Eric Paley

Eric Paley, a longtime founder-focused VC, climbed two spots on this year’s Seed 100 list thanks to a string of recent successful exits at his firm, Founder Collective. These include Blissfully (acquired by Vendr), Codecademy (acquired by Skillsoft), Par80 (acquired by Cloudmed), and Finxera (acquired by Priority Payment Systems). Paley, who previously founded a dental startup that sold to 3M, said he didn’t believe in “themes.” Instead, he said, he looks for founders who are “all over it.” He added, “When you ask them a question, they’ve clearly thought about that challenge and can preempt your following three questions by linking their answer to other areas of their business.”