Insiders Fund I
Successful founders aiming to invest in the next unicorns
$1,427,088
Our Team
Insiders Fund I Memo
Closing date June 15th.
The information included in this document is highly confidential and must not be disclosed or shared. This investment opportunity is available for accredited investors only and for a limited time.
Insider: a person within a group with some special advantage or information unavailable to others.
Insiders Fund is a fund that leverages the deal flow, insights and knowledge of successful founders turned angel investors.
We’ve selected five incredible founders to advise and make investment decisions for the fund. They’ve raised close to a half billion dollars in venture capital, and invested in companies now worth $30B+.
Why founders? Founders are in the trenches. Founders know industry trends, they know which companies are going to make it, and they know how to pick the winners. Founders are insiders and they make the best investors.
Introducing the Insiders
Sara Du
Founder & CEO of Alloy Automation (YC W20), backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Bain Capital. Former investment scout for Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock. Thiel Fellow and Harvard dropout.
Notable Investments: Clipdrop (acq by Stability), Vesta (Series A by a16z), Spline.com ($15M raised by First Round), Archive.com (Series A by Stripe).
Chris Bakke
Founder & CEO of Laskie acquired by Elon Musk at X/Twitter, co-founder of Interviewed (YC S15) acquired by Indeed, and director of business development at Zillow. Sold companies for over $100M.
Notable Investments: Boom Supersonic ($700M raised), Steadily ($60M raised from Zigg and Matrix), Italic ($50M raised by Index Ventures).
Austen Allred
Founder & CEO of BloomTech (YC S17). Raised $120M+ from YC, Stripe, Google Ventures, and other top-tier firms. Fund manager with 100+ investments.
Notable Investments: Replit ($220M raised), ****Vanta ($200M raised), Eight Sleep ($160M raised), Clipboard Health ($90M raised).
David J. Phillips
Founder & CEO of Fondo (YC W18), founder & CEO of Hackbright Academy acquired by Capella Education, and co-founder of safeXai backed by $220m in funding from Softbank and others.
Notable Investments: Flexport ($2.5B raised), Rippling ($1.2B raised), Turntide Technologies ($490M raised), Liquid Death ($250M raised)
Nick Tommarello
Founder & CEO of Wefunder (YC W13), General Partner of Wefunder Advisors, MBA from Babson. Investor in early-stage companies since 2013. Series 65 holder.
Notable Investments: Boom Supersonic ($700M raised), GrubMarket ($500M raised), Checkr ($670M raised), Substack ($90M raised).
Each manager has unique deal flow and networks that other investors don’t have.
Chris Bakke and Austen Allred, have an impressive Twitter presence with respectively 210K and 330K followers, they are followed by iconic figures such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Paul Graham, Marc Andreessen, Elad Gil, Palmer Luckey, Parker Conrad, Bret Taylor, Ryan Petersen, Joe Lonsdale, and many more.
Sara Du was a recipient of the Thiel Fellowship and has strong connections within its alumni network. Notable fellowship recipients are Dylan Feild, founder of Figma, Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, and more. Sara’s deal flow also comes from YC and Harvard.
David J. Phillips is the CEO of Fondo, a tax and accounting platform for founders. He has access to valuable data on thousands of fast-growing companies such as Career Karma, Karat, PostHog, and hundreds of other YC companies. His involvement with Wefunder’s S23 and W24 Orange Funds strengthened his relationship with influential investors.
Nick Tommarello is the CEO of Wefunder, a platform for companies to raise capital and for investors to invest. Ever since 2013, he has come across dozens of companies every day. Some notable ones are Boom, Mercury, Replit, Zenefits, and Checkr.
While the thesis of the fund remains sector-agnostic, the managers’ diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise will make a diversified portfolio of companies across different industries.
Why Founders Make the Best Investors
We believe founders make the best investors. They have operational experience, strategic insights, and industry connections that others don’t have.
Founders have the best deal flow
Founders are part of exclusive networks, they have access to deals before anyone else.
Founders trust founders
Founders can get into the most competitive deals and over-subscribed rounds.
Founders can sense potential
Founders understand what makes a great founder and can spot raw talent early on.
Founders can support companies
They can provide support, guidance, and meaningful introductions to portfolio companies.
Almost every successful founder angel invests. Most don’t actively look for deals or companies to invest in, the network they developed naturally serves them opportunities.
Some of the most iconic investments were made by founders angel investing in their friends. Jeff Bezos invested $250K in Google (would be $4B today), Sam Altman’s Reddit shares at IPO netted $413M, Reid Hoffman's $37K investment in Facebook returned $111M, Andy Bechtolsheim was Google’s first investor for $100K in 1998.
As well as some of the most successful venture capital firms were built by former founders, Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, and Initialized Capital.
Insiders Fund allows them to receive angel investing capital from LPs with a traditional venture fund model.
Notable Co-Investors
The managers have already backed dozens of companies before tier 1 VCs. Some of the top VCs have invested follow-on capital into their portfolio companies.
Our Track Record
Wefunder has a long history of raising funds, we’ve invested in 12 unicorns to date all from seed round.
Our Orange Funds have higher returns than the top quarter of VC firms
Orange Funds aim to invest in the top 10-25% of companies of one single YC batch.
Why limit ourselves to one only YC batch per fund?
Fund Structure
Insiders Fund I operates as a single venture fund. The fund has an industry-standard 2/20 fee structure, with a 2% annual management fee and a 20% carried interest on fund profits.
Each manager will be given capital and the autonomy to make investment decisions. This allows for portfolio diversification and creates a collaborative environment for them to share deals and use each other’s expertise.
Wefunder’s fully-owned entity Capitalize Advisors LLC is the legal fund manager and hires Sara Du, Chris Bakke, Austen Allred, David J. Phillips, and Nick Tommarello to act as managers.
The fund’s deployment period is anticipated to be 2 years, with most of the investments in year 1
Wefunder has the final say on each investment to ensure high standards of governance and avoid any conflicts of interest.
The target fund size is $2-4M. Managers will have $300-600K of available investment capital each to build a portfolio of 10-15 companies, with check sizes between $20-50K.
Key Terms and Admin
- Admin. The fund will be administered by the Wefunder team.
- Reporting. We will provide LPs with regular performance updates on investments.
- Distributions. Distributions to LPs happen following each individual liquidity event.
- Fees. The fund charges 20% carried interest and a 2% yearly management fee.
- Minimum Investment. $10,000.
- Number of Investors. 249 max first come first serve, we can’t guarantee spots for everyone.
- Closing date. June 15th.
As part of Insiders Fund I, you will have access to pro rata and subsequent allocations within its portfolio companies, allowing you to double down on the winners.
FAQs
Who manages the fund?
Wefunder's fully-owned subsidiary, Capitalize Advisors LLC, manages the fund. Capitalize Advisors is an exempt reporting investment advisor. Wefunder has the authority to replace or dismiss hired advisors and principals.
What happens if one of the managers leaves?
We will hire another manager of equal or higher caliber, or allocate additional capital to other existing managers
How many investors are allowed in the fund?
Only 250 investors are allowed in the fund.
Can you accept international investors?
Yes. We can accept investments from anywhere, besides sanctioned countries. Sanctioned countries include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and the Donetsk, Crimea, and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
Do you accept non-accredited investors?
Only accredited investors are allowed to invest, accreditation is self-verified.
Are there capital calls?
No. All funds are fully called upfront.
Can I invest within my IRA?
Yes. You can read more about it here.
What is the investment horizon?
Equity investments in startups have a long-term horizon. It typically takes 3-10 years for a successful company to have a liquidity event, when it either gets acquired or has an IPO.
Can I see a preview of the Fund investment contracts?
Subscription Agreement, Limited Partnership Agreement. The agreements are drafted by Wilson Sonsini.
I have more questions.
Feel free to email Mattia at mattia@wefunder.com.