letter to
founders

I. WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF ACCELERATING CHANGE 

Today’s is a world of digital natives, of people born and bred with technology coursing through their veins. The two of us aren’t old (by most measures at least) but we’re old enough to have lived through the rise of the internet, the rise of mobile, the rise of cloud, and now the rise of artificial intelligence. 

Everyone reading this happens to be alive during the most fascinating and terrifying moment in human history. This new world is a world of accelerating change and creeping complexity. Our parents grew up with three television channels. Today they ride in self-driving cars and have full conversations with machines. 

Humans turned sand into silicon and silicon into thought. The only way to approach change—at least in our minds—is through a lens of optimism: life is getting better, and new ideas and companies and technologies are the driving force. 

II: THIS ALL STARTS WITH FOUNDERS 

We started Daybreak because we believe the founders building for the new world deserve an investor built for the new world. We believe in backing people, and we like to be the first. This is one reason we chose the name “Daybreak”: we want to be there at the very beginning. (The other reason: Daybreak implies the aforementioned optimism.) 

With many of our founders, we committed before there was a company, a name, or even an idea. 

III. VENTURE IS A SERVICES JOB 

Daybreak is small by design. Venture is a services job and any venture capitalist worth their salt will tell you that services don’t scale. We have no interest in becoming a platform.

We do have an interest in serving you. We work the hours our founders work. We’ll pick up the phone at 9am and at 9pm. No question or idea is too small or half-baked to run by us. 

Our entire job is to work with you to get your company off the ground and to achieve escape velocity. We love what we do; Daybreak is our life’s work. 