Builder, Inventor, or Operator? The 0-1-2 Framework for Evaluating Founders| Andre Charoo (MapleVC)

<p>Andre Charoo is Founding Partner of Maple VC, a first-check venture firm, and an executive fellow at Harvard Business School. Before venture, he was employee number 25 at Uber and an early employee at <a href="http://Hired.com">Hired.com</a>, and built or joined four seed-stage startups between 2009 and 2016.</p><p>Amrit Rao, General Partner at Village Global, sits down with Andre to unpack the framework he&#39;s developed for evaluating founders: builders, inventors, and operators, and how he uses it to make sense of teams when there&#39;s little else to underwrite at the earliest stages. Andre traces the framework back to studying Uber&#39;s early team and the founders of Clay, walking through how he identifies which archetype he&#39;s actually talking to, why the most enduring companies almost always attract all three types eventually, and why founders with illegible, non-obvious backgrounds are often the ones VCs miss. He shares his personal test for conviction, deliberately seeking out smart people who disagree with a founder&#39;s vision, and breaks down real examples from his portfolio, including Clay, Stadium Live, and <a href="http://Inference.ai">Inference.ai</a>. The conversation closes with Andre&#39;s reflections on bringing new partners Jane Lee and John Edgar into Maple, the firm&#39;s newly codified investment philosophy, and the personal and professional moments where he felt truly seen at a time he least expected it.</p><p><br></p><p>Thanks for listening. If you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at <a href="http://www.villageglobal.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.villageglobal.com</a> or get in touch with us on X @villageglobal. Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We&#39;ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. <a href="http://www.villageglobal.com/signup" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.villageglobal.com/signup</a></p>