Seattle VC Profile: Geoff Harris, Flying Fish

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

Every time I talk to Geoff Harris I learn something. How best to work with founders, how to manage workflows, how to consider fundraising as an emerging VC - he’s incredibly generous with his experience and that most precious resource, his time. As a founding GP at Flying Fish, Geoff is changing the way SaaS- and AI-focused founders think about fundraising; increasingly, Flying Fish leads rounds that Valley firms would have scooped up in years past. We’re fortunate he shared more about his approach below.

What made you decide to be a professional investor?

The partners at Flying Fish were all angel investors in Seattle. We noticed that while angel checks were reasonably plentiful and a Series A was achievable if you could get to the right metrics, (Valley firms have traditionally entered the PNW market at Series A) companies had a really hard time raising a seed round from institutional investors locally. We felt this region deserved more seed capital and thus we started Flying Fish.

What did you do before becoming an investor and how does that benefit your founders?

Along with my partner, Frank Chang, I worked on speech and natural language at Microsoft. A core part of the thesis of Flying Fish is that machine learning and AI will fundamentally transform all industries. We look to invest in companies using ML/AI to competitive advantage. Companies started in 2021 have to have AI/ML at the core. Our background working at the forefront of these technologies gives us a unique perspective on what to look for and how to help our founders, whether that be recruiting talent, connecting them with advisors or signing up our former colleagues as customers.

What are your most successful investments so far?

We’re proud of helping achieve a great exit for AR company Streem which was a win for founders, investors and acquirer. That balance is not always easy to achieve.

Why should founders want you on their cap table?

First and foremost because we help get seed rounds done quickly. Our objective is to lead rounds and help founders syndicate so they can get back to building. Once we are working with a company we will do whatever is needed for that company. We don’t have a set playbook and are very responsive to the needs of the founders whether that be first customer connections, deep technical consulting, hiring or just a sounding board when things get rough. My partner, Heather Redman, has a particular skill in helping our founders find first customers in more obscure industries. Her network is beyond impressive.

How many new pitches (actual calls/zooms) do you take per month?

Highly variable, but it averages out to 50/month

How many new investments do you make per year?

Between 4-8

What's your sweet spot(s) in terms of check size, valuation, and vertical?

Our thesis is all around AI/ML. There are two types for us. One is platform AI/ML where the AI/ML is the business. Think of this as being tools that help practitioners build better models or broad developer APIs utilizing AI/ML techniques. The other is applied AI/ML which constitutes the bulk of our investments. Here our key question is whether the AI/ML is providing a competitive differentiation for the business – but the business could be in almost any vertical, per our notion that all industries will be disrupted by these technologies.

What one portfolio company do you want to hype for us here?

The parent in me would not want to recognize one companies achievements over another’s.

What do you think the next ten years looks like for Seattle/Pacific Northwest startups?

Nothing but bullish. We have the world’s greatest technology talent, great universities, high quality of life and a rational startup ecosystem. Things are very bright. We could use the Sonics back though.