43 Fund

43 Capital: Anabel Paksoy Investment Profile Fund Overview 43 is an earliest-stage venture capital fund founded by Dustin Dolginow, Anabel Paksoy, and Soso Sazesh. The firm specializes in Day 0 pre-product investments, providing $250K-$500K initial checks to founder-obsessed teams before they have launched products or achieved market traction. Investment Philosophy & Thesis 43's core thesis centers on the founder-first approach : the team invests with conviction in approximately 5 founders per partner per year. Their philosophy emphasizes speed, conviction, and bespoke support rather than batch programs or generic scaling models. Key thesis elements: Founders obsessed with solving a problem (not optimizing for capital) Day 0 stage investments, often meeting founders before they've left their jobs No product or traction required Speed as a competitive advantage (2-4 week process from conversation to funding) Hands-on, personalized support from operators with extensive exit experience Investment Check Sizes & Deployment Initial check range: $250K-$500K Check size flexibility: Tailored to founder needs and runway requirements Deployment pace: ~5 investments per partner annually (15-20 total portfolio per year at 3-person firm) Fund status: Actively deploying as of late 2025 Stage Focus Primary: Pre-seed/Seed (Day 0, pre-product) Secondary: Extended runway founders transitioning out of jobs No demo days, batches, or structured cohorts—entirely bespoke relationships Team & Backgrounds Dustin Dolginow (Managing Partner) Previously at Accomplice and Maiden Lane Early-stage investor track record: Roofr, Baseten, Klaviyo, Notion, Vercel, Reside, CodeSignal Operational operator with deep network across consumer and SaaS Anabel Paksoy (Partner) Formerly Head of People Operations at Opendoor and Twitter Founded The People Design House (people operations advisory) Advisors at: Notion, Pave, Syndicate Angel investor: Newfront, TRM Labs, Portex Brings HR/operations expertise and deep operator network Soso Sazesh (Partner) 2X founder with successful exit Operational advisor to growth-stage companies: Instacart, Gusto, Zapier, Klaviyo, and dozens of others Brings founder perspective and scaling experience Portfolio Composition & Revealed Preferences Analysis of 70+ portfolio companies reveals strong concentration in: Sector patterns: B2B SaaS: FlowFi (accounting), Supademo (product demos), CollabWork (collaboration), Lace (operations) AI/ML: Kaiden AI, Flotive (AI aviation), Standard Works (AI), Supercreator (AI content), DataInsight (AI analytics) Vertical SaaS: Headcount365 (HR), Secludy (security), Sharebird (sales enablement), PressBox (PR) Hardware/Dev Tools: tscircuit (electronics), Nema Systems (systems), Kit Switch Healthcare/Healthtech: Insight Health (AI health), Dart Health (healthcare), Harness (insurance) Workflow automation: ProjectUs, Time-line, Word Chef, Shipflow AI Fintech-adjacent: GiveCard, FlowFi Support Model & Thesis on Value-Add 43 explicitly rejects batch-model acceleration. Value proposition: 1:1 bespoke support: Each partner works closely with ~5 founders annually Strategic guidance: No generic advice; tailored to founder's specific challenges Network introductions: Access to 43's extended operator network Operational support: Leveraging team's deep operational experience in People/Growth/HR Fundraising preparation: Help structuring for next institutional round Speed advantage: 2-4 week decision timeline, enabling faster market entry Investment Process & Decision-Making Application: No pitch deck required; focus on founder vision and background Timeline: 2-4 weeks from initial conversation to funding Due diligence: Emphasis on founder conviction and obsession over market validation Decision criteria: Problem obsession, founder quality, team chemistry Process philosophy: Human judgment and founder relationship over metrics/scoring Recent Activity & Fund Status Active stage: Actively deploying capital (confirmed through 2025 Tracxn data) 2023 positioning: 9 investments mentioned in Anabel's Jan 2023 announcement introducing 43 2025 activity: Continued investment in Day 0 founders; confirmed by Recast Accelerate participation Institutional recognition: Featured in Recast Capital's startup fund accelerator cohort (Sep 2025) Geographic & Model Preferences Geography: Primarily SF Bay Area operators and founders; some national presence Model: B2B SaaS dominant, strong AI/ML subset, vertical-specific solutions Stage extension: Some follow-on capacity visible; not pure pass-through fund International: Minimal (no clear non-US portfolio companies observed) Partner Availability & Lead Tendency Given firm size (3 partners) and investment tempo (~5 per partner/year), individual partners can be selective with ~1 new investment every 2-3 months. Primary partner involvement in structured process is typical. Anti-Thesis 43 explicitly avoids or is less interested in: Companies with product-market fit already achieved (more Series A+) Teams seeking generic support or batch programs Founders not obsessed with their problem Pure financial engineering plays Batch demo days or cohort-based acceleration Fund Economics Check size: $250K-$500K = ~5-7% ownership typically Fund capacity: Small fund size with concentrated portfolio limits deployment Follow-on rights: Visible in some portfolio companies; not purely seed-and-exit