Virginie Raphael, founder of the pre-seed fund FullCircle, is currently based in New York City, but her upbringing was far more quaint.
In the tiny town of Lyon, she grew up among the mere 800 inhabitants. Half of whom, she jokes, “were probably somewhat related to me in one way, shape, or form.”
When Virginie was around seven or eight, her parents’ entrepreneurial spirit took hold, and they decided to start growing flowers. What began in their living room eventually expanded into acres of greenhouses and a garden center for distribution. To this day, the family business is a major success.
“I was never that into it,” she admits. “What fascinated me most, though, were the labor challenges they faced. It’s a very cyclical business, with lots of hard manual labor. I think it left a lasting impact on me growing up.”
Virginie preferred to focus on her education, particularly on languages and travel. After high school, she was accepted to Sciences Po in Paris before attending Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Throughout her higher education, Virginie believed she was on track to work in public policy and diplomacy. However, halfway through her studies, reality set in: she needed to secure a job before graduating.
“As a foreign national, I realized I had two options: either go back to France and climb the ranks of the French bureaucracy, or start building a solid set of skills on my resume so I’d be hireable in the U.S.,” she says.
Thanks to Georgetown’s exchange program, she spent a semester at Dartmouth learning about the financial sector, which led to a position with Lehman Brothers as a banking analyst. While working there, she met Bradley Tusk, who later recruited her out of banking to help him build a new consulting firm from the ground up.
“Everybody tells their story very linearly and chronologically,” she says. “In reality, we’re not on this linear path. We just take one step at a time and hope that this is the right next step. And then eventually it sort of works out.”
“And that’s why I’ve actually called the fund Full Circle. I felt like I was finally at a point in my career where I had explored public, pure public policy, government work, tied that into a banking career, some consulting along the way and bringing it all back to [investing] in venture.”
About FullCircle Fund
FullCircle is a perpetual pre-seed fund that looks to invest in a more dynamic workforce by making work more accessible, rewarding, and adaptable. The goal is to be highly collaborative and network-driven, as well as participating in co-funding rounds with the angel inventors and small early-stage funds. The fund invests up to $250k into initial rounds ranging $500k-$2.0M.
Advice for Underdog Founders
Ideal Founder
It always changes and evolves, as it should. I really wanted to work with founders at the earliest possible stages. We look for the most brilliant risk-takers and pattern-breakers. I wanted to invest in people who are crazy enough to dream up a vision that can truly be game-changing.
Investing at the pre-seed stage certainly requires a set of criteria for evaluating early teams. Assessing the team is critically important, but it’s not the only factor. I also pay close attention to the business model and go-to-market strategy, as I believe it’s crucial to get those right as early as possible.
Importance of Storytelling
Storytelling is important because, to me, it’s related to sales. Founders need to be able to tell a good story to investors for fundraising, customers for sales, and early talent to get them to join the company.
For me, the most important trait in a founder is self-confidence and an unshakable determination to achieve what they set out to do. There are different ways to gauge that. But when a founder has what it takes and a very high level of conviction, you can just tell.
Connecting With VCs
Right now, there’s more transparency in the market. I think VCs are making a greater effort to provide information on their websites, like what their criteria is and how they evaluate deals. I have a lot of information on my website by design. I don’t want to be pitched by founders who are completely out of scope. In fact, I track the deal flow I get. I’m not necessarily looking for more volume—quality over quantity has always been the driving force in my life.
About the Author: Tess Danielson is a journalist and writer focusing on the intersection of technology and society.
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