On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2021. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Brendan ↗
In their words
The big thing that I look for with small business software is logo growth. It's not about some ARR scale — it's about the quantity of new logos that you're adding month over month.
The number one thing is having that hyper ambition, and getting on the same page there — making sure that everybody's aligned with trying to build a public company in the next six or seven years.
It's a battle in every single market. The goal is to win, to be dominant, and so just getting them in that right mindset is the number one thing.
More from TechTO ×1
Around the web ×2
Quick answers
Who is Brendan Wales?
A general partner and one of three founding partners of Fuse, an early-stage venture firm in Seattle that spun out of Ignition Partners. He moved his family from the Bay Area to join in 2021, after nine years at the global firm then called e.ventures and now Headline.
What does he look for in a company?
Product first, then the rate at which customers arrive. For small-business software he tracks new logos added month over month rather than absolute ARR, on the reasoning that logo velocity shows both customer love and how big the market really is.
What does he tell Canadian founders?
To set the ambition explicitly. He told TechTO the most useful thing he does with founders outside the Bay Area is align everyone on what building a public company in six or seven years actually requires — hiring pace, burn, logo growth — because that mindset is less commonly modelled locally.