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
Dennis Joyce is one of the most empathetic, supportive investors a founder can have on the cap table. He’s been dedicated to backing underestimated founders since before it was cool. Dennis is now a partner with emerging managers Tacoma Venture Fund, and shares his story below.
What made you decide to be a professional investor?
I was meant to be a VC. I just never knew it.
When I was younger, I never really had a clear career path that I was looking to pursue. I did pretty well in school but not great. I was ok in sports and music and other activities but did not distinguish myself in any particular field. I was a bit of a dabbler, who could pick something up quickly but never enough to gain mastery. I was mediocre at everything.
I always liked watching sports, then movies, and music, and later business. I always had a favorite athlete (Wayne Gretzky) or actor (Eddie Murphy) or band (Megadeth) that I was “invested” in.
In the late 90s, the first wave of celebrity VCs emerged, I was fascinated by these guys who made seemingly gobs of money investing early in companies like Netscape or AOL. I would read a story about Jim Clark investing in Marc Andreesen and making millions being the person to discover Netscape. It seemed so cool to me.
I had always been entrepreneurial and innovative. I’d start a band or business here or hatch an idea but I never really had the passion to make something my work. It’s as if I wanted to see something happen, but I never really had the passion to do it myself.
Over the years it dawned on me VC was perfect for me. It allowed me to support entrepreneurs, it allowed me to dabble in dozens of ideas without having to “pick a lane”. It allowed me to passionately support multiple endeavors at a time and dream of a better world. I get to support other people pursuing their unique passions
What did you do before becoming an investor and how does that benefit your founders?
I’ve spent a little time doing pretty much anything you’d imagine. I grew up in a family business where my father managed real estate during the day while working as a security guard at night. I’m from a family of 7 and everyone took turns working at the family business. My childhood jobs were rolling coins (arcade money), painting apartments, renting apartments and stores, landscaping, and doing pretty much anything a small apartment complex.
After college I did some entrepreneurial things like a 90s version of Barstool Sports, spent a minute on Wall Street, and more time in real estate. I caught a break in business school, working at a VC firm in Japan, which is where I solidified my dream to work as a full time VC. Unfortunately, I had to take the long way around as I could not land a job after graduation. So I started back in real estate, did some rehabs and development. I later, invested in a couple entertainment products before finally returning to early stage investing – this time as an angel.
I began spending all of my time at the angel groups with the dream of one day being a real live, honest to goodness VC. After a few years volunteering my time at the angel groups I was able to connect with the guys starting Tacoma Venture Fund and we put a plan in place to start TVF. And here we are.
My career has had a million twists and turns and dead-ends before landing me at TVF. I think or all of the false-starts and frustration and realize they were all leading me to where I am now which is my dream job. In order to be successful you need the passion and commitment to make the necessary sacrifices it takes to be successful. If you are incapable or unwilling to make those sacrifices, you will not have success. You got to love it. I’ve never loved anything enough to make those sacrifices other than VC
What are your most successful investments so far?
The most successful ones are the one still operating. I am grateful to have about 20 still going strong and growing. I’ve done a few deals where I was in early that have had subsequent Series Seed or Series A raises, but I am still really early in my career and I’m still waiting for the “big one”. I am a proud investor of some great emerging companies such as Blokable, Ripl, Give InKind, Flavorcloud, Heroclip, Tribl, WeSolv, geeRemit, Cone and Steiner, and TVF’s newest investment Brightly.eco.
But no success feels as good as the disappointments feel bad. I’ll never get over the failures. It’s like losing a child.
Why should founders want you on their cap table?
Because I will have their back through thick or thin. They can text me 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days out of the year with good news, bad news, frustration, happiness and sadness and I will support them with every fiber of my being.
How many new pitches (actual calls/zooms) do you take per month?
Probably 30-40 if I’m counting a demo day or an angel group screening session. I hear anecdotes of VCs seeing more than that but I wouldn’t be able to be attentive to many more than that.
How many new investments do you make per year?
TVF will do between 6-12 this year including follow-ons. We are just getting going so it’s hard to say.
What's your sweet spot(s) in terms of check size, valuation, and vertical?
First institutional raise until about Series A. Check size ranges from $150K – $500K although we may allocate more for a follow-on with high conviction. We are sector agnostic and we like to get decent economics on the deal so we can have some upside. Nothing fancy.
What one portfolio company do you want to hype for us here?
If forced to pick, I’ll say our newest one – Brightly.eco. It is a platform for conscious consumers.
What do you think the next ten years looks like for Seattle/Pacific Northwest startups?
The next 10 years will be a very busy time for the PacNW ecosystem. We’ll see a lot of startups emerge with great prospects and really experienced teams. I’m optimistic that we will continue to lead the country in stimulating innovation at the early stages. Hopefully we are just getting warmed up.
I’d like to see the emergence of a few more great VC firms and emerging managers build big funds such as Ascend.vc and us at TVF so we can lead big rounds on the founders that we love. In order to do that we must attract more capital to our funds from outside of the ecosystem. There is more than just three funds in Seattle and there are a number of great investors at the earliest stages. In 10 years, I hope TVF will be on our $150M Fund III.
I’d like to see some of the cliquie-ness I see disappear and for more underserved founders get the opportunity to raise big rounds from the big firms. I’d like to see more large risks being taken on people that would not normally get a shot (female founders and minority led teams). I’d like to see more capital deployed in secondary cities like Portland and Tacoma.
What song is currently getting the most run on your Spotify/Apple Music?
I’ve been preparing for years to answer a question like this so I can come off as cool and hip, and in the know. Since everything, even my music choices, is an investment, I need come up with a banger.
SZA – Good Days
I’ve been obsessed with SZA since the CTRL album. She’s a transcendent talent and you can’t fake talent.
Favorite shoes?
I never had cool shoes. I grew up playing hockey so no one really had cool shoes. Back in the day though I liked those Bo Jackson Nikes? Have they re-issued those?
Favorite cooking ingredient?
I put a little bit of Salt and Pepper in everything I cook.
Anything else to say?
To me everything is an investment. In life we invest our time, our love, our passion. Life is too short to invest in anything for the wrong reasons. I only expect one thing from a founder – that they be impeccable with their word. I can deal with anything else, but I can’t deal with someone that is bad with their word.
VC is not an easy asset class. There is never enough capital, it is illiquid, companies take forever to grow, and there are thousands of reasons why a company will fail. In order to be successful in this asset class you need to put your heart and soul into the process of building innovative companies that are developing products that don’t exist. It’s scary and risky and filled with disappointment at every turn. To last as an early stage investor, you need to love it, otherwise you’ll be miserable.
I love investing in the early stage. I love the companies, I love the entrepreneurs, I love my co-investors (ahem Kirby Winfield ahem). There is nothing more interesting to me than talking investing with other investors. They are my “squad”. They are my tribe. I’ve never felt a sense of belonging in any other walk of life. I want to be a Pro at this, an All Star, a HOFer, the G.O.A.T.