The real product of a venture capital firm is time and people. If you deconstruct the venture capital business one step further, building the right people foundation of partners that have access, unique insight, and time/relationships with remarkable entrepreneurs is the essential bedrock of VC. We at FUSE just added that “right person” as our 3rd founding general partner — Brendan Wales. In adding Brendan, we have added a firm builder with an exceptional reputation, and a true “entrepreneur’s partner” that has consistently delivered superior results by partnering with entrepreneurs building category defining technology companies.
We understand and greatly appreciate the unique dynamic of a venture capital partnership — time and people. The decision to partner with Brendan was the result of a six-year courtship of us knowing and working together. Over the last six years, we co-hosted 30+ events and shared over 100 investment opportunities with each other, one of which led to Ignition investing in a breakout unicorn.
A few critical conditions came into consideration in adding Brendan, all that relate to time and people:
- Relationship and culture fit — We wanted to add an individual that we have deep respect and trust for, and that has similar tenacity and tremendous ambition to win
- Reputation — The individual must have a stellar reputation among the three cohorts of venture — entrepreneurs, limited partners, and venture investors
- Investment focus — The individual’s investment focus is consistent with FUSE’s — stages and themes, with an outperforming track record and a unique, differentiated investment perspective
- Career inflection — FUSE would only partner with someone if they were already at the top of their game, but also with the longevity to build a multi-decade firm
- Firm builder — Lastly, we wanted a team member that had already seen significant organizational growth at his or her previous firm and that can help FUSE push the boundaries of what is possible
Brendan is joining us from global venture firm e.ventures, where he spent the last nine years investing in high growth technology businesses. While at e.ventures, he specialized in vertical SaaS, open-source software, and developer tool investments.
As we set out to build a world class venture firm over the next several decades, we started with step one in building the right foundation of people.
Please help us welcome Brendan to FUSE and in the PNW!
