Rough Draft Ventures

Rough Draft Ventures is a student-run venture program fully funded and sponsored by General Catalyst. It operates as a distinct initiative with its own investment process, managed by student partners who evaluate and back student-founded startups. General Catalyst provides the capital and oversight, while the student teams retain autonomy over individual investment decisions. The program functions as both a sourcing pipeline and a talent development platform for the broader firm.

Rough Draft Ventures focuses exclusively on pre-seed and seed-stage companies. The program writes initial checks typically ranging from $25,000 to $50,000, making it one of the earliest institutional touchpoints for student founders. The investment is designed to provide runway during a startup's earliest formation stage, often before the founders have incorporated or raised a priced round.

The program launched in Cambridge, serving Harvard and MIT students, and has since expanded with cohorts in San Francisco and Menlo Park. The California offices extend coverage to Stanford and the broader Bay Area student-founder population. The program invests only in startups where at least one founder is a current student or recent graduate of a university within its geographic coverage.

Investment decisions are made by rotating teams of student partners who are themselves university students. These partners source deals, conduct due diligence, and vote on investments, operating with guidance from General Catalyst investment professionals. The student-partner model creates a peer-to-peer dynamic where founders are evaluated by contemporaries who often have operating or founding backgrounds.

Rough Draft Ventures typically does not lead rounds or take board seats given its small check size and pre-seed focus. The program positions itself as a supportive early partner rather than an active governance participant. The value proposition for portfolio companies centers on the relationship with the student partner network and the potential path to follow-on capital from General Catalyst.