NFX VC MATCH

The Project

A tool for Founders to find the right VCs faster.  Founders uncover their best VC matches by answering 7 questions about their company and founding team and connecting to the NFX network. They will see their top VC matches, including who scores #1. VC’s update their NFX Signal profile with sectors they are interested in, past investments, professional experience, and interests.

 

My Role

I was initially brought on for a two-month contract to clean up the UX and UI of Signal, NFX’s flagship product. After that project was completed, I continued with the client to work on a suite of standalone web apps such as The Brief, VC Match, and others. As part of a small agile team, my role was to lead the User Experience of the applications and to advise on all front-end development tasks. I worked at my client's office entirely, collaborating with one of the VC partners, marketing, and product lead to better understand the design considerations for the applications.

 

Challenge

We loved the idea of connecting founders and VCs in a meaningful way. But we needed to make sure that this app didn’t feel or sound like a dating app. Coming up with a meaningful name, and being thoughtful with ables and copy was important. We also realized that the app can only be successful if both founders and VCs choose to participate.

Discovery Phase

Connecting founders with VCs in a meaningful way only works if we (NFX) have data from both parties. Since VCs are understandably private, it was vital to convey the value of this project to them. So, in conjunction with creating a lightweight and fun product for founders, we updated the VC profile interface on Signal, to convey trust. We also simplified the sign-up flow to make it quick and easy for a VC to create their profiles.

 

 

Process

I interviewed startup founders to learn about their challenges when raising money for the first time. I also learned a lot about their day-to-day activities, which confirmed the team’s decision to create a responsive app. Talking to NFX’s partners helped me seeing their goals and needs and making informed design decisions. Our strategy was to create a set of lightweight tools that would help startup founders find VCs that fit their needs. I came up with a naming and color convention to convey the idea of a suite, and VC Match was going to be the first tool in the set.

Final Outcome

While some early explorations of the VC matches felt a bit too much like a dating app, the final design shows all matches instead of only the top three. By highlighting meaningful information, we also convey why these VCs match the founder’s profile.