Character is a designer-led firm (Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Eli Blee-Goldman, creators of the Google Ventures Design Sprint and authors of Sprint and Click) that invests in 'world-class technical founders building at frontiers of the software-addressable economy' and uses its proven sprint methods to help them find product-market fit fast. They back deeply technical founders 'using AI to solve previously unsolvable problems,' grounded in the belief that 'new technologies don't matter unless they work for customers.' They lead and co-lead pre-seed and seed rounds with checks up to $2M, clearing their calendars to work hand-in-hand with founders rather than just advising, and run Character Labs ($150k for 5%), a five-week program 100% focused on product-market fit.
A clear, opinionated point of view on a specific customer and the painful problem you solve for them, described in plain language about real people. Character believes most startups fail by building the wrong thing, so they want the customer and problem nailed early.
“Identify an opinionated point-of-view on your customer, their problem, and your solution.” — Character Foundations
“What problem causes enough pain to justify that cost? What is the biggest way you can help them?” — Jake Knapp
“Use plain language to make sure you're talking about real people (for example, instead of 'distributed enterprise orgs,' just say 'teams with people in different location').” — Jake Knapp
“Teams that build winning products share some fundamental traits. They know their customers—and what problem they can solve for them.” — Jake Knapp
A product that makes a simple, compelling promise to a specific customer — building the right product for the right people, not just a technically impressive one. In the AI era the hard part is designing something that genuinely works for customers.
“Products click with customers when they make a compelling promise—and that promise must be simple, or customers won't pay attention.” — Introducing the Foundation Sprint
“Building the right product for the right people is the thing that matters most to startup founders.” — John Zeratsky
“In the age of AI, anyone can build anything fast. But how do you design products that really work for customers?” — John Zeratsky
“New technologies don't matter unless they work for customers” — John Zeratsky
Evidence you're riding a real shift and going after the biggest version of the opportunity for a clearly defined customer. Character frames market through customer pain and the largest way you can help, plus betting on big shifts in behavior — not top-down TAM slides.
“What problem causes enough pain to justify that cost? What is the biggest way you can help them?” — Foundation Sprint guide
“We invest in frontier applications of software and use our proven sprint methods — including the Design Sprint and Foundation Sprint — to help technical founders find product-market fit fast.” — John Zeratsky
“Character invests up to $1M at seed stage into startups betting on big shifts in customer behavior.” — John Zeratsky
Character invests inception-through-seed, often pre-PMF, so they don't demand metrics. They look for relentless testing of hypotheses with real customers and rising product-market-fit confidence — evidence of what's actually happening, not just narrative.
“Evidence is much more durable than narrative.” — Narrative & Evidence
“Every time I look at a Founding Hypothesis, I think, 'Prove it!' Each prediction in the Founding Hypothesis lends itself to an existential, testable question about the project.” — Jake Knapp
“Every team dramatically improved their product-market fit confidence score...after repeatedly prototyping and testing with customers.” — John Zeratsky
“Narrative drives fundraising, until it doesn't” — John Zeratsky
World-class, deeply technical founders with a distinct capability, insight, and motivation that sets them far apart from anyone else who might attack the problem, and who can make fast, high-quality decisions.
“What gives you and your team an advantage over anyone else who might try to solve this problem? What capability, insight, and motivation set you far apart?” — Foundation Sprint guide
“We invest in frontier applications of software and use our proven sprint methods — including the Design Sprint and Foundation Sprint — to help technical founders find product-market fit fast.” — John Zeratsky
“How do they work with their team? How do they address the big risks in their business?” — John Zeratsky
“Make fast, high-quality decisions without endless debate.” — John Zeratsky
Clarity that the product is worth the customer's switching cost and rests on a simple, compelling promise. Character frames the business around delivering for the customer rather than abstract monetization mechanics.
“What problem causes enough pain to justify that cost? What is the biggest way you can help them?” — Foundation Sprint guide
“By investing capital to buy you time, and running sprints to help you focus, we're here to help you translate your plans into action.” — John Zeratsky
“New technologies don't matter unless they work for customers” — John Zeratsky
A sharp, opinionated differentiation thesis: why customers choose you over named alternatives. Character's Foundation Sprint builds a Founding Hypothesis combining customer, approach, and differentiation, and they prize founders who radically differentiate.
“Leverage your advantages to radically differentiate from the competition.” — Character Foundations
“If we help [customer] solve [problem] with [approach], they will choose it over [competitors] because our solution is [differentiators].” — Jake Knapp
“A 2x2 chart focused on customer perception can be a powerful expression of your product hypothesis.” — Jake Knapp
“They know which approach to take—and why it's superior to the alternatives.” — Jake Knapp
A genuine shift — new AI capabilities that make a previously unsolvable problem solvable, or a big change in customer behavior. Character explicitly invests behind founders applying new AI capabilities to problems that were out of reach before.
“We have repeatedly seen the incredible potential of applying new AI capabilities to unsolvable problems” — Announcing Character Fund 2
“world-class technical founders using AI to solve previously unsolvable problems” — John Zeratsky
“Character invests up to $1M at seed stage into startups betting on big shifts in customer behavior.” — John Zeratsky
A clear, well-structured narrative; Character teaches a simple Pitch Sprint method for crafting a deck and narrative that works. With checks up to $2M and willingness to lead or co-lead seed rounds, the ask should fit a focused near-term plan to reach or expand product-market fit.
“Finally, the Pitch Sprint — our simple method for creating a pitch deck and narrative that works.” — Character Labs
“Our maximum check size is now $2 million, allowing us to lead and co-lead seed rounds” — John Zeratsky
“Every startup in Character Labs gets a $150,000 investment from Character in exchange for 5% equity.” — Character Labs
“Teams that build winning products share some fundamental traits. They know their customers—and what problem they can solve for them. They know which approach to take—and why it's superior to the alternatives.”
“New technologies don't matter unless they work for customers”