Building ecosystems for VC: Sadasia's tips

Will they do what they say? Gauging the answer to this question is one of my secrets to building ecosystems of support for startups. How do you find mentors, strategic partners, or customers whose word is bond and that your portfolio companies can rely on?

As I transition from my role as VP of Community and Growth at late-stage venture firm, CapitalG, to my new role as Head of Ecosystem for early-stage firm SignalFire, I thought I’d share some of my playbook for establishing venture capital communities and how my journey informed my approach. There will certainly be more of these lessons and best practices to share out in future posts. 

Discernment, shaped by community

The “say/do” ratio is a powerful framework I apply when evaluating a potential partner to join our ecosystem. Lots of people say they want to help, that they have the connections or skills you’re looking for, or will be there for your community in the future. A much smaller percentage actually follow through, rather than just extracting value. Becoming an accurate judge of character and analyzing their track record is critical to building relationships you can rely on.

Having grown up in the South Bronx, New York, I witnessed firsthand how one's environment and community can profoundly shape their life, and I’d like to think my upbringing instilled a great sense of “reading people.” My mother was a dedicated NYPD Lieutenant and part of the Community Affairs Bureau in Manhattan North that focused on strengthening community relationships and trust. I watched my mother co-create scalable programs with community leaders, attend and patrol community events, and also create content to help community members understand police policies and procedures.

‎At the center of everything she did was a profound respect for the city’s many diverse communities. Hearing my mother’s stories after her work shifts would be so inspiring because she made her role as a NYPD lieutenant feel like an integral part of the community, and it would later serve as the basis for how I approach my work. When building community, I build programmatic and scalable efforts alongside events and content, centering diversity in everything that I do. 

This upbringing instilled in me qualities such as dependability, ambition, intuition, and agility that I now look for in potential partners. It's a background that has uniquely equipped me to understand the profound impact that reliable communities can have on individuals’ success.

Verticalized networks, and bringing late-stage learnings to early-stage

There’s something special about being surrounded by fellow experts, no matter the area of expertise. The depth and nuance you can achieve when you don’t have to over explain can uplevel your skills, of which you can bring back to your own organization. That’s why I’m a big believer in verticalized networks for venture capital ecosystems.

While serving as the VP of Community and Growth at CapitalG, I crafted the firm's verticalized networks of portfolio founders in specific sectors, experts in particular functions, and customers of different business types. I spearheaded roundtable discussions with industry experts, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies for portfolio companies, and customer advisory boards aimed at driving top-line growth. 

‎What I learned was that cybersecurity founders, or demand gen specialists, or software buyers at big banks loved connecting and sharing knowledge, even if they were theoretically competing on some axis. Through online communities and offline events, we were able to expand deal pipelines, introduce the perfect vendor to solve a given problem, and help our companies scale.

The power of focus, and shifting to earlier stage

Verticalized networks are powerful until they grow too haphazard and experience context collapse. When no one knows who they’re talking to, or about what, they become both reluctant to donate their time and knowledge, and more guarded about the strategies they share.

Creating and nurturing a community differs markedly from the conventional approach of expanding a customer base or total addressable market. It's not about reaching everyone; instead, it involves targeting a precise, well-defined group. The challenge lies in providing sufficient scale to make their contributions worthwhile while avoiding context dilution. A community where every member is a perfect fit can sustain a larger size, while even a small group becomes useless with a divergent membership.  Fundamentally, I find that the secret sauce or formula to be:

1. Identifying a group of people we want to connect with and why (our value)
2. Finding a common denominator/need for group members (their value)
3. Breaking down into topics and bringing in experts from your various ecosystems (the hook)
4. Facilitating discussion or connection across a range of formats (e.g., fireside chats, roundtable discussions, workshops, live events, etc.)

Why SignalFire?

SignalFire embodies many of these lessons. Its strategy of designing value-add programs that anticipate startups’ needs and concentrating them behind a limited number of early-stage portfolio companies is a big part of what drew me to the firm. As a lead check institutional firm, SignalFire doesn’t spread itself too thin. Instead, we’re able to build teams and technologies dedicated to solving startups’ biggest problems around recruiting, talent operations, go-to-market, PR, data science, M&A, and more.

SignalFire emphasizes the pivotal role of operational team members like me in the investment process. We attract startups with testimonials from portfolio companies that have worked with these teammates, rather than with just our brand or valuations. I look forward to developing our community so we can continue supporting our companies with allies across the industry. The question that keeps me up at night is “What would happen if the people without access to community, money, or knowledge had this level of access to reach their goals?” So, if you're a potential mentor, vendor, corporate partner, or customer, let's connect, collaborate, and construct a more cooperative ecosystem where we grow the pie together. You can find me at sadasia@sigalfire.com.‎