2023 Year End Review

2023 was both incredibly challenging and rewarding. In May, my wife and I welcomed our first child to the world after a long and complicated delivery. Thanks to my wife’s bravery, and the excellent doctors at Sibley Memorial Hospital, both mom and baby emerged from the experience in good health.

A few months earlier in March I sustained a serious hand injury in a soccer match (I was playing keeper). A fracture / dislocation of my right middle finger required surgery and a full year of physical therapy to correct. Thankfully my hand surgeon was able to repair the damage and I‘ve regained most of the functionality in my dominant hand.

Occurring less than 3 months before our son was due, the timing of this injury could not have been worse. My wife was incredibly patient and I did my best not to let it get in the way of my new duties as a Dad. I am especially proud of the mural we painted in the nursery together while I was waiting for surgery.

Professionally, 2023 brought significant change for me as well. After 15 years as a founder, I knew it would be difficult to find something equally fulfilling when I decided to retire from entrepreneurship. To help focus my search, I first thought about how I wanted to spend my time. I decided I needed to find a role where I could spend most of my time doing three things:

1. Learning
2. Working with smart people
3. Helping solve hard problems

While I love building, something about investing always captured my imagination. When I was offered the opportunity to invest professionally, I realized the role aligned perfectly with how I wanted to spend my time. Exactly one year ago today I joined Virginia Venture Partners and began a career in venture capital.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have joined a team full of high-performance, low-ego investors from whom I have learned so much in such a short time. In my first year on the job I supported review of more than 150 deals, and we made 18 investments as a team. A few examples of the deals I worked on are below with bullet points on when we invested, what we invested in, and why we invested.

OpsCanvas - Closed April, 2023
[Software] [Cloud] [AI / ML] [Cyber Security]
+ pre-Seed, first check
+ B2B software company building no-code DevOps tools for cloud deployment
+ Exited founders, well executed customer discovery, 10X speed up, cost savings

Chippin - Closed August, 2023
[Supply Chain] [Manufacturing] [Sustainability] [Agriculture]
+ pre-Seed, first check
+ CPG pet food company pivoting to B2B input manufacturer for pet food industry
+ Founder with specialized knowledge, large growing market, constrained supply

TrueAlgae - Closed October, 2023
[BioTech] [Manufacturing] [Sustainability] [Agriculture]
+ Seed, first check
+ Regenerative agriculture company manufacturing algae-derived biostimulant
+ Resilient founders, patented bioreactor technology, remarkable field trial data

Sedaro - Closed November, 2023
[Software] [Cloud] [Digital Twin] [Aerospace] [Defense]
+ pre-Seed, first check
+ B2B software company building a massively scaleable cloud-based engineering physics engine for simulating complex aerospace and defense systems
+ Founders with specialized knowledge, meaningful first mover advantage, significant non-dilutive funding and federal traction

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Disclaimer

This is the personal blog of Frank V. Taylor. Statements made here are mine alone and do not reflect the views of my employer.

Furthermore, nothing published on this site should be considered investment advice. The content on this site is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Early stage venture capital is an inherently risky asset class.

Only invest money you are able to lose. Do your own research and consult your partner / attorney / financial advisor before making investment decisions.