Rethinking Series A in the age of mega-funds

In a recent episode of StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos sits down with Stacy Brown-Philpot, the founder and managing partner of Cherryrock Capital. With a rich history that includes a decade at Google and leading TaskRabbit through its acquisition by IKEA, Brown-Philpot is now focusing on creating a venture firm that specializes in Series A and B funding for software companies led by underrepresented founders. Brown-Philpot highlights a significant gap in the current venture ecosystem, which prompted her to establish Cherryrock during a challenging fundraising climate. During their discussion, she delves into the firm’s methodology for evaluating product-market fit at scale and emphasizes the importance of real revenue over mere headline ARR metrics. Furthermore, she shares her insights on how artificial intelligence is transforming the enterprise software landscape. Drawing from her experiences as a board member at HP and StockX, Brown-Philpot explains how these roles influence her assessment of companies. She remains optimistic, asserting that robust businesses will still attract funding, even amidst a fragmented venture market. This conversation offers a pragmatic perspective on nurturing resilient companies and supporting them during crucial growth phases.