congruent Ventures

Description: Venture firm.
Why mentioned: Abe Yokell (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, San Francisco); backed AMP Robotics and Amply Power.
Quotes: "Abe Yokell, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Congruent Ventures"

Boost VC

Description: Venture firm.
Why mentioned: Adam Draper (Founder, Managing Director, Atherton, CA); backed Tempo and Coral Vita.
Quotes: "Adam Draper, Founder, Managing Director, Boost VC"

Workday Ventures

Description: Corporate venture arm.
Why mentioned: Adeyemi Ajao (Managing Partner, San Francisco); $0–$100K and $100K–$500K cheques; backed Instacart and ShipBob.
Quotes: "Adeyemi Ajao, Managing Partner, Workday Ventures"

South Park Commons

Description: Early-stage community and fund.
Why mentioned: Aditya Agarwal (Partner, San Francisco); backed Khatabook and The Graph.
Quotes: "Aditya Agarwal, Partner, South Park Commons"

Cowboy Ventures

Description: Seed-stage firm.
Why mentioned: Aileen Lee (Founder and Managing Partner) shown as a sample entry, with Pre-seed/Seed stages and backing of Accompany and August.
Quotes: "Aileen Lee, Founder and Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures"

4. People Identified

Ruben Dominguez

Description: Author at The VC Corner.
Why mentioned: Publisher of the article and database.
Quotes: "ruben@thevccorner.com"

Adam Draper

Description: Founder, Managing Director at Boost VC.
Why mentioned: Sample lead investor in the graphic ("LEADS" tag).
Quotes: "Adam Draper, Founder, Managing Director, Boost VC"

Adam Valkin

Description: Managing Director, General Catalyst.
Why mentioned: Sample lead investor; backed Truss, Remesh, Rebag.
Quotes: "Adam Valkin, Managing Director, General Catalyst"

Aileen Lee

Description: Founder and Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures.
Why mentioned: Sample lead investor; backed Accompany and August.
Quotes: "Aileen Lee, Founder and Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures"

Aaref Hilaly

Description: Partner, Bain Capital Ventures.
Why mentioned: Row 1 of the database; largest cheque range in the sample ($3M–$10M).
Quotes: "Aaref Hilaly, Partner, Bain Capital Ventures"

Abe Yokell

Description: Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Congruent Ventures.
Why mentioned: Sample lead investor focused on climate/industrial themes (AMP Robotics, Amply Power).
Quotes: "Abe Yokell, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Congruent Ventures"

Adam Fisher

Description: Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners (Israel).
Why mentioned: Sample lead investor; backed Nym.
Quotes: "Adam Fisher, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners"

Aditya Agarwal

Description: Partner, South Park Commons.
Why mentioned: Sample lead investor; backed Khatabook and The Graph.
Quotes: "Aditya Agarwal, Partner, South Park Commons"

Adeyemi Ajao

Description: Managing Partner, Workday Ventures.
Why mentioned: Sample lead investor; backed Instacart and ShipBob.
Quotes: "Adeyemi Ajao, Managing Partner, Workday Ventures"

Aashay Sanghvi (Principal, Haystack) and Abhinav Chaturvedi (Partner, Accel, India) also appear as sample rows in the exhibit.

5. Operating Insights

Match the lead's cheque bucket to your round size

"The lead usually writes the largest cheque, so match their top bucket to what you're raising."

Filter by cheque range before researching anyone further, so you don't waste outreach on funds that can't anchor your round.

Build a ~40-name lead shortlist rather than blasting a 1,600-name list

"A 30-minute filter recipe that turns 1,605 names into your 40-name lead shortlist"

Treat investor outreach as a targeted pipeline, filtered by cheque, stage, and sector.

Use a structured outreach sequence and derive missing emails from known patterns

"The email pattern that finds missing addresses, built from the ones already listed" "Three messages for leads: a LinkedIn note, a five-line email and a follow-up"

Keep first-touch messages short (five lines), use multiple channels, and always include a follow-up. Infer missing addresses from a firm's known email format.

6. Overlooked Insights

Geography is broad in the lead universe, not just Silicon Valley

The sample rows show leads based in India, Israel, New York, Cambridge MA, and Atherton CA, alongside San Francisco, and the library spans separate US and European lists ("1,503 US early-stage investors" and "903 European seed funds"). Founders outside the Bay Area have more lead options than conventional wisdom suggests.

Terms arrive after the lead is secured, so cap table tooling matters early

"the SAFE dilution calculator you'll need once a lead sends terms"

The article implicitly flags that dilution modeling is a next-step bottleneck once a lead engages, so founders should prepare it before terms arrive.