Top 10 Questions from LPs

A prospective LP asked us 10 big questions about Spacecadet Fund II -- here are our unredacted answers ??

Which ones miss the mark?

What gap in the ecosystem does Spacecadet address? What makes it different from other early-stage VCs?

• Spacecadet’s differentiation is storytelling and marketing. We bridge big brand marketing and deep tech like no one else.
• Deep tech companies, in particular, struggle to turn science into storytelling (for hiring, selling, and fundraising).?
• Our pitch to founders is simple: you don’t need another scientist on your cap table—you need a storyteller. In the 0-1 stage, storytelling is crucial for hiring, selling, and fundraising, and we’re uniquely positioned to help like no one else.

What is the long-term vision for Spacecadet? Where do you see the firm in two funds?

• We're building VC’s most iconic brand to attract the future’s most iconic founders – we call them Spacecadets.
• There’s no clear “best fund” in seed-stage VC—some might say First Round Capital, but they’re aging. We believe with marketing we can secure that position as the top seed-stage VC.
• In two funds, with the right resources, we can start to achieve that goal by establishing ourselves as the top deep tech seed fund. With more time and resources, we can expand that success to become the top seed fund, period

Why did you start Spacecadet? How do your lived experiences (personal and professional) make you uniquely good at sourcing, selecting, and winning?

• We saw a huge gap in the market to build a new kind of fund, based on our experience as founders. Spacecadets are founders from the future and futuristic founders want a futuristic fund. Established funds are aging out.
• Personally: Grew up in small-town Canada as the child of immigrant entrepreneurs – instilled with the entrepreneurial spirit and immigrant hustle which has led to my success. Very comfortable making non-consensus bets because I’m a non-consensus bet.?
• Professionally: We are ex-founders who have built and scaled companies—marketing, design, and storytelling are in our DNA, making it easy to attract and select founders who fit our ethos.

What is the ideal Spacecadet founder profile? What traits do you look for?

• Spacecadets are founders of two sides: Dreamers, untethered from the limitations of reality, and Doers, highly trained and ready for action.
• We invest in Spacecadets who dream big and deliver bigger.?

What unique edge or strategy underpins your sourcing, and how has it evolved from day zero to today?

• Marketing from day one – Our early sourcing came from personal founder networks and referrals, but marketing has been at the core of Spacecadet from the start. We’ve continuously doubled down on it, making it our biggest edge.
• Marketing as a magnet – As our brand has grown, it has become a powerful draw for founders. More inbound interest, more referrals, more top-tier founders seeking us out.
• Marketing as a magnifier – Fund 2 will push this further, with Spacecadet Studio brands and decks of Spacecadet companies will become recognizable and desirable, adding to the flywheel effect.

What drives your deal flow? What specific networks, communities, or ecosystems do you source from?

• Marketing drives our deal flow —founders seek warm intros via founders, other investors, and our LPs. Long term, we can be on the top of every founder’s list of funds they want to raise from.?
• We’re building our own ecosystem of Spacecadets. We’ve seen the start of this flywheel with portfolio companies like K2 Space, who was introduced by another Spacecadet.

What geographies do you invest in? Is it primarily Bay Area and New York, or broader?

• 95% U.S. investments.
• Main hubs: Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York

What is your approach to portfolio construction?

• $500K-$1M first checks into ~30 pre-seed and seed stage companies buying 5-10% ownership over 2-3 years.
• ~30% reserves for pro rata follow on into ~2/3s of graduating companies through Series A. Some reserves for super pro rata into top 20%.
• In fund 1, 66% of our investments were at a $15M post or less.?

How are you thinking about team growth? Will it always be you and Daniel as decision-makers?

• Spacecadet has over-invested in team and infrastructure from day one to build a strong foundation for an enduring firm.
• Six-person team today: 3 full-time marketers, 1 part-time bio PhD venture partner. Fund 2 will add an investing partner and launch Spacecadet Studio to enhance our value-add.
• Daniel and I will always lead firm strategy, but we’ll add investing partners as we grow. We’ll also continue expanding our creative team to deliver top-tier experiences and scale our value-add with each fund.

What are your superpowers?

• Wiz: Magnet for founders – relationships, people, networks.
• Daniel: Marketing genius. Has worked on big brand marketing for F500 companies like Nike, Spotify, Meta, etc.?

How did you and Daniel meet?

• Met in 2010 through my younger brother, who was an early engineer at Daniel’s last startup Piccsy.
• Became friends, stayed in touch, and have been investing together for five years.
• Long and enduring relationship.?