A podcast about how first checks get written and what it takes to earn them.

First Funders is the podcast for angels, seed investors, and founders who want to understand what it really takes to write or earn the first check. Hosted by Shaherose Charania, each episode features honest, tactical conversations with operators-turned-investors backing the earliest stages of tech.

You’ll hear how successful angels built conviction, what they look for before traction exists, and how founders can better navigate the messy, magical pre-seed journey. Whether you’re refining your investment lens or preparing to pitch, First Funders gives you the inside track.

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Latest Episodes

S2E04: Resilience as a Thesis: Tahira Dosani on Building for Underserved Markets and AI in Fintech

Some investors are motivated by the thought of multiplying their fund, securing a bigger slice of the cap table, or, of course, successfully filing for a coveted IPO. ...

S2E03: Atoms over bits: Investing in hardware and innovative founders to solve climate challenges - Sundeep Ahuja, Climate Capital

We’ve welcomed investors with unique backgrounds to First Funders before, but Sundeep Ahuja is our first operator-turned-actor-turned-investor. Sundeep is all in on al...

S2E02: Before Clay Was a Unicorn: The First Check, the Thesis, and the Long Game - Andre Charoo, Maple VC

Canadians have been the lifeblood behind some of the biggest unicorn startups of the past few years (think Open AI, Uber, Slack, Instacart, Notion, Databricks, CloudFl...

S2E01: Lessons on AI, PM, and LLMs from founder, investor, and operator Shalin Mantri

You can be a founder. You can be an investor. You can be an operator. Or, you can be Shalin Mantri and be all three. This respected product leader got his start by fou...

15: Founder to fintech evangelist to Internet personality and always a Taco Bell enthusiast – Sheel Mohnot, Better Tomorrow Ventures

We’ve had a lot of cool people on the pod, but Sheel Mohnot is our first guest to achieve this trifecta: 100X an investment, have a founder in his portfolio go to pris...

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