Ep 045 - Manu Kumar, Founder of K9 Ventures & HiHello

When everyone said it was too early to invest, Manu Kumar, founder of K9 Ventures and HiHello, said it was too late. Meet the man who coined the phrase “Pre-seed.”

In 2008, Manu Kumar saw something others missed. While VCs were waiting for traction, the best founders were building in garages with credit cards. So he coined a term that would reshape how we think about early-stage investing: Pre-Seed.

In episode 045 of New to Venture, Manu and I dive deep into what it really takes to spot greatness before anyone else does. From his time building companies to investing at the earliest stages, his insights hit different. This conversation challenged everything I thought I knew about venture. The truth that stuck with me? “You cannot be in venture without having lowlights. The successes get amplified and the failures get swept under the rug.”

My key takeaways:

1️⃣ You never really learn to be a CEO. Every company and every problem is unbelievably nuanced. There’s no playbook, no shortcut. Each journey demands its own map.

2️⃣ Hire only when you’re hurting: Never hire in anticipation, wait until you feel the pain. Be slow to hire, fast to fire. Working with someone reveals more than any interview ever could. Implement trial periods during your hiring process.

3️⃣ Grit beats everything: Manu looks for “insane perseverance in the face of complete resistance.” Companies don’t fail because of competition or markets, they fail when founders give up.

4️⃣ Incubate, then trust your gut: Taking breaks from problems lets your brain solve them subconsciously. New information may sway your perspective, but hone your relationship between instinct and action.

5️⃣ Clear commands win wars: “If you’re commanding an army, you have to give clear directions.” Being a founder is about guiding people toward a shared mission. Ambiguity kills momentum.

6️⃣ Find your investor - strategy fit:No VC strategy is inherently right or wrong. It just has to align with who you are. Manu does high-conviction, concentrated bets on people. What type of risks excite YOU?

7️⃣ Job titles shape behavior: Give someone a title, they’ll do what that title entails, not whatever the company needs. Be intentional about how you label roles.

8️⃣ Same problems, different scale: Companies of vastly different sizes often face identical challenges. The scale changes, but the fundamentals remain.

9️⃣ Pick your hard: Fundraising for a venture fund is 10x harder than raising for a startup. But operating a company? That’s 10x harder than running a venture fund.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Introductions

(01:25) - Manu’s love for dogs + How K9 Ventures got its name

(03:13) - Manu’s most memorable founder story

(05:18) - Origin stories

(08:23) - Tough moments along Manu’s early journey

(11:05) - Founder DNA

(16:35) - Trusting your gut

(18:05) - Founder behavior

(20:35) - K9’s investing approach

(24:45) - Similarities and differences between building a startups vs. investment fund

(30:02) - Chief Firestarter

(32:37) - HiHello

(36:51) - Highlights + getting acquired

(40:32) - Lowlights

(41:57) - Ceremonial Final Qs