#65 Josh Kopelman

Founding partner, First Round Capital

Josh Kopelman #65 Founding partner, First Round Capital Josh Kopelman knows a thing or two about launching a winning startup. He founded Infonautics, which went public in the dot-com era; Half.com, which eBay acquired; and TurnTide, which Symantec bought. First Round Capital, which Kopelman co-founded in 2004, is now one of the most venerated seed-investing firms. Among Kopelman’s recent hits are Notion, which gained a $10 billion valuation in 2021, and Upstart, which went public in late 2020. So what makes successful founders tick, according to Kopelman? “They are heat-seeking,” he said. “Successful entrepreneurs are constantly collecting data — and constantly looking for the most intense source of heat, adjusting course if necessary. And when they find the source, they’re able to lock on to it — regardless of how crowded the space becomes.” Source: businessInsider