Jeff Clavier photo
Investor profile

Jeff Clavier

Founder and Managing Partner, Uncork Capital

About

Jeff Clavier pioneered the micro-VC model in Silicon Valley, going from writing $25-50K personal angel checks in 2004 to raising one of the first institutional micro-VC funds in 2007, which helped establish the now-standard seed fund model. He's known for his Three Asses Rule for evaluating startups—backing a smart-ass team building a kick-ass product in a big-ass market—and was one of the first seed investors to back consumer hardware like Fitbit in 2008 when it was still viewed as non-obvious. Jeff Clavier pioneered the micro-VC model in Silicon Valley, going from writing $25-50K personal angel checks in 2004 to raising one of the first institutional micro-VC funds in 2007, which helped establish the now-standard seed fund model. He's known for his Three Asses Rule for evaluating startups—backing a smart-ass team building a kick-ass product in a big-ass market—and was one of the first seed investors to back consumer hardware like Fitbit in 2008 when it was still viewed as non-obvious.

Works at

Investment focus

Stages
Seed
Series A
Series B+
Sectors
Enterprise
Devtools
Consumer
Marketplaces
Deeptech
Hardware

Investment details

Avg check size$750K - $2M
Can lead rounds
Yes
Geographies
USA