When I started Ascend in 2019, I realized even though I was o-l-d OLD, I had more in common with the folks in town who were earlier in their professional investing journeys than the venerable VC’s I’d pitched as a founder. I admire and respect the new wave of Seattle/Pacific Northwest venture capitalists, and thought it would be fun to profile some of our region’s up and coming VC talents in these pages. —KW
Cameron Borumand has been a voice of support and encouragement since I began my full time investing journey. He helped give me the confidence to take the plunge in raising Ascend VC I. He’s a diligent, savvy investor with some great picks behind him and his best years ahead, and he just founded Seattle’s newest member of the (very small) $100M+ VC club, FUSE.
What made you decide to be a professional investor?
Honestly (and somewhat embarrassingly) I remember watching Shark Tank growing up and finding myself obsessed with the entrepreneurs. Their passion was contagious on that show and I know I wanted to either be an entrepreneur or work closely with them. This feeling stayed with me when I started my career in investment banking in San Francisco and was only amplified after I had a chance to work with founders first-hand.
What did you do before becoming an investor and how does that benefit your founders?
Technology investment banking in San Francisco. I loved many aspects of the job, most importantly helping founders get liquidity on their life’s work. This was often a very emotional process, especially when the founder had spent decades building the business, all to see it end up in someone else’s hands – very much like giving your baby up for adoption. As the investment banker, our job was to guide them through the process, providing support every step of the way. What this experience taught me most of all was the power of telling a story. This comes in handy as we help our portfolio companies craft a pitch, either to a new investor, customer or potential hire.
Why should founders want you on their cap table?
You don’t just get me on your cap table. You get the collective experience and insights of the entire FUSE team. No team will work harder than Kellan, Sara and myself to support our founders. Combine that with the operational expertise of John Connors (early Microsoft) + Satbir Khanuja (early Amazon) and the unique talent of Bobby Wagner = a winning combo. Our LP community is a huge value add as well, because it includes executives at many of the top companies in the PNW. This is a huge needle mover for customer and talent access early in a company’s life.
How many new pitches (actual calls/zooms) do you take per month?
I try to be more accessible to the PNW founder community, so ~35-40 on any given month.
How many new investments do you make per year?
FUSE will do about 6 deals per year.
What's your sweet spot(s) in terms of check size, valuation, and vertical?
We’ll write between $2M-$6M checks. B2B software is our core focus and where we can add the most value. I wouldn’t be the best pure consumer investor, I don’t have Instagram, I’m not making dance videos on TikTok (unlike Kellan), and I think my Facebook is deactivated.
What one portfolio company do you want to hype for us here?
I’d keep an eye on Carbon Robotics. The founder and CEO Paul Mikesell is one of the best entrepreneurs I’ve had the pleasure of working with and they’ve built an incredible team. More to come on them in April.
What do you think the next ten years looks like for Seattle/Pacific Northwest startups?
This is a very unique inflection point in the PNW – it’s turning from an important regional city to an important global city. $200Bn in exit value will be created in the next 10 years. Seattle will become the de facto world leading ecosystem for enterprise software. Ascend will strike it big with multiple exits and Kirby will buy Cam a boat.
What song is currently getting the most run on your Spotify/Apple Music?
My friends tell me I have embarrassing taste in music - lately Jess Glynne has been playing quite a bit... We have a Bose speaker in the office that we crank up past 5pm – very fun/upbeat culture at FUSE!
Favorite shoes?
My green Birkenstocks, the full plastic ones. I LOVE THEM
Favorite cooking ingredient?
I’m a horrible cook and will put not only my own safety but the safety of others at risk when I step into a kitchen.
Anything else to say?
So pumped that more folks like you (Kirby Winfield) are raising funds and getting active at the pre-seed / seed stage. Your background and experience is invaluable and I’m so jazzed up it’s going to help the next generation of PNW entrepreneurs build big businesses.