Wesley Chan, an investor with a keen eye for identifying potential, has consistently demonstrated his ability to make extremely early bets on companies that would eventually become multi-billion-dollar entities, including Plaid, Gusto, Flexport, and the latest addition to this impressive list, Canva.
background that may have shaped his journey; he grew up in an immigrant household and struggled to achieve outstanding academic results in high school. Despite the unconventional start, he secured a position washing test tubes in a Caltech laboratory, leaving a lasting impression on his supervisor, who subsequently helped facilitate his transfer to MIT.
From that point on, his fortunate discovery led him on a winding road: Having majored in computer science due to its promising career prospects, he found himself in Silicon Valley mere days after the dot-com bubble burst, where the sole company willing to take a chance was a nascent search startup called Google. After nearly a decade focused on key initiatives like Google Analytics, Chan was poised to make his own mark, but co-founder Sergey Brin persuaded him to join the company’s nascent venture arm, now known as GV, where he has enjoyed a long career in entrepreneurship, eventually spinning out his own agency, FPV, alongside partner Pegah Ebrahimi several years ago.
The narrative surrounding successful ventures often hinges on an astonishing amount of good fortune and serendipity, with Chan being the first to candidly acknowledge it; at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, he revealed that “luck plays a significant role, but the most effective founders who know how to harness luck in their favor have a profound understanding of why timing is crucial.”
When he reflects on the advice Brin shared with him about Google’s inception, he is reminded that the company was founded during a pivotal moment in time when existing search engines like Google and Yahoo were struggling to keep users engaged on their platforms for as long as possible, thereby paving the way for targeted advertising. What Google’s innovation excelled at was providing instant results, followed by a lack of explicit incentives to retain users, instead nudging them towards continued exploration and discovery. While it’s undergone some adjustments over time, Brin noted that timing proved crucial – had they started six months earlier or later, the business landscape would have been significantly altered, potentially rendering the competition less accommodating.
When endeavouring to identify the next unicorn, Chan seeks out organisations that embody innovative potential and a strong likelihood of disruption in their respective markets. With rare exceptions, the startups he invests in share few commonalities beyond their founders’ unwavering conviction, reminiscent of that of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, that they are tackling a pressing, timely issue with a distinctly fresh perspective? Building something exceptional from the start, rather than attempting to buy customers or growth later?
“Startups often face numerous hurdles during their initial stages, where they rapidly accumulate funds and subsequently exhaust them within an 18-month span by investing in growth. Unfortunately, this influx of capital does not necessarily translate to a compelling reason for users to stay engaged with the product, invite others to join or foster meaningful interactions.” And then you definitely burn through all your cash; subsequently, you decide, “I’ll just grab another ball.”
If your product aligns with Chan’s priorities, you may warrant his attention. Without actively seeking out entrepreneurs at conferences and events, he reveals, he only engages with individuals introduced through word-of-mouth referrals from fellow founders within his network.
There are just two of us working at the agency, correct? While we can’t take every cold email or pitch, nor can we accept every person who knocks on our door. Actually, so the most effective founders find their way to us through our network of esteemed founders. They design something that we, along with our founders, stumble upon. You were bound to fulfill this mandate. Like, the merchandise, unbelievable. We have incorporated its use into our board meeting agendas. We’re utilizing at our firms. Are you sure it’s on your iPhone, though? As we encounter them through our shared community, a founder remarks, “I’m putting my money on this individual; they’re exceptional.”
