Founder Forward 
We are…
Founder First Investors.
We invest in founders. Company building is always a challenge and things often don’t go as planned. We invest in founders who are transparent, determined, resilient, humble, and committed to always doing what’s right. We invest in founders who are able to attract top talent and build and lead high performing teams.
Software Investors.
We invest primarily in business-to-business software companies. We have deep enterprise software company experience and our network includes software founders, executives, investors, and advisors. We want to use our experience in building enterprise software companies and our network to be helpful to the founders we back.
Early Stage Investors.
We are early stage investors, but we don’t invest in pre-revenue companies and we rarely lead rounds. We invest between $50,000 and $500,000 as part of larger, priced rounds where an institutional investor is leading the round. Because we have an extensive venture capital network, we regularly introduce institutional investors to the founders we back.
Arizona Investors.
We invest in software companies in the Southwestern United States, primarily Arizona. We want to be supportive and readily available to the founders we back. When a founder wants to meet for an in-person breakfast meeting to talk about a problem they are working on, we want to be able to say, “How about tomorrow morning?”
Data-Driven Investors.
We invest in companies that have demonstrated traction, consistent month-over-month revenue growth and positive references from early customers. We want to invest our time and money behind companies with strong foundations and early momentum. It is easiest for us to invest in businesses that passed what we call the “5M Test”:
Mindset
Does the founder have the required ambition, resilience, and humility?
Mission
Does the company have a clear and compelling purpose and objective?
Model
Has the company demonstrated it can go to market in a repeatable way?
Market
Is there a meaningful market in which they can compete and win?
Metrics
Is there evidence they can economically attract and retain customers?