From a venture investor’s diary #7: Being a “multiplier” to founders

By ssyc1
February 6, 2026
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(This is a companion piece to “3 things on founder-CEO excellence”)

I am known for summarizing things into 3 bullet-points, and I’m finding myself doing it again.

In the grand scheme of things, and amidst all the “talk”, what do venture investors really do for founders, when the rubber hits the road?

For me at least, there are 3 themes or you can call them major items on the to-do list that should matter:

– 1. Help with hiring and / or strengthening the team and / or “getting the team right” (and we are not talking just about throwing $ at the problem, and this can also mean “right-sizing” or serious “rejigs” of the team);

– 2. Offer up the strategic “brain” and our “read on where you are” (extra or “augmented” [human] “vision”) that comes from experience, often complementing the CEO’s;

– 3. Bring the “broader” industry “intelligence” to the table as an overall “sounding board” which can also mean being a “problem-solver of last-resort” and at times a “weather forecaster” or a “problem-nowcaster” as well.

If we think of this as complementing the 3 most major tasks of a founder-CEO that we highlighted earlier, in From a venture investor’s diary #6: 3 things on founder-CEO excellence, then you can say that the first item on this to-do list for the investor supports what I had called #2 (namely “make key hires”) in the founder-CEO’s indispensable to-do list of 3 items, while the second item on this list supports #1 (namely, “set direction and priorities”)!

As for the founder-CEO who is the evangelist for the company, well he or she would be doing well if they keep good relationships with their investors so they get their investors to also become their company’s evangelists in a slightly different community which inevitably will help the company raise the next round of funding. (But having good relationships with investors also mean understanding what investors look for from them, and for us, a most major one is honesty / straightforwardness.)

I also say that as the founder-CEO, it will be in your interest to learn what the strengths and weaknesses of your major investor(s) (e.g. Series A lead and Series B lead) are. We value intellectual honesty and self-awareness a lot and we think self-aware partners make for good and even great collaborators.

And yes, the role of a venture investor aside from the funding is a “limited though critical” one: a limited one because, if need be, an early investor can “step in” and be a co-founder for a short while, but it would not be healthy or effective unless that’s for a short while.

Some founders think it’s customer introductions and the deep industry networks that Series A and B investors bring. My thoughts on this is that customer introductions will always come: if you have an interesting product, you should get interest anyway and to depend on the investor does not make sense. At times the investor can help get the door to open wider, or offer help during a critical part of the discussions, sure.

But timing of the help is also relevant: timely help when needed – and especially when there is match between what can be brought to the table and what is needed – is much better than help for helping sake.

Of course, having a spirited conversation about my to-do list – and how investors work to become multipliers for founders – is a good way to actually get the broader conversation between founder and potential investor going. As I write, I am remembering how a young founder-CEO once told me that his angel investor taught him he should be a multiplier. “Way to go!” had been my happy thoughts.