Mayfield is a People First, inception-stage firm: it bets on the jockey, not the racetrack, backing founders at the napkin/idea stage and partnering from inception to iconic. Roughly 70% of its investments begin at inception. Today its center of gravity is human-centered AI and 'Collaborative Intelligence' that elevates rather than displaces humans, while still requiring must-have 'painkiller' problems and large, attractive markets.
A must-have 'painkiller' problem for a clearly defined segment — a strong, must-have pain point, not a nice-to-have, where the startup delivers roughly 10x value.
“painkillers sell, vitamins don't.” — Navin Chaddha on Building Trust with Your Inception Investor
“Is there a buyer out there or customer enterprise, who has a really strong pain point, not a nice-to-have, a must-have and is the startup solving them?” — Vijay Reddy
“Don't worry about revenue, don't worry about market size. Focus on, 'is this our top pain point for a certain segment?'” — Navin Chaddha
“is the product you're trying to build? A must have? Or a nice to, for a certain segment?” — Navin Chaddha
A solution delivering order-of-magnitude (10x) value over the status quo, with AI used as a genuine enabler rather than a buzzword — and, in AI, one that augments humans rather than replaces them.
“finding so much value, not one and a half x, but 10x” — Fundraising from Both Sides of the Table
“If you're an AI specific company...usually ask the question like,'how is AI helpful?' Like it's a tool in the toolbox?” — Vijay Reddy
“our point of view is focused on human-centered AI, which elevates humans rather than displaces them.” — Navin Chaddha
“If it's a larger company, and they see a 10x value, that's even better.” — Vijay Reddy
A big, growing, attractive market that can support healthy margins; in emerging AI use cases where no TAM exists yet, a credible bottom-up case for what the TAM could become if market forces align.
“we'll look at the market; is it big and growing and a nice, attractive market to go after?” — Fundraising from Both Sides of the Table
“large markets, which are attractive and can support margins tend to have better outcomes” — Vijay Reddy
“TAMs don't exist in some use cases, right? I think you need to figure out, what can the TAM be if the market forces align right” — Vijay Reddy
Quality and repeatability of early signal over a raw revenue number: a strong, must-have customer pain point, repeatable use cases, and how fast you reached your milestones. At inception, evidence of pain over polished metrics.
“That's not the only metric. It's a good metric. The only metric repeatability has to be there.” — Scaling to $1M ARR and Beyond
“So I think the bar depends on what other signals around this $1 million, not just the million-dollar mark itself.” — Rehan Jalil
“If you've already fully sold to certain sort of customers, if there's some repeatability of that use case...VCs look at that metric and multiply it with how many other people have similar use cases.” — Rehan Jalil
“How long did it take you to get to a million — like it takes four years to get to a million or like you got there in six months? Numbers.” — Rehan Jalil
A People First firm: bets on the jockey, not the racetrack. Wants founders with technical chops and domain experience, high EQ and self-awareness, who put the company first and can recruit excellence — and a team they'd partner with for 7-10 years.
“We believe in betting on the jockey, and not on the racetrack, which is people are everything.” — People Make Products
“is it someone we can back? Do they have the same values? And is this a team you want to go in bed with in for, like, 7 to 10 years?” — Vijay Reddy
“every team is not going to have everything. But if you're going to play in the AI space, first and foremost, you need to have some technical chops, and some domain experience.” — Navin Chaddha
“Are you willing to put the company first and surround yourself with excellence?” — Navin Chaddha
A clear buyer persona and a real business plan — not just love of the technology. In 2025 they want real revenue, real customers and real paths to profitability, in markets that can support margins.
“There are many founders who really liked the technology but haven't thought about the business plan” — Fundraising from Both Sides of the Table
“if you don't know who your buyer persona, or who you're selling to, that's an open question” — Vijay Reddy
“The companies getting funded today will have real revenue, real customers, and real paths to profitability – they're building must-have 'painkillers,' not 'nice-to-have' vitamins.” — Navin Chaddha
A founder who clearly knows the competitive landscape and has a defensible answer to platform risk — especially whether a large incumbent could absorb the feature and create an extinction-level threat.
“There are some founders who don't know who the competition is” — Fundraising from Both Sides of the Table
“If you're just building a consumer product to go against Microsoft Word, using an AI bot, and if Microsoft adds that feature within the core product, your business has an extinction-level thing.” — Vijay Reddy
“We would like to see the team and the market first...then product, and then you go into the tech, and then finally, the competition.” — Vijay Reddy
Conviction that AI is the defining shift of the decade — Collaborative Intelligence creating superhuman capabilities — and a reason this company can only be built now.
“The next decade will produce the most valuable companies ever created.” — The Golden Era for Startups: 1H 2025 Venture Outlook for Founders
“AI companies now account for 64% of all VC deal value in 2025, up from 48% in 2024.” — Navin Chaddha
“AI is creating superhuman capabilities across the Collaborative Intelligence-as-a-Service stack” — Navin Chaddha
Raise enough to absorb pivots and reach real milestones without relying on bridges, sized to the risk you're taking at your stage — and raise from a position of strength, before you need the money.
“The best time to raise capital is when you don't need the money, and so at the seed stage...you have to plan appropriately to the risk you're taking.” — Fundraising from Both Sides of the Table
“Having enough capital to make those pivots, and not having to worry about doing bridges — it always takes longer than you think.” — Vijay Reddy
“take your time. Company-building is a marathon. It's not a sprint.” — Navin Chaddha
“We believe in betting on the jockey, and not on the racetrack, which is people are everything.”
“We would like to see the team and the market first...then product, and then you go into the tech, and then finally, the competition.”