Stage 1 Ventures

David Baum, Co-Founder and Managing Director, leads investment decisions. He draws on experience in media and technology operating roles that predate the firm's founding. Investment committee composition beyond Baum has not been publicly detailed. The firm's small team structure means partner-level consensus typically governs each commitment.

Stage 1 historically writes initial checks under $2 million for seed-stage companies. The firm does not widely publish current check-size ranges, but prior funds targeted pre-revenue and early-revenue startups where capital efficiency matters more than round size. Follow-on reserves for existing portfolio companies are selectively deployed.

Stage 1 operates as a direct investment firm, not a fund-of-funds. There is no public record of the firm making LP commitments into other venture funds. All capital deployment has been through direct equity positions in startup operating companies.

There is no explicit avoidance list in public materials. The firm's investment history clusters in enterprise software, AI/ML, cybersecurity, digital media infrastructure, and mobility. Sectors like biotech, hardware-intensive manufacturing, and consumer social platforms have been absent from its known portfolio, suggesting organic negative selection rather than stated prohibitions.

Stage 1 Ventures was an early backer of Ouster, the lidar sensor company that merged with a SPAC to list on the NYSE in March 2021 (per Ouster, March 2021). The firm held pre-IPO equity as a seed-stage investor, though the exact ownership percentage at listing has not been publicly disclosed.