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Josh is a founding Partner at First Round Capital, a seed-stage technology venture fund.…
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Josh Kopelman reposted thisReally excited about what we have been building. Come join us to solve some really interesting healthcare and engineering problems and work with awesome customers!Josh Kopelman reposted thisJonah Kaye and I just finished the summer batch of Y Combinator! We’re building tools that let healthcare operators create their own software. They know how their practices should run. We give them the ability to build what they need, on their own data, without an engineering team. We raised from Tier 1 investors out of YC, and now we’re back in NYC and hiring our first engineers. We’re looking for a Founding Product Engineer and a Founding Forward-Deployed Engineer to join us in person. You’d work closely with both of us, spend time with customers, and have a big say in what we build and how. You can read more and apply at the links below. And if someone you’ve loved working with comes to mind, we’d love an intro. Founding Product Engineer: https://lnkd.in/gvwBCym7 Founding Forward-Deployed Engineer: https://lnkd.in/guNg2hQu P.S. If we already know each other, or have mutual friends - feel free to reach out directly or ask for an intro. We’d love to connect!
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Josh Kopelman reposted thisJosh Kopelman reposted thisI know I'm a broken record, but Dorm Room Fund is magic because of our people. The The New York Times journalist Erin Griffith got it bang-on today: we stand on the shoulders of giants. And it's true again-- thanks to the DRF community, we've raised a ✨ very-over-subscribed new $50M fund✨, and 💜launched a new brand 💜, so we can keep backing the best student and recent grad/drop-out founders. As our people thrive, so does DRF-- 14 years in, we're lucky to count incredible founders, investors, and LPs in our DRF alumni ranks. 30% of our investors in Fund 2 are DRF alumni and their funds. And it's very on-brand that our most successful investment has been into one of our own-- Michael Truell at Cursor. Today we get an excuse to celebrate all of the amazing people that have made our success to-date possible, folks like Claire Smilow and Aryan Shah who joined as student investors and became investors in our funds. Folks like Josh Kopelman and Phin Barnes who dreamed up DRF in the first place and let us fly when it was time to go independent. Folks like Rei Wang, CeCe Cheng, and Chauncey Kerr Hamilton who shepherded us through our first iterations. Folks like Toni Oloko and Will M. and Kashish Gupta who let us invest in their companies. And people like Bill Trenchard, Ann Miura-Ko, Iris Choi, Hayley Bay Barna, Shane McAndrew, CFA, Lewis Hower, Ekwutozia Nwabuzor, Doug Bernstein, and Ben Cmejla who have helped hold the rudder at moments when things were not going quite so smoothly. Most of all, DRF works because the humans on our team care so very deeply-- so the biggest thank you to Madison Jacox, Conor Harbeck, the DRF student managing partners, and our student investors for making this magic machine so much fun to work on, every darn day. To the DRF Community: let's take a very brief, and very well earned victory lap today! And if you haven't applied to join the student investing team before Thursday's deadline, take this as your sign! #DRF4Life 💜 Article here: https://lnkd.in/gXiPKi5uCollege Students Flex Their Power in A.I. Investment FrenzyCollege Students Flex Their Power in A.I. Investment Frenzy
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Josh Kopelman reposted thisJosh Kopelman reposted thisJust four months since we co-led their Series A, Quartermaster has grown its coverage by 77% and raised a preemptive $100M Series B from Insight Partners. Even for a software company, this pace would be very impressive, but Neil Sobin is doing it with hardware, out at sea, in incredibly volatile geopolitical conditions. Neil started Quartermaster with a simple premise: the only sensing network that can actually scale to the ocean is the one that's already on the ocean. This team is moving quickly, putting their SmartMast product on 650 working vessels from 25 countries. It very cleverly combines HD video, AI, radar, RF sensing, and AIS to turn working vessels already on the water into a live sensor network for the ocean’s surface. This increased visibility helps mariners of all types navigate congested waters and busy ports, avoid potential hazards, and call for help in an emergency. It also comes with tremendous built-in network effects that only become more valuable as they scale up. Neil has gone unreasonably deep on how all these different pieces of the business fit together, and we are so fortunate to be his partner here First Round Capital.
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Josh Kopelman shared thisAre you a college, MBA, PhD, Masters, or med student? If so, you should definitely apply to join the student partnership at Dorm Room Fund!Josh Kopelman shared thisA partner at Sequoia Capital. A founder of a $60B AI company Cursor. A researcher at OpenAI. The founding GP of a $1B+ AUM venture fund. The head of applied AI at Mercor. The founder of their own multi-million dollar design firm. What do these humans have in common? They all started as student investment partners at Dorm Room Fund. ✨And applications are open for YOU to apply to join these hallowed ranks until THIS THURSDAY.✨ Usually, when a community reaches this level of connection, influence, and know-how, it's too late to get in at the ground floor. The doors close behind the bold-named players. Not here at DRF-- the magic of the DRF career flywheel, our 500 alumni, and the incredible support you get from the DRF community is still available for students just starting on their career journey TODAY. And every new DRFer adds to the lore of the community as a whole. Are you a college, MBA, PhD, Masters, or med student? Come throw your hat in the ring. Apply to join the DRF student partnership! See if you have what it takes to join the squad, and put yourself on the path to be the next VC partner at Andreessen Horowitz or founder of an industry re-defining company hitting 9-digit annual revenue. At the very least, good friends, good learning, and good times await. Applications for East Coast schools close THIS Thursday, 9/17, so don't sleep on this! Applicatins for West Coast schools close on Thursday 10/1 cc: DRF alums Lauren Reeder, Michael T., Oliver Ye, Toni Oloko, Anjney Midha, Alex Immerman Chirag Mahapatra and Tanthai P.-- thanks for letting me get away with some not-so-subtle name drops. Love you guys! #DRF4Life PS: I'm practicing shouting loudly about the amazing humans I get the chance to work with via this incredible community; thanks for forgiving a not-so-humble brag!
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Josh Kopelman shared thisThe hard part of sales is the human part. AI is making the mechanics easier to learn and execute, but many founders are still struggling to find exceptional sellers. We think some of their best future hires haven’t worked in sales before, so we’re launching the @firstround Sales Combine to find and train them. It’s 2 days in SF learning from our VP of GTM, Emery Rosansky, and other experienced sales leaders, followed by direct intros to companies like Notion, Parallel Web Systems, fal , Clay and many others that are hiring -- all for free, no previous sales experience required! Apply by 10/3: https://lnkd.in/ehTPMBgw
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Josh Kopelman reposted thisJosh Kopelman reposted thisI’ve spent almost two decades in sales, and if I had to start my career from scratch right now, I’d choose it again, even in this “Stop hiring humans” environment. Sales is one of the few AI-proof jobs, and I think more new grads, career switchers, and folks in tech should consider it as an option. Demand for human sellers has never been higher, but it’s not easy to break into sales without the “right” logos or years of experience on your resume. To help make that path a little bit easier, I’m launching Sales Combine, a free, competitive program that vets, trains, and places exceptional people into sales roles at AI-native First Round companies like Notion, Clay, Verkada, Together AI, Rillet, Parallel Web Systems, Serval, Omni, Reducto and many others. Across two days in SF this November, other revenue leaders from the First Round community and I will teach the most important things to know about how to be exceptional in early-stage tech sales. Our goal is to create a whole new generation of sales talent by finding people who are inherently strong at the human part of selling and then training them to be AI-native in the mechanics. Learn more about the program below and apply by 10/3 (and if someone came to mind while you were reading this, send it their way!) https://lnkd.in/gzACyvap
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Josh Kopelman shared thisWhen Marta Bralic Kerns pitched us for Pomelo Care’s seed round back in 2021, there was a thesis behind the name: a pomelo has a thick rind that protects what’s inside. More than 5 years later, the team is now sharing a new look and a growing mission, but that founding metaphor is still central. Pomelo is expanding from their roots in maternal health to provide care that’s one step ahead for women and children across every stage of life, including pediatric care and (peri)menopause. The idea is to wrap a continuous layer of care around a family in order to catch small health changes before they become complications. Couldn’t be more proud of Marta and all the progress she and her team have made.
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Josh Kopelman reposted thisJosh Kopelman reposted thisPeople often ask why we named the company Pomelo. Our name comes from a simple idea: the thick, protective rind of a pomelo fruit. That idea became the foundation for our company—creating a continuous, protective layer of care around families. We started by confronting the maternal health crisis in the United States. Five years later, Pomelo Care supports nearly 7% of U.S. births and covers over 25 million lives, with 40+ peer-reviewed studies proving that proactive care reduces preterm births, NICU stays, emergency room visits, and healthcare spending. Our virtual medical practice has expanded beyond pregnancy and postpartum to care for women and children across every stage of life. With that growth, we knew we needed a visual identity that reflected who we are today and where we’re headed next. Today, I am proud to introduce the new Pomelo. Designed alongside Pentagram, our new look brings proactive care to life through connected letterforms where the "m" proactively reaches out to support the "e"—symbolizing our commitment to connected, continuous care. An adaptive Pom symbol, inspired by the fruit's protective rind, flexes with changing health needs, while warm, fruit-inspired colors balance humanity with our clinical rigor. Building this company has always been deeply personal to me. I started Pomelo because healthcare shouldn't wait for something to go wrong before it shows up for you. Over the past five years, watching our care team show up for families at 2 a.m., catch complications early, and stay step-for-step with patients through every high and low is the true heartbeat of Pomelo. Our look has evolved, but my promise remains identical to day one: we will never stop working to raise the standard of healthcare for every woman and child. To our team and the team at Pentagram—thank you for bringing this vision to life. Welcome to the new Pomelo. Read my blog post to learn more about the story behind our new brand: https://lnkd.in/gQP7Xze5
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Josh Kopelman shared thisIn 2023, Clay introduced GTM engineering. Two years later, the role has grown 23x. Now Clay is launching a $1M scholarship fund to train the next generation. Congrats on the $115M Series D. https://lnkd.in/e3RYMg8eClay, an A.I. Sales Tool Provider, Raises $115 MillionClay, an A.I. Sales Tool Provider, Raises $115 Million
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Josh Kopelman liked thisJosh Kopelman liked thisToday we announced a $55M Series B led by Insight Partners. We are building software so powerful you cannot run a sharp brand without it. The brands that matter already run on it. The rest will spend years explaining why they didn't. For thirty years, CPG software just logged the work. No one built a system good enough to actually run a brand on. Today, Confido's agents do it. 250 CPG brands run their back office on Confido. MUSH, Daisy Brand, DUDE Wipes, Mars, Idahoan Foods and more. Watch Larry Fitzgerald Jr. and Kelvin B. explain why the best run on Confido, and read the full story from Axios in the comments.
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Josh Kopelman liked thisJosh Kopelman liked thisI’ve spent almost two decades in sales, and if I had to start my career from scratch right now, I’d choose it again, even in this “Stop hiring humans” environment. Sales is one of the few AI-proof jobs, and I think more new grads, career switchers, and folks in tech should consider it as an option. Demand for human sellers has never been higher, but it’s not easy to break into sales without the “right” logos or years of experience on your resume. To help make that path a little bit easier, I’m launching Sales Combine, a free, competitive program that vets, trains, and places exceptional people into sales roles at AI-native First Round companies like Notion, Clay, Verkada, Together AI, Rillet, Parallel Web Systems, Serval, Omni, Reducto and many others. Across two days in SF this November, other revenue leaders from the First Round community and I will teach the most important things to know about how to be exceptional in early-stage tech sales. Our goal is to create a whole new generation of sales talent by finding people who are inherently strong at the human part of selling and then training them to be AI-native in the mechanics. Learn more about the program below and apply by 10/3 (and if someone came to mind while you were reading this, send it their way!) https://lnkd.in/gzACyvap
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