No founder's journey is a straight line. In the throes of ups and downs, having guidance from someone who understands your experience can be invaluable. In this special episode of Spotlight On, Accel’s Amit Kumar and Ivan Zhou discuss their shared founder journeys and transition into VC, and dive into how they worked together to steer Ivan’s startup, Mayhem, through its most challenging times.

Mayhem (formerly Visor) was a social gaming platform that joined Accel Family in 2018 and was acquired by Niantic in 2021. In April, Ivan joined Accel as an early-stage partner, mirroring Amit’s founder-partner journey. Their discussion explores the resilience needed to navigate turbulent times, a central theme in their founder experiences. This episode unpacks some of the most critical qualities of early-stage founders and operators – the determination to solve real problems, the importance of establishing strong foundations, and the willingness to rethink strategies when things don’t go according to plan.

#vc #venturecapital #founder #entrepreneurs #tech #CEO #accel

Season 2:
Hear from Chainalysis, Crowdstrike, Monte Carlo, Klaviyo, Linear, Wonder, and more on this season of Spotlight On. Established and rising leaders across both private and public sectors discuss the challenges and opportunities of building companies in today’s rapidly changing technology landscape. .

Spotlight On:
Spotlight On examines the technology shaping our world. Highlighting a new topic each
season, company builders at all stages of company growth will share their learnings,
challenges, and breakthroughs.

Accel:
Accel is a global venture capital firm that is the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Atlassian, Bumble, CrowdStrike, Fiverr, Flipkart, Freshworks, Qualtrics, Scale, Segment, Slack, Spotify, Squarespace, Tenable, and UiPath are among the companies Accel has backed over the past 40+ years. We help ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses.

Featured: Ivan Zhou and Amit Kumar, Partners at Accel

Conversation highlights:
00:00 - Ivan’s background and first startup attempt
04:44 - Uncovering the problem and passion that would inspire Mayhem
07:25 - What Ivan and Amit were looking for in an early-stage VC partnership
11:40 - The importance of building a company around a problem, not a category
18:09 - Lessons learned in a pivotal moment when Mayhem nearly failed
21:16 - How adversity as a founder helped both Amit and Ivan become better partners
30:50 - Ivan’s discovery of his passion for supporting other founders
39:17 - The core verticals and traits Ivan is looking for in future founders

Connect With Us:
Website: https://www.accel.com/
Linkedin:   / accel-vc  
Twitter:   / accel  

Accel Founders Kumar & Zhou: Building Startup Success in Hard Times | S2E6 | Spotlight On | AccelVC
   • Accel Founders Amit Kumar & Ivan Zhou...