Discover/Seed to Scale

Jenny Fielding, MD of Techstars & Founder of The Fund, on doubling down with the NYC tech community

Seed to ScaleApr 15, 201918 min

Jenny Fielding makes a compelling case for building outside Silicon Valley, sharing how she defied conventional wisdom to create a thriving tech company in New York when everyone told her to move west. As MD of Techstars and founder of The Fund, she reveals an innovative community-powered investment model that's completed 28 deals in 11 months using nothing but a Slack channel and 50 New York founders.

Key takeaways

  • •Community-powered deal flow can replace traditional outbound sourcing—The Fund runs entirely through a Slack channel where 50 founders share deals and discuss investments.
  • •Geographic contrarianism can be a competitive advantage when building outside established tech hubs, despite initial isolation and skepticism.
  • •Start diversity initiatives at the student level rather than waiting until the founder stage—intervention needs to happen much earlier in the pipeline.
  • •Passion and conviction can override traditional career DNA when pursuing entrepreneurship, even if starting a company wasn't originally part of your expected path.

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0:00

Best moment

1:52· 26sOrigin Story

In 2006, I started a startup, which was, definitely not part of my DNA. I don't think it was what what people thought I was gonna do. But I had an idea and I had passion, and I kinda went for it. And as I was building this company, pretty much everyone said, you know, you're crazy. You're building a tech company. You gotta go out to San Francisco.

1:52 / 2:18

So born and raised in New York and have had, you know, somewhat of a wandering path. In 2006, I started, a startup, which was, definitely not part of my DNA. I don't think it was what what people thought I was gonna do. But I had an idea and I had passion, and I kinda went for it. And as I was building this company, pretty much everyone said, you know, you're crazy. You're building a tech company. You gotta go out to San Francisco.

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“And as I was building this company, pretty much everyone said, you know, you're crazy.”

at 2:11

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Seed to Scale

Origin Story

In 2006, I started a startup, which was, definitely not part of my DNA. I don't think it was what what people thought I was gonna do. But I had an idea and I had passion, and I kinda went for it. And as I was building this company, pretty much everyone said, you know, you're crazy. You're building a tech company. You gotta go out to San Francisco.

Sets up the unexpected founder journey with 'not part of my DNA' and leads into the SF pressure. Good narrative setup but less punchy than the later versions of this story.

1:52 - 2:1826s

Seed to Scale

Bold/Contrarian

Pretty much everyone said, you know, you're crazy. You're building a tech company. You gotta go out to San Francisco. And so I spent some time out in San Francisco and realized that that just wasn't the place I wanted to build my company. So, really doubled down on building it here, and it was quite hard, you know, in my apartment. Felt very isolating.

Perfect contrarian narrative - rejecting conventional wisdom about going to SF to build tech companies. The isolation and apartment-building detail makes it relatable and authentic. Classic David vs Goliath framing.

2:11 - 2:3120s

Seed to Scale

Business Mechanics

We call it community powered because we don't do really any outbound. All of our deal flow comes from those 50 founders in New York. And we run it all on a Slack channel where people submit deals and decks, and there's like, lively discussion about these deals. And we've become quite active. So in the eleven months that we've been around, we've done 28 deals.

Reveals the specific operational mechanics of how a successful fund actually works. The Slack channel detail and 28 deals in 11 months provides concrete proof points. Shows innovation in traditional VC processes.

9:48 - 10:1325s

Seed to Scale

Practical Framework

The truth is, it's too late by then. Like, there's there's some things we can do, but we need to start earlier. We need to start, you know, getting in front of students and really, you know, helping them at those earlier stages that we can inspire them to become founders, to start companies, and give them the resources. And that's really gonna help with, you know, diversity and inclusivity.

Strong urgency framing with 'it's too late by then' and specific actionable advice about timing interventions earlier. Connects to broader diversity outcomes, making it both practical and socially relevant.

13:36 - 13:5621s

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