Remotely Inclined Podcast
Joe Blair is a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley firm Cota Capital and host of the Epic Human Podcast, but before that he was an engineer turned entrepreneur. His first foray into the concept of remote work was when he invested in an air taxi service back in 2017, which caused him to think more consciously about where people could live and work. At the time, remote work was seen as an exciting new prospect, but potentially more hype than reality. COVID obviously changed things a bit.
In this episode of Remotely Inclined Chats, Joe and I dig deep into how VCs are thinking about remote work, how the whole VC ecosystem has changed from in-person to remote, and how successfully fundraise remotely without “remote washing.”
From opportunity to reality
When Joe first got into remote work back in 2017 / 2018, a lot of the conversation was how remote was a niche thing that had some potential. COVID forced everyone to try it, and now the conversation has shifted from potential to practicality.
The first Remote Work Expo that Joe hosted in 2019 had 35 attendees. The April 2020 edition had over 450. The questions focused on the right tools and management practices for remote work.
Even though many workers are looking forward to returning to office life when it’s safe to do so, Joe says that he’s seen a decade’s worth of acceleration in the remote work movement due to COVID.
“Remote washing” is out, accurate categories are in
With the rise of remote work came “remote washing” - slapping a “we help remote teams” logo on your business, similar to “greenwashing” when companies talk about helping the environment as a marketing tactic.
Joe said that most venture capitalists can see through remote washing, so it won’t help your odds of fundraising in this environment just by saying you work for remote teams.
Technologies that help remote teams often fall into one of four categories: horizontal solutions explicitly for remote teams, vertical solutions for a specific industry that includes remote workers, physical infrastructure to support remote work, and back office functions that support remote companies. You can build a successful company in any of these categories.
Building VC relationships remotely
VCs are adjusting to the new reality of becoming remote workers, said Joe, and a new study found that 69% of VCs are giving all-remote deals the green-light. Joe’s VC firm, Cota Capital, just finalized its first all-remote deal, investing in medtech startup Proprio.
If you want to fundraise remotely, you need to work on digital relationship building skills and focus on authentic reach outs. Whatever you do, don’t copy-paste a generic blast out to every VC you can find.
Warm intros are still the best bet, but if you can’t get one, then anchor your efforts in a genuine connection to what the VC is interested in personally. You’re far more likely to get a response if you’re talking to them about blogs they’ve written, podcasts they host, or other ideas they’ve put out into the world versus just talking about what their fund is doing in that particular moment.
The final word
“I think we’ve accelerated this transition to remote work by at least a decade.”