VC Spotlight: Matt Harrigan, Managing Partner & CEO, Company Ventures
Matt Harrigan, Managing Partner and CEO of Company Ventures, knew over a decade ago that tech would “ultimately change the culture and economy of New York City.” And while his hypothesis was correct, not many had that same foresight at the time.
This meant he had a great opportunity to build the necessary infrastructure to prove that tech would indeed change NYC. That infrastructure took the form of Grand Central Tech, which eventually evolved into Company Ventures.
Today, Company Ventures hosts a number of initiatives and fellowships to engage the NYC founder community, most notably the Grand Central Tech Residency (applications for their fall cohort are now open!), a year-long program that offers founders the ability to work with Company Ventures without a rent or equity commitment.
To date, Company Ventures has supported more than 380 founders across 200+ companies, who have collectively raised $4.2+ billion in funding.
We caught up with Matt to discuss his career, how he thinks the VC industry should evolve over the next 5-10 years, what he looks for in pitches, and much more.
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Where did your career start?
Matt: My career started in Washington, D.C. working for the consulting firm, Booz Allen. I worked there for three years. My client was primarily USAID and I spent the better part of those three years living and working in Africa (primarily Tanzania, but also Ghana and Zimbabwe). I worked as part of a team meant to leverage the World Bank’s annual Doing Business Report to offer recommendations for how a country might improve its business environment through various reforms, investments, or improvements. I transitioned into tech via roles at innovation strategy firm Fahrenheit 212 and a Product Manager role at ESPN where I overhauled the company’s approach to mobile app analytics and supported the creation of the single ESPN app most folks have on their phones today.
You cofounded Company in 2014 — what was the catalyst?
I am a native New Yorker. I love New York. It was clear to me back in 2014 that tech was ascendant and would ultimately change the culture and economy of New York City. But that actually wasn’t clear to everyone and was still relatively controversial as a notion. And, in any case, no one had built the right kind of infrastructure to appeal to serious tech entrepreneurs who were otherwise predominantly choosing the Bay Area.
So I wanted to build the space, programming, and ethos that could create a center of density for great tech talent in New York. I was fortunate enough to meet Michael Milstein who had the exact same notion in mind and we cofounded Grand Central Tech which has since evolved into Company Ventures.
What stage do you invest at and what’s your average check size?
We are a pre-seed and seed-stage firm. We typically invest $1 million.
At Company Ventures, you have a number of different initiatives and fellowships to engage the founder community. Can you elaborate on the most impactful founder services or programming you've built and what you've learned about what early-stage teams really need?
We operate three programs.
Grand Central Tech, or our founder residency program, is the true heart and soul of the firm. It surfaces the majority of our investment opportunities and has created a super-formidable and tight-knit founder community. That program offers founders the ability to work with us for an entire year, rent free. We do not invest / take an equity position as a condition of entry, but we do tend to invest in the course of the year as and when appropriate for the company (i.e. we don’t have demo days). We operate two cohorts per year [...]. Applications for our fall cohort are now open!
We operate two other programs in partnership with NYCEDC who we’ve had the good fortune of working with since 2016. One is our Boost program which is tailored to first-time founders — all impressive entrepreneurs, but who may have less routinized access to the venture ecosystem and so we help them bridge that gap.
The other program is our internship program which we’ve operated since our inception, whereby all the startups we work with are offered fully paid interns, primarily drawn from the CUNY system. Our hope is we can better demonstrate to the early stage tech sector in NYC the breadth and scope of talent embedded in the CUNY system. Data we’ve collected around placement of those interns in full-time roles would indicate our founders agree.
How do you think the role of a venture firm needs to evolve over the next 5-10 years, particularly as founders gain more access to capital, networks, and tools on their own?
It’s going to sound silly, but venture firms need to actually add value. And if you set aside the venture marketing (brainwashing) we’ve all consumed for the past however many years, the fact will remain that starting new ventures that aspire to massive outcomes is extraordinarily hard work. And there are few things founders can do to make that work easier. And let’s be clear, VCs don’t create valuable companies… Founders do.
One thing surely that founders can do is place themselves in an environment whereby they can be accelerated via osmosis almost. An environment where the office space itself is exceptional and lends an air of legitimacy while the venture is still getting off the ground, where all the other founders are of the highest caliber and can quickly triage challenges side by side at a whiteboard as opposed to a Slack channel, and where an investment team is ambiently available but not overbearing. So we’ve focused our efforts on creating exactly that environment and think it will serve us well over the next decade.
What’s the most common mistake you see founders make when pitching to investors?
Pitches should have a narrative. They are a world-building exercise. To create a billion-dollar outcome something about the world as it is currently needs to change. Much is made about pitch deck formats and so forth, but being able to state in plain, succinct, and compelling English the narrative of the future you are building is something I find many founders overlook or even struggle with.
What’s an investment from the last 12 months you’re especially excited about?
I love all my children equally ;) We’ve made several investments these past 12 months, initial checks and follow on, that I’m excited about. The most recent we did was Flora. An all-in-one production environment for creatives that is fast, context-aware, multi-player, and AI native from the ground up.
What are some of the top resources you recommend for founders starting out?
…Grand Central Tech. ;) I also recommend engaging early on with a Vision, Mission, and Values workshop. It may sound fluffy but we’ve seen teams make a tremendous burst in progress after getting 100% alignment across all core team members on exactly what their north star is, often ironing out issues that otherwise would have festered into the future.
What’s your favorite or most frequently used AI tool?
We use Deep Research to augment our diligence process. Minutes from all the various notetakers are very helpful as well.
You have a founder or LP in from out of town… where are you taking them?
Usually this answer is Bergamo’s — the bar in our building. Great spot for a cocktail.
Choose one: power breakfast, power lunch, or work dinner. Where?
I would say lunch, and I would recommend the Melangerie — the food counter in our building!
And finally… what’s the best slice of pizza in NYC?
I’ve eaten at all the great pizza spots over the years. So many good ones. I think F&F on Court St. takes the cake.
