Dovetail's CEO on turning down a16z and catching the AI wave
Benjamin Humphrey, a founder of product research startup Dovetail, is not just a first time CEO, but also a first time people manager.
Not many CEOs say no to investment from Andreessen Horowitz, the vaunted Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Dovetail CEO Benjamin Humphrey did, while raising an $89 million round last year led by Accel at the height of frothy startup valuations.
“I don’t like messy cap tables,” he explains as to why he declined investment from one of the biggest VC names in the world.
Humphrey didn’t tell me this to boast, in fact he’s generous and open about the challenges of growing a startup in a new category with the added pressure that comes with significant investor backing. And doing that not only as a first time CEO, but also as a first time people manager.
But the anecdote offers an insight into what was widely considered one of the most competitive funding rounds ever for an Australian startup. It ultimately valued Dovetail at close to $1 billion and made it one of the most talked about companies in the close-knit Sydney startup scene.
