Character Capital

Character Capital

Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals

A seed fund supporting founders with capital and sprints.

About us

We provide high-integrity seed capital to startups, then help them find and expand product-market fit with the Sprint method we developed at GV.

Website
https://character.vc/
Industry
Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
Company size
2-10 employees
Headquarters
Milwaukee
Type
Partnership
Founded
2021

Locations

Employees at Character Capital

Updates

  • Character Capital reposted this

    View profile for John Zeratsky, graphic

    Supporting startups with capital and sprints! General Partner @ Character and Co-Author of Sprint

    When a healthcare AI founder in our portfolio asked for advice, "everyone" (experts in his industry etc) told him to focus on the providers or payers first, not the patients (at least not directly). Yet the founder had conviction and passion that he wanted to go direct to patients. That's where his heart was. He admitted the experts' advice was probably right, but still... he wanted to try. A Design Sprint gave him the opportunity to take a shot. He didn't need to commit months of his life. He just needed to run an experiment. By focusing your effort and constraining the cost, Design Sprints give you an opportunity to follow your conviction and try things that are outside the consensus. More at jakeandjz.com

  • This week we got all three co-founders together for a very special episode of Jake & JZ. This is a fun one! All about Eli's path into VC and how the three of us collaborate.

    View profile for John Zeratsky, graphic

    Supporting startups with capital and sprints! General Partner @ Character and Co-Author of Sprint

    🚨 This week we have a VERY special episode of Jake & JZ: Our co-founder Eli Blee-Goldman joins us to share how he got into VC, talk about how we all work together at Character Capital, and drop a new “Eli-ism.” We also talked about: • How Jake Knapp got to ride in the very first Waymo (when it was just a prototype on the Google campus) • Jake’s rollercoaster of emotion meeting Eli • Eli’s winding path to VC (it led through Botswana!), his famously good intuition, and “Eli-isms” • Phaidra: Why we invested, how we work with the team, and the real value of a startup board member • Why we use blinded scorecards to make investment decisions • Jake’s annotated copy of the viral MrBeast production memo • The importance of starting at the end • And much more YouTube here 👇 More links in the comments!

    The Conviction Punch with Eli Blee-Goldman(!)

    https://www.youtube.com/

  • Today Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky are launching their new podcast, Jake & JZ! It's a great way to follow along with Character and hear about how we're helping founders build great new companies.

    View profile for John Zeratsky, graphic

    Supporting startups with capital and sprints! General Partner @ Character and Co-Author of Sprint

    Today's least surprising news: Jake Knapp and I started a podcast!!! It's called Jake & JZ, and it's a weekly show about startups, design, marketing, technology… and whatever else we’re thinking about 🤓 I was inspired by podcasts like Animal Spirits, The Compound & Friends, and BG2 to make a show that's fun and freeform but ALSO really useful with lots of tactical advice for founders and other people building new projects. We'll have the occasional guest, but mostly Jake & JZ will feature... us! Jake and JZ! sharing the kinds of techniques and insights that we're already talking about all the time. Now we're just recording it 😉 The first episode is live! I'll put all the links in the comments 👇 https://lnkd.in/e4fjx2Jk

    Anxious About Not Coding — Jake & JZ 1

    https://www.youtube.com/

  • Hello world.

  • Another exciting milestone from portfolio company Orbital Materials!

    View organization page for Orbital, graphic

    3,382 followers

    We’re thrilled to announce that NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm, has invested in Orbital to advance materials and #climate technologies with #AI. With this milestone, we’ll continue to develop the building blocks of transformational technologies, including better advanced materials for carbon removal, semiconductors and catalysts. Learn more about this investment and how it will help us continue to push the frontier of engineering at the atomic scale at the link below: https://lnkd.in/eJNcJBWy

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  • We couldn't be more excited to partner with Amir, who brings a unique combination of technical depth and healthcare data expertise to the world of oncology.

    View profile for Amir K., graphic

    Working on something new ✨

    After a few months of soul searching, music making, traveling, and experimenting, I am really excited to do the LinkedIn thing of announcing my next chapter: starting a company ✨😊 It’s still a bit early to share the exact details on what we are building, but our mission is to leverage the latest advances in AI and computing to bring the best quality cancer care to everyone, everywhere! This is a lofty dream — and requires a village to get to — but one that I am excited to fight for. And regardless of the outcome, I am going to enjoy this journey because I truly believe that it’s aligned with my core values. I am incredibly proud and honored for the trust of our investor, Character, and the group of wonderful friends, mentors, and former colleagues who believed in me and will be joining me on this path (more on this soon). Please wish us luck! 🤞

  • Congratulations to portfolio company Fathom, announcing their Series A today!

    View profile for Richard White, graphic

    Founder / CEO @ Fathom - AI Meeting Assistant

    I’m thrilled to announce that Fathom has raised a $17M Series A, led by Telescope Partners. What makes this milestone even more special? Our incredible users— who invested over $2M, at the same terms as the VCs, in just a few weeks. Funding announcements are nice. But the story I’m most proud of is: → how we got here → why Fathom became the top-rated meeting intelligence platform → how we’re continuing to reshape business meetings for the future Fathom exists because of a pain I experienced firsthand: endless Zoom meetings, furiously taking notes while trying to stay present. Back then I thought: What if AI could handle the note-taking, the key moments, the action items, and get it all to the right people? The result: Fathom. From day 1, we invested heavily in building proprietary infrastructure so we could offer users a high-quality product for free. The results have defied our wildest expectations, and are a testament to the need we tapped into: → 90x revenue growth in the last two years → 20x increase in usage since 2022 → #1 highest-rated product on G2, a perfect 5.0 rating, over 3K reviews Of course, metrics alone can’t illustrate the impact on people’s everyday lives. Each and every day we hear stories from our users, of how Fathom deepens their conversations, saves them hours each week, and allows them to focus on their biggest priorities. So what’s next? We're doubling down on our Team Edition product, giving managers visibility into customer conversations, and helping them coach their teams with the force multiplier of AI. But this is only the next step. We envision a future where just saying something in a meeting can magically will it into existence—without the post-meeting work. And that future is not far away. To our users, investors, and team: Thank you for believing in the future we’re building. If you haven’t yet experienced the magic of Fathom: sign up for free and let us know what you think. Here’s to more meaningful and productive meetings for all! 🥂 PS One of the great joys of building this product is hearing users share the ways Fathom has impacted them. So: if you’re a user, would love to hear your story below!

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