9 ms·

Tandem Entrepreneurs -- seed investors

18 points by vegashacker 19y ago

yubrew 19y ago
It would be nice to know more about their portfolio, such as the companies that have gotten funding from them and achieved a liquidity event.
- vegashacker 19y ago
  According to this post http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40412 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40412 the news.yc user "blored" got funding from them. And blored's profile (http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=blored http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=blored) suggests that their site is http://clutterme.com/ http://clutterme.com/ Edit: oh, you said "AND achieved a liquidity event". Yeah, don't know.
  - blored 19y ago
    offered funding, we have yet to decide if we want to accept
    - deleted 19y ago
      [deleted]
- blored 19y ago
  Tandem is relatively new, it is about two months old. The best thing about Tandem is that they are made up of good people. The venture raising part was very painless, directly a result of Sunil's professionalism.
vegashacker 19y ago
Their FAQ (http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com/html/how_we_work.html http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com/html/how_we_work.html) says, "We typically invest $850,000 in a company over three stages."
nickb 19y ago
Looks like they offer a lot of value. What percentage of the company do they take and what's the valuation they typically expect? Do they offer more money than YC?
rms 19y ago
If only they did biotech...
- davidw 19y ago
  Convince them why they should:-)
  - rms 19y ago
    They should fund me because my company is a money winning proposition with the $10,000 my partner and I put up but we could scale much more quickly with a real investment. We can't get any money from the traditional biotech establishment without patents. And we can't get patents until we have some money because most of our patentable ideas will require more expensive lab equipment than we have right now. So for now, we try and make some money by bootstrapping and selling incense, then we get the patents, then we get the real money, then we start the interesting research like curing AIDS which offers a multi-billion dollar payoff. My company is selling a a genetic test for HIV immunity. With funding, we could expand into other genetic tests very quickly and get FDA approval for as much as we can. FDA approval is not required to sell a "home-brew" genetic test but you can charge a lot more money if you're FDA approved because then insurance will pay for it.It won't take much to dramatically undercut all the existing genetic tests on the market, they're all really overpriced. For now, I'm enjoying the process of bootstrapping and approaching biotech with the Web 2.0 "make it yourself" ethos. Seedcamp told me they don't do biotech. Techstars sticks to Web 2.0 function companies. CRV doesn't do biotech. HCP does biotech and has a summer program targeted to college students for it. We didn't get in and they didn't tell us why, though it was still a really nice rejection and they invited us to a barbecue at their office. YC might fund biotech if they liked you enough but they aren't a good fit for me. The biotech incubator geographically close to me is dumb and I won't give them any control of my company. They're one of those state-subsidized institutions that repeatedly lose money. This is why Pittsburgh sucks for entrepreneurs, because despite the brilliant biotech minds coming out of our universities, there is not nearly enough investment money available. I should probably email Tandem and ask if they do biotech. Anyone know any seed stage funding firms/incubators that would consider biotech?
myoung8 19y ago
Without saying it on their website, Tandem is just another incubator. I would be skeptical of this type of setup. A friend of mine has dealt with a similar company in Mountain View that shall remain nameless. At first things were going well, then they wanted to outsource the development to India, then they wanted to take 50% of the company. Needless to say he didn't sign with them. Not all incubators are bad (YC, obviously, isn't), but the bottom line is don't get caught up when numbers with a bunch of zeros on the end get tossed around. Think hard about their value proposition. If they even mention outsourcing the development, just walk away.
vlad 19y ago
Everything they said was nice until I went to their application and read this: "Tandem backs existing and potential founders who combine strong technical abilities with a keen understanding of their users and a deep passion and energy for building services for fast-growing business or consumer communities." What the hell is that?
- rms 19y ago
  They prefer to fund smart people who can build profitable services.
DougR 19y ago
I'm one of the guys at Tandem and am glad to see the discussion here. As some posts have pointed out, we explain our approach in detail on our site: http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com. To clarify things a bit more... 1. We're not a VC. We're all entrepreneurs and love building businesses. We put in our sweat first and foremost and happen to invest sufficient capital as well. We only invest our time and money where we can add value. 2. We offer deep business development and technical skills and an extensive network. We work as the extended team so the startup can stay small but still have the right quality and quantity of talent. 3. We love the YC approach of supporting entrepreneurs and drew inspiration from their model. That being said, there are some key differences. Namely, we get actively involved in each business. We invest funds to carry the company for two years to a potential exit or to a high growth trajectory. And, like YC, we leave open the possibility of a small, early acquisition as exit. As we all know, this is a likely outcome these days, even though the VCs don't like them. 4. Because of our involvement we can get involved with founders whose plans are still nascent, and sometimes we'll help put founders together on a business. To us the entrepreneurs are more important than the idea itself. 5. We typically look for technical founders who have a knack for understanding what their users want and then delivering it quickly. We don't encourage outsourcing development unless it's just for commodity components of the overall service. 6. We don't consider anyone a "reject" because a fund passed them by. We'll evaluate each team and business on its own merits and go for it if we like the people, think we can add a lot of value, and believe we can build a valuable business together. Obviously, each group of founders has to decide the same on its side. 7. Tandem is brand new, but we have a lot of experience at building startups. We've made two investments thus far and with three principals only plan to do about 6 per year. In many ways, Tandem is a startup itself in that we're breaking the traditional model, having a blast, taking encouragement and support with open arms, and proceeding full steam ahead regardless of what certain "established" parties in venture finance say. 8. We are happy to entertain folks that have gone through the YC process as well as those that are entering it. In fact, we're attending the YC demo day next week. Best of luck in building your own startups, and we'd love to hear what you think about Tandem. Feel free to contact us if we can help.
- gibsonf1 19y ago
  Your new business model sounds interesting. I went to your website and noticed the many disclaimers about using email to get in touch with you. What is the best way to make contact with you? (I'm a cofounder of streamfocus.com)
richcollins 19y ago
Tandem is funding our company. At first I had reservations about a hands-on approach: "I'm an independent, iconoclastic programmer! Just give me my money and get out of my way!" Now that I am over my ego, I have really come to appreciate the fact that I have to give minimal thought to legal, accounting ... etc. It is also really nice to get immediate assistance with strategic, technical and networking (social, not computer) issues. I would be happy to answer any questions people have about our experience with them. Either here or via email (richcollins@gmail.com).

18 points by vegashacker 19y ago

It would be nice to know more about their portfolio, such as the companies that have gotten funding from them and achieved a liquidity event.

vegashacker 19y ago
According to this post http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40412 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40412 the news.yc user "blored" got funding from them. And blored's profile (http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=blored http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=blored) suggests that their site is http://clutterme.com/ http://clutterme.com/ Edit: oh, you said "AND achieved a liquidity event". Yeah, don't know.
- blored 19y ago
  offered funding, we have yet to decide if we want to accept
  - deleted 19y ago
    [deleted]
blored 19y ago
Tandem is relatively new, it is about two months old. The best thing about Tandem is that they are made up of good people. The venture raising part was very painless, directly a result of Sunil's professionalism.

vegashacker 19y ago

Their FAQ (http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com/html/how_we_work.html http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com/html/how_we_work.html) says, "We typically invest $850,000 in a company over three stages."

nickb 19y ago

Looks like they offer a lot of value. What percentage of the company do they take and what's the valuation they typically expect? Do they offer more money than YC?

rms 19y ago

If only they did biotech...

davidw 19y ago
Convince them why they should:-)
- rms 19y ago
  They should fund me because my company is a money winning proposition with the $10,000 my partner and I put up but we could scale much more quickly with a real investment. We can't get any money from the traditional biotech establishment without patents. And we can't get patents until we have some money because most of our patentable ideas will require more expensive lab equipment than we have right now. So for now, we try and make some money by bootstrapping and selling incense, then we get the patents, then we get the real money, then we start the interesting research like curing AIDS which offers a multi-billion dollar payoff. My company is selling a a genetic test for HIV immunity. With funding, we could expand into other genetic tests very quickly and get FDA approval for as much as we can. FDA approval is not required to sell a "home-brew" genetic test but you can charge a lot more money if you're FDA approved because then insurance will pay for it.It won't take much to dramatically undercut all the existing genetic tests on the market, they're all really overpriced. For now, I'm enjoying the process of bootstrapping and approaching biotech with the Web 2.0 "make it yourself" ethos. Seedcamp told me they don't do biotech. Techstars sticks to Web 2.0 function companies. CRV doesn't do biotech. HCP does biotech and has a summer program targeted to college students for it. We didn't get in and they didn't tell us why, though it was still a really nice rejection and they invited us to a barbecue at their office. YC might fund biotech if they liked you enough but they aren't a good fit for me. The biotech incubator geographically close to me is dumb and I won't give them any control of my company. They're one of those state-subsidized institutions that repeatedly lose money. This is why Pittsburgh sucks for entrepreneurs, because despite the brilliant biotech minds coming out of our universities, there is not nearly enough investment money available. I should probably email Tandem and ask if they do biotech. Anyone know any seed stage funding firms/incubators that would consider biotech?

myoung8 19y ago

Without saying it on their website, Tandem is just another incubator. I would be skeptical of this type of setup. A friend of mine has dealt with a similar company in Mountain View that shall remain nameless. At first things were going well, then they wanted to outsource the development to India, then they wanted to take 50% of the company. Needless to say he didn't sign with them. Not all incubators are bad (YC, obviously, isn't), but the bottom line is don't get caught up when numbers with a bunch of zeros on the end get tossed around. Think hard about their value proposition. If they even mention outsourcing the development, just walk away.

vlad 19y ago

Everything they said was nice until I went to their application and read this: "Tandem backs existing and potential founders who combine strong technical abilities with a keen understanding of their users and a deep passion and energy for building services for fast-growing business or consumer communities." What the hell is that?

rms 19y ago
They prefer to fund smart people who can build profitable services.

DougR 19y ago

I'm one of the guys at Tandem and am glad to see the discussion here. As some posts have pointed out, we explain our approach in detail on our site: http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com. To clarify things a bit more... 1. We're not a VC. We're all entrepreneurs and love building businesses. We put in our sweat first and foremost and happen to invest sufficient capital as well. We only invest our time and money where we can add value. 2. We offer deep business development and technical skills and an extensive network. We work as the extended team so the startup can stay small but still have the right quality and quantity of talent. 3. We love the YC approach of supporting entrepreneurs and drew inspiration from their model. That being said, there are some key differences. Namely, we get actively involved in each business. We invest funds to carry the company for two years to a potential exit or to a high growth trajectory. And, like YC, we leave open the possibility of a small, early acquisition as exit. As we all know, this is a likely outcome these days, even though the VCs don't like them. 4. Because of our involvement we can get involved with founders whose plans are still nascent, and sometimes we'll help put founders together on a business. To us the entrepreneurs are more important than the idea itself. 5. We typically look for technical founders who have a knack for understanding what their users want and then delivering it quickly. We don't encourage outsourcing development unless it's just for commodity components of the overall service. 6. We don't consider anyone a "reject" because a fund passed them by. We'll evaluate each team and business on its own merits and go for it if we like the people, think we can add a lot of value, and believe we can build a valuable business together. Obviously, each group of founders has to decide the same on its side. 7. Tandem is brand new, but we have a lot of experience at building startups. We've made two investments thus far and with three principals only plan to do about 6 per year. In many ways, Tandem is a startup itself in that we're breaking the traditional model, having a blast, taking encouragement and support with open arms, and proceeding full steam ahead regardless of what certain "established" parties in venture finance say. 8. We are happy to entertain folks that have gone through the YC process as well as those that are entering it. In fact, we're attending the YC demo day next week. Best of luck in building your own startups, and we'd love to hear what you think about Tandem. Feel free to contact us if we can help.

gibsonf1 19y ago
Your new business model sounds interesting. I went to your website and noticed the many disclaimers about using email to get in touch with you. What is the best way to make contact with you? (I'm a cofounder of streamfocus.com)

richcollins 19y ago

Tandem is funding our company. At first I had reservations about a hands-on approach: "I'm an independent, iconoclastic programmer! Just give me my money and get out of my way!" Now that I am over my ego, I have really come to appreciate the fact that I have to give minimal thought to legal, accounting ... etc. It is also really nice to get immediate assistance with strategic, technical and networking (social, not computer) issues. I would be happy to answer any questions people have about our experience with them. Either here or via email (richcollins@gmail.com).