From AngelList to OnDeck to Blackbird, David has spent a decade designing the connective tissue between people, products, and ideas.
NZ's own David Booth now joins a16z as Partner and Head of Ecosystem.
His mission: make a16z the F1 pit crew of venture, where network power compounds and every founder gets faster.
David helped build one of the world’s most impactful founder communities through On Deck, helping over 1,000 startups raise more than $2B. But his path wasn’t conventional. He built momentum quietly — through community, consistency, and backing other founders long before becoming a VC himself.
In this conversation, David shares how he went from building a dinner-table movement to being invited to join one of the most powerful VC firms in the world.
It’s a story about showing up, lifting others, and trusting that if you do the hard things well, people will notice.
How On Deck grew from idea to $20M+ revenue and a $70M raise
Lessons from his time as Entrepreneur in Residence at Blackbird
How building a Kiwi founder network in SF led to a16z
What great VCs actually look for in early-stage founders
Why advising others made him a better founder — and now a better investor
🔑 Topics Covered:
The crossroad moment where he almost walked away from the company he built
Why fundraising is just as much about self-awareness as it is about metrics
How scaling culture is the real moat, and why most startups miss it
The psychological shift from operator to investor — and what founders still get wrong
Why joining a16z isn’t the finish line—it’s the beginning of a new mission
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