Early-stage fundraising still feels like speed-dating in the dark 😅. You’re asked to ship product, recruit talent, and juggle investor courtship—all before runway hits zero 🛫. What founders crave is an angel who has actually sat in their seat, writes a meaningful check fast, and stays helpful after the wire clears.
That’s exactly why Andy White matters. The University of North Carolina computer-science grad built UserVoice from scratch, sold it, then quietly wrote 100+ early checks—including four unicorns 🦄—while running his own fund (Chaos Ventures) and Screendoor syndicate. If you’re building B2B SaaS, DevTools, or “future-of-work” infrastructure, this playbook is your shortcut to landing his $25-100k check—and the battle-tested advice that comes with it.🌟😉
Who Is Andy White and Why Founders Listen
Before the investments and unicorns, Andy White was a founder just like you—wrestling with product, traction, and GTM. 💻 His journey from builder to backer gives him a rare edge: he knows what early-stage chaos feels like, and how to cut through it. This section highlights why so many founders trust him not just to fund, but to guide.
• 🚀 Ex-founder who launched, scaled, and exited UserVoice (YC W08) before turning full-time investor.
• 🦄 106 angel investments with 11 exits and four unicorns: PagerDuty, Intercom, Algolia, Checkr 📈.
• 💼 General Partner at Chaos Ventures and lead angel at Screendoor, giving him follow-on muscle.
• 🔗 Sits on the same cap tables as Accel, a16z, First Round, YC, and SV Angel—meaning warm intros to Tier-1 VCs.
• 🧠 Advises portfolio teams on product, GTM, and hiring, thanks to 20+ years in the trenches.
One-liner: Andy White is the operator-turned-angel who spots SaaS pain points before the market does—and helps you fix them.
Andy White’s Thesis — “Tools That Unlock Human Leverage”
Every great investor has a lens—and Andy’s is laser-focused on leverage. 🛠️ He doesn’t care about flashy buzzwords; he wants to know how your product actually makes people better, faster, or smarter. Andy opens every pitch with a single question: “How does this product make people more productive or creative?” 🤔
Core pillars:
• 💻 B2B Software > Everything Else — Clear monetization, tight feedback loops, and repeatability.
• 🧰 Developer & Data Infrastructure — APIs, SDKs, and platforms that lower the cost to build.
• 🧑💼 Future of Work — Products that let knowledge workers do 10× more with AI, automation, or workflow hacks.
• 🔍 Founder-Market Fit — Domain insiders with a unique insight, not tourist founders chasing buzzwords.
• 🌍 Global Ambition, US Beachhead — HQ anywhere, but first scalable revenue usually lands stateside.
Takeaway: If your startup is a “picks-and-shovels” play for builders or operators, you’re already on Andy White’s wavelength.
Angel Deal Terms at a Glance — Andy White’s Sweet Spot
A SAFE-signing sprint, not a marathon 🏃♂️.
| Stage | Typical Check | Sectors (Top 3) | Geography Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | $25k–$50k | B2B SaaS, DevTools, AI/ML | North America > Global |
| Seed | $50k–$100k | Same as above + Fintech Infra | Same |
| Follow-On | Up to $250k* | Via Chaos Ventures | Same |
*Follow-on amounts vary through fund vehicles.
Takeaway: Expect a quick $50k commitment on a SAFE—plus potential upsizing when traction hits.
What Andy White Looks For (Beyond the Hype)
So you’ve got a great idea and maybe a demo—but is it enough to catch Andy White’s eye? 🤨 This section unpacks the core founder traits and traction signals Andy watches for before wiring a dime. If you want his support, make sure you check more than one of these boxes.
• 🎯 Deep domain expertise—show you’ve lived the pain, not Googled it 🤮.
• ⚙️ Strong product intuition—demos > decks; speed of iteration matters.
• 📊 Clear, giant TAM—he won’t back “feature, not company” ideas.
• 💪 Coachability & grit—evidence you’ll seek help before you stall.
• ❤️ Early user love—even 20 beta accounts with wow quotes beat theoretical models.
Inside Andy White’s Portfolio
From DevTools darlings to SaaS workhorses, pattern recognition runs deep.
| Company | Sector | Round Joined | Why It Fits Andy’s Thesis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algolia | DevTools | Seed | API that 10×’s search productivity. |
| PagerDuty | SaaS Ops | Seed | Mission-critical alerting—workflow leverage. |
| Superhuman | Future-of-Work | Seed | Time-saving email UX for execs. |
| Pocus | PLG Revenue | Pre-Seed | Turns product data into sales action—productivity boost. |
| Fixie.ai | AI Platform | Seed (2023) | Developers deploy agents faster—dev leverage. |
Takeaway: Every check aligns with the “make builders faster” mantra—mirror that in your deck.
Cold Outreach Playbook: Stand Out in Andy White’s Inbox
Subject: “20% MoM ARR on DevOps Tool Saving Engineers 6 hrs/wk”
• ✍️ One-liner: what you do + quantified pain solved.
• 📈 Traction: “$4.8k MRR, 5 pilots at Fortune 500.”
• 👥 Founder-market fit: “Team spent 10 yrs scaling infra at Stripe.”
• 💸 The ask: “Raising $1.2M SAFE at $10M cap; would love $50k from you.”
• 🎥 Forwardability: include deck link & 60-sec Loom demo 🎥.
Skip the fluff—Andy responds fastest to crisp, metric-led emails he can forward to co-investors without edits.
Life After the Wire: What Founders Actually Get
Getting a check from Andy White isn’t the end of your relationship—it’s the beginning of something high-leverage. 💼 This section dives into what real founders have experienced once Andy joined their cap table, from product advice to GTM firepower and hiring support.
• 🛠️ Ad hoc product jams—Slack him a Figma link, get UI feedback overnight.
• 🔥 Warm intros to Series A VCs—he co-invests with tier-1 funds regularly.
• 🎯 GT-market calibration—pricing, PLG vs. sales-led, ideal pilot design.
• 📣 Hiring signal boost—he’ll tweet openings to 17k followers 🐦.
Real anecdote: A Pocus founder shared on Twitter (2023) that “Andy spotted UX friction in our onboarding call, we shipped the fix in 48 hrs and closed a six-figure pilot the next week.” 🔥
Red Flags That Make Andy White Ghost Your Round
This section is where the friendly tone drops—because even the most supportive angels have limits. 👻 Andy White might be approachable, but he’s also disciplined, sharp, and focused on high-signal opportunities. Miss the fundamentals, and you risk getting ghosted before you ever hit ‘send.’
• 🚫 Tiny or ambiguous market (<$1B TAM).
• 🚫 Founders who outsource core tech—no in-house builders.
• 🚫 Vanity metrics (sign-ups) without usage depth.
• 🚫Slow iteration cadence—no product pushes in last month.
• 🚫 Hand-wavy AI claims without real model or data access.
• 🚫 Overpriced rounds ($20M+ cap) pre-traction.
• 🚫 Resistance to customer discovery or feedback loops.
Takeaway: Show speed, substance, and market size—or expect radio silence.
Final Thoughts: Andy White as Your Velocity Co-Pilot
Fundraising success at pre-seed boils down to three questions: can you ship, can you learn, and can you sell? 💡 Andy White’s career—the coder who built UserVoice, sold it, and then backed 100+ founders—proves he values those same muscles.
If your startup makes builders, operators, or knowledge workers radically more productive, 💸 his $50k check is the least interesting part of the relationship. The real upside is a no-B.S. partner who spots product gaps, opens doors to Sand Hill 🏞️, and replies to your midnight Slack with, “Ship it, here’s why.” 🚀
So tighten that deck, record a 60-second Loom, and craft a forward-ready email. 📩 The next reply you get could be Andy White wiring funds—and joining your cap table as the velocity co-pilot you didn’t know you needed. ✈️
