It feels like it’s been ages since we were last here! In 2011, Union Square Ventures’ Albert Wenger led Wattpad’s Series A, our first institutional round. throughout the subsequent decade, Ivan and I made frequent visits to the USV office, be it for board meetings, the CEO Summit, or just casual get-togethers whenever we were in NYC.

Yet, my last visit was just before the pandemic hit. And after Wattpad‘s acquisition in 2021, circumstances didn’t permit me to return.

Until now.

USV has backed many iconic companies that have become household names — Twitter, Tumblr, Zynga, Cloudflare, Twilio, MongoDB, Etsy, Duolingo, to name a few.

Becoming an investor in these companies at a mature stage, or post-IPO, is straightforward. But what sets USV apart is that this team has spotted these future giants before anybody else, time and again. Often, these companies were budding startups with just a few team members and pre-revenue. To illustrate, when USV placed their bet on Wattpad, we had fewer than 10 on the team. While we weren’t exactly pre-revenue, it would still be years before many of our current revenue streams took off.

Throughout this journey, our learnings haven’t just come from the USV team. We’ve peer-learned so much from the network of USV portfolio CEOs and founders. The speed, intensity, skills and tenacity needed to navigate these rocket ships are on another level. A single misstep can derail years of hard work. What is at stake is unbelievably high. Interacting with these founders was tremendously helpful to me. I can testify that being part of the USV network played a part in Wattpad’s eventual success.

Post-Wattpad, the Laus has re-entered the USV fold as an LP. We’re also thrilled to be collaborating with USV’s Andy Weissman on an exciting new investment. Stay tuned for more updates on this front!