Ben Metcalfe has just become a VC
The first time I met Ben Metcalfe was at a big meetup at the Computer History Museum. It was my first week in Silicon Valley and unbeknownst to me I had been experiencing what I later learned to be the valley’s “soft no”. When your Startup/product isn’t good enough but people don’t really want to tell you.
Ben was the first one to take a different approach. He told me - in no uncertain terms - what the real weaknesses of my Product were.
At first I disliked the sudden pushback (and Ben haha!), but then I quickly understood it (and him) to be insightful and invaluable. And, of course, he later turned out to be right!
He then proceeded to take me and my mate Nik into San Francisco where he introduced me to a lot of people, products, and places that changed my life forever (including SoMa, Twitter, Gregarious and Stowe). He taught me how to “pay it forward” by his actions and by his mentorship.
He‘s continued to be a great friend and advisor for the last 10 years. Including introducing me to the team at Uber.
I’m so proud of his latest move here. He’s a naturally curious and clear eyed evaluator of value and loves to help founders. He’s going to kick ass at this role.
Congrats Ben!