08: From the CIA to Google to 400+ pre-seed investments, always first and early to define pre-seed - Charles Hudson, Precursor

First Funders

Hailing from Michigan, Charles got interested in the VC through an early obsession with the public markets in high school. Charles Hudson is now the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a pre-seed venture fund that has defined and has become synonymous with “pre-seed”. Before founding Precursor, Charles was a Partner at Uncork Capital (fka as SoftTech VC). He also held roles at Google and In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA. Charles is known for his ability to identify and mentor early-stage companies that have the potential to disrupt their industries - first and early - including companies like the Athletic (acquired by the NY Times for $525m), Bobbie (recently raised a $70m Series C), Carrot Fertility (recently raised $75M Series C) and Pair Eyewear (recently raised $75M Series C).

Highlights:

• The boomerang back to VC: Charles shares his unique path from Michigan to Silicon Valley, starting in VC, then moving to Google and various startups before returning to VC, noticing his passion and alignment with the 0 to 1 stage.
• Founding Precursor Ventures: Charles spotted an opportunity to invest in founders pre-product and pre-revenue while other firms moved upstream in 2015. This made him one of the first in a second wave of pre-seed firms to launch, and 10 years later, he’s become the go-to first funder.
• Evaluating Founders vs. Ideas: Charles is a founder-first investor (founder 70%, idea 30%). He shares his criteria for assessing high-potential talent and first-time founders and reveals indicators of success that have generated alpha in his portfolio.
• Investment Strategy over Trends: Even in the face of trends like crypto, AI, and massive change through the economic downturn, Charles stays steady on his investment strategy focused on people and his definition of pre-seed – always being first and early to bet on founders and spaces ahead of the rest.

Links:
Follow Charles Hudson on Twitter: @chudson
Read Charles’ blog on Substack
Learn more about Precursor Ventures: Precursor Ventures
Connect with Charles Hudson on LinkedIn: Charles Hudson

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Disclaimer: This is for information purposes only. This is not investment advice.

• (00:00) - Intro
• (00:52) - Early Days and Building Community
• (03:09) - Interning at Smith Barney to the CIA's Venture firm
• (08:59) - Embracing Risk and Independent Thinking defines a solo GP
• (11:05) - Operating Experience As Product Manager, then Business Development at Google and a Return to VC
• (16:50) - Charles' first role as an advisor surprisingly had a $300M acquisition by Paypal
• (19:55) - Joining Softech (now Uncorked) in 2010 when Seed investors were known as Super Angels
• (21:10) - Launching Precursor to fill the gap created by Super Angel Funds going upstream and defining a new category - "pre-seed"
• (23:50) - First Investments: the role of macro tailwinds and headwinds
• (27:57) - Evaluating Founders 70% and Ideas 30%
• (31:03) - The Role of Business Model Innovation in Generating Alpha
• (33:25) - Learning from Challenging Investments: If you don't know its ok, but say something
• (38:01) - Staying True to Your Investment Strategy
• (40:44) - Charles' best investment: The Athletic, acquired by the New York Times for $525M
• (45:55) - How he Decides: Evaluating Founders and Their Potential, Weird Patterns, Product Velocity, Remote Teams
• (51:38) - Current Investment Strategies, Focus Areas and Check Sizes
• (53:25) - Following High-Potential Talent vs. Investing Theses: People vs. Market vs. Product Evaluations
• (57:00) - Speed Round