Win big in niche markets

Phil Boyer is a Partner at Crosslink Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm focused on enterprise applications, infrastructure, vertical software, and frontier technology. As a passionate technology investor, Phil shares how he evaluates early-stage founding teams and provides real-life examples of category-defining companies. His portfolio includes Weave, Chime, Coupa, Yotascale, Descartes Labs, among others.

• Unlike large companies, tech startups have the advantage of flexibility; founders can quickly change priorities.
• The foundational story of every successful startup clearly shows the founding team leaving everything to build the company.
• Some of the world’s most successful tech startups started with strategies that seemed scrappy.
• The advisory role of a venture capitalist post-investment includes acknowledging that the founders and operators are running the business.
• Non-profit: Alpha