VC Fund Dossiers

Other firms might find it too risky to turn PhD students and professors into entrepreneurs, but that's Pillar's sweet spot - they love rolling up their sleeves and helping them find a market. This is a firm that tries to be friendly to founders, because partner Russ Wilcox had a very painful life as a founder himself. Founders give them glowing reviews - one called it a 'great VC experience - refreshing. Very responsive and thoughtful.' They write checks of $1-2M in rounds of $3-4M and put in serious time and energy supporting founders, with emotional support provided by their CEO investors. The 32 founding CEO 'pillars' who co-own the fund aren't just window dressing - they actually roll up sleeves to help portfolio companies, which is rare in VC land where most 'advisors' are purely decorative.

PJC is a quietly solid fund that's been grinding for over two decades without much fanfare. They've delivered 1 unicorn (Nexamp), 2 IPOs (Expensify, Yandex), and 45 acquisitions - respectable returns but nothing that screams top-tier. The Gina Raimondo connection is interesting but also potentially problematic given the ethics questions around her prominent billing on their website while serving as Governor. David Martirano seems like a solid operator with real investment banking and M&A experience, but the team composition feels a bit thin for a fund that's been around this long. They're clearly competent at picking decent companies and helping them get to exit, but they're not going to give you the brand cachet or network effects of top Boston funds.