In January, we welcomed Travis Bryant to join Redpoint as an Executive-in-Residence. Nine months later, we are welcoming him again as our first Partner of Founder Experience. Travis has always been one to think about ways to change the game. He excelled during his time at Salesforce and helped Optimizely grow to great heights from very early days as the first executive hire. Throughout his many successes, he’s always looking to innovate.

When we first met, he told me the Chief Revenue Officer title made no sense to him. “Why would you tell your customer that the most important thing to you is the revenue they provide you?” he asked rhetorically. Instead, he said, “the title should be Chief Customer Officer since the customer should always be the first priority.”

Over the last 10 years, venture capitalism has changed quite a bit. Venture capitalists must provide better service to their founders and ecosystem. Travis is joining Redpoint to do exactly that, and it starts with the right title: Founder Experience. At Redpoint, we care deeply about founders. Many of us have been founders and more of us operators. We understand and empathize with the rollercoaster of experiences and situations that can change emotions from complete euphoria to total despair within just a few hours.

It’s a hard journey. But we aim to support our founders and ecosystem throughout it - to be the first call in both cases. And on that call, channel a little Rudyard Kipling: “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster; And treat those two impostors just the same…”

We host events to educate and share wisdom. We publish blogs and landscapes to disseminate knowledge. We deploy capital to help companies grow. All of it is in service of this magical ecosystem that we are privileged to be a part of. Investing in Founder Experience is the next important step in that effort.

Over the next few quarters and beyond, we will be iterating on our efforts to support the founder journey. From the time before a founder has heard of Redpoint, to the first time hearing about the firm, to their first interactions, to the investment process, all the way through the ultimate conclusion of their effort and beyond.

We’re thrilled to welcome someone of Travis’ caliber into a key role at Redpoint, and we’re keen to see what he has in store for delivering a world-class Founder Experience.