---
title: "Tomasz Tunguz on Venture Capital - The Intercom Blog"
description: "Tomasz Tunguz, a partner at Redpoint Ventures, discusses the key metrics he looks for in potential investments, including sustainable competitive differentiators and revenue benchmarks. He identifies three types of sustainable competitive advantage: a founder’s market discovery, difficult-to-replicate technology, or a new distribution mechanism. For Series A investments, he typically partners with companies at $50,000-100,000 MRR, but also invests in pre-revenue ideas, noting that 27% of Series A rounds had no revenue. He looks for short sale cycles under 45 days and negative net churn as signs of product-market fit, and advises founders to always have a plan to reach profitability on current cash. Investors view businesses as collections of risk, and founders should address how they will mitigate major risks in their pitch."
---

# Tomasz Tunguz on Venture Capital - The Intercom Blog

[Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom) · Oct 13, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

Tomasz Tunguz, a partner at Redpoint Ventures, discusses the key metrics he looks for in potential investments, including sustainable competitive differentiators and revenue benchmarks. He identifies three types of sustainable competitive advantage: a founder’s market discovery, difficult-to-replicate technology, or a new distribution mechanism. For Series A investments, he typically partners with companies at $50,000-100,000 MRR, but also invests in pre-revenue ideas, noting that 27% of Series A rounds had no revenue. He looks for short sale cycles under 45 days and negative net churn as signs of product-market fit, and advises founders to always have a plan to reach profitability on current cash. Investors view businesses as collections of risk, and founders should address how they will mitigate major risks in their pitch.

## Context

An interview with Tomasz Tunguz, a partner at Redpoint Ventures, where he discusses his investment criteria, key metrics for Series A startups, and advice for founders on fundraising and profitability.

## Takeaways

- Sustainable competitive differentiators fall into three categories: founder market discovery, difficult-to-replicate technology, or new distribution mechanism.
- For Series A, typical MRR range is $50,000-100,000, but 27% of Series A rounds have no revenue; investors look for short sale cycles under 45 days and negative net churn.
- Founders should always have a plan to reach profitability on current cash, and investors view businesses as collections of risk that need to be mitigated.

## FAQ

### What metrics do you look for in a Series A investment?

Tomasz looks for $50,000-100,000 MRR, short sale cycles under 45 days, and negative net churn. He also considers the sustainable competitive differentiator: founder market discovery, technology, or distribution.

### How should founders pitch in a down market?

Founders should have a plan to reach profitability on current cash to maintain leverage. The investment criteria remain similar, but more time is spent on unit economics and cash needs.

### What are common mistakes founders make when pitching?

Founders often fail to understand that investors view businesses as collections of risk. They should identify the risks their company faces and explain how they will mitigate the major ones.

**Tags:** [Fundraising](https://yomu.fyi/topic/fundraising), [SaaS](https://yomu.fyi/topic/saas), [Series A](https://yomu.fyi/topic/series-a), [Startups](https://yomu.fyi/topic/startups), [Venture Capital](https://yomu.fyi/topic/venture-capital)

- Source: [Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/blog/podcasts/podcast-tomasz-tunguz-on-venture-capital)
- Source URL: https://www.intercom.com/blog/podcasts/podcast-tomasz-tunguz-on-venture-capital
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-13T18:00:29.162Z

[Read original post](https://www.intercom.com/blog/podcasts/podcast-tomasz-tunguz-on-venture-capital)