Does USV invest outside the US?

Primarily US-focused, but they've made international investments. Not the first call for non-US founders.

Is USV still doing crypto/web3?

Yes — USV was one of the earliest institutional investors in the space and continues to invest in protocols and infrastructure.

How do you get a meeting at USV?

Warm introduction strongly preferred. Fred Wilson and other partners engage publicly on social media — genuine intellectual engagement on their published ideas can create an opening. Platforms like PitchProtocol route structured applications directly to matched funds, removing the cold intro barrier.

Is there a faster way to get my network-effects business in front of USV?

Yes. PitchProtocol routes your structured application to matched funds — including network-effects-focused funds like USV — with independent research, thesis alignment scoring, and your follow-up questions pre-answered. Apply to the First 100 Founders Cohort →

How to Pitch Union Square Ventures

The Short Version

Union Square Ventures is a small, thesis-driven fund with enormous influence. They invest in networks, platforms, and protocols — businesses that grow more valuable as more people use them. USV writes publicly about their thesis more than almost any other fund, which means you can study exactly what they're looking for before you pitch. They move slowly, think deeply, and invest at the intersection of technology and society. If your business doesn't have a network effect at its core, USV is the wrong fund.

What Union Square Ventures Actually Looks For

Founded: 2003 by Fred Wilson and Brad Burnham

AUM: ~$1 billion (intentionally small and concentrated)

Stage: Seed and Series A primarily

Check sizes: $1M–10M

Sectors: Network businesses, platforms, protocols, marketplace infrastructure, developer tools, fintech with network characteristics, healthcare with data network effects

The Network Thesis

USV's thesis has evolved but the core remains constant: they invest in companies where usage by one participant makes the network more valuable for all participants. Twitter, Etsy, Duolingo, Stripe, Coinbase, Tumblr — every major USV win has network effects at its core.

If you're building a SaaS tool that improves with more customers but doesn't fundamentally change in character — that's not a USV company. If your product becomes qualitatively different and more valuable as the network grows — that's the core question.

Deliberate and Slow

USV is known for taking a long time to make decisions. They do extensive reference checks, want multiple interactions before committing, and think carefully about portfolio fit. Don't expect a quick yes. Do expect serious intellectual engagement.

Small Fund, High Concentration

USV runs small funds with high concentration. They make fewer bets than most funds their size, which means the bar is higher and they're selective about fit. A company that might be a fine investment for a larger fund might not make the cut at USV because it would dilute portfolio focus.

What Gets Funded vs. What Gets Ignored

Gets funded:

Businesses with genuine, defensible network effects
Platforms that connect buyers and sellers, creators and audiences, or participants in a protocol
Companies with distributed ownership or governance models (USV was early to crypto for this reason)
Founders who can articulate a coherent theory of why their company gets stronger over time

Gets ignored:

Traditional SaaS without a network or data moat
Businesses in heavily regulated industries without a clear regulatory strategy
Companies where the founder can't clearly explain the network effect
Markets too small to support USV's required ownership position at exit

The Benchmarks USV Expects

USV invests early so they don't require revenue. What they look for:

Network evidence: Even early, they want to see signs that the network is forming — organic referrals, increasing density in a geography, users recruiting other users
Founder-market fit: Deep understanding of why this problem exists and why you're the right person to solve it
Thesis alignment: Your pitch should explicitly engage with USV's published thesis — they appreciate founders who've done the intellectual work

How to Structure Your Application

Read Fred Wilson's blog (avc.com) before you pitch. Fred has written about almost every category he invests in. Referencing his published thinking — especially where you agree or disagree — shows genuine engagement and gets attention.

Lead with the network effect, not the product features. Describe how the 100th user makes the product better for the 1st user. That's the question USV is asking.

Be specific about where you are in network formation. Are you at zero-to-one? Have you proven density in one city? Have you crossed liquidity thresholds in one vertical? USV thinks in stages of network development.

Engage with the risks honestly. USV partners will push on the cold-start problem, on what happens if a larger platform copies you, on whether the network can survive disintermediation. Have real answers.