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Bill Trenchard
First Round
@btrenchard
Partner at First Round Capital
United States
firstround.com
Joined October 2007
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  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Jul 12, 2022
    In tough times a best practice I learned as a CEO that built trust + confidence with board / investors: Get bad news out early. If massively missing qtr or anything critical, don't wait for BoD meeting -- send brief email, describe issue and plan to fix. Easy but rarely done.
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Aug 29, 2021
    Life hack I’m learning way too late: By far the best way to reheat pizza is the frying pan method.
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Aug 10, 2022
    The most poisonous mindset I ever fell prey to as a CEO was being the victim. No team members, investors or customers will follow someone who sees shadows everywhere and thinks the world is out to get them. Own the situation, ask for help, be decisive, and lead everyone.
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Jun 6, 2019
    1/ For my first @firstround investment we decided to invest in @lloydtabb’s new startup. Today @GoogleCloud announced its intent to acquire @LookerData. I thought I'd share a few thoughts on how our partnership came together and evolved over the 7 years in between.
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Sep 24, 2024
    We’re hiring an investor to join @firstround and work alongside me on every aspect of pre-product market fit investing — from finding extraordinarily talented founders to doing all that we can to support their ambitions as their companies start to take shape. Partnering with
    218K
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Nov 21, 2024
    I’m hiring a Chief of Staff at @firstround! This person will spend the next 2+ years with me learning the ropes of VC. From investment review to company support, this role will be my right-hand in supporting the next generation of incredible founders. Learn more or help us
    54K
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Sep 16, 2025
    One of the reasons behind @DynaRobotics breakneck pace so far is they’ve basically architected the entire company to prioritize speed, quality and robustness of their robots in the field. They have an incredible general-purpose foundation model that can perform diverse daily
    27K
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Nov 7, 2025
    I’m kicking off a search for a Chief of Staff to join me @firstround in San Francisco. This is a role we’ve had at First Round for more than a decade. It’s a rare opportunity for someone who’s interested in both startups and investing to learn about both from the inside. You’ll
    138K
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Jan 10, 2021
    Schools should teach a course on how the great cons in history were pulled off. Bernie Madoff, Charles Ponzi, Jordan Belfort, Frank Abagnale Jr., Enron, etc... Would make us all better critical thinkers.
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Aug 6, 2025
    In all my time at @firstround, I’ve never seen back-to-back funding rounds happen this fast. The @RilletHQ team has raised $70M in today’s Series B led by a16z and ICONIQ, just weeks after a $25M Series A led by Sequoia. From the outside, these kinds of headlines can raise
    43K
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Sep 27, 2022
    Seeing a lot of companies come to market with a $10m or larger round size (which we don’t do) only to come back a few weeks later asking for $5m. I generally leave door open - esp. in a rapidly adjusting market - but much better to start low and increase round size with interest.
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Jun 6, 2019
    Replying to @btrenchard
    6/ So when @lloydtabb first started telling me about his idea for a data analytics startup, I knew he was on to something. Here's the email he sent me summarizing his pitch in the summer of 2012. Note that the company started off as Llooker (a domain name they got for $15)
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Nov 20, 2023
    There are two learnings I'm taking away from the current events with @OpenAI so far: 1) If anyone should be trusted with AGI, it should be a leader like @Sama, who, in the face of being unceremoniously terminated from the company he co-founded, has only spread love + kindness to
    49K
  • user avatar
    Bill Trenchard
    First Round
    @btrenchard
    Jun 6, 2019
    Replying to @btrenchard
    3/ He often says that “Great software is an act of empathy.” The longer I’ve been in this business, the more and more this rings true. Understanding people and their problems really deeply is critically important. lloydtabb.com/great-software…