Friends,

Today we are excited to announce Elbow Grease: A Hardworking AI Accelerator, brought to you by Gutter Capital.  While it may sound like something entirely new, it is in fact a return to our roots.

In 2019, after I sold Managed by Q to WeWork, I began advising a handful of companies in NYC including Opus, Bikky and Faraday.  I was drawn to mission-driven founders who had hard learned insights, but limited experience building software.  I helped them navigate to product-market-fit and build world-class teams from my network. In the depths of COVID, we rented a small office together in Chinatown and formed an in-person community in a WFH world. It was a bright light in a dark time.

In 2021, inspired by the opportunity to lead seed rounds Forerunner, Bikky, and Opus, we raised a small fund.  Gutter Capital was born. Fast forward exactly 4-years, and our Fund I is in the top 5% of all venture funds in the world. Gutter companies are 3x more likely to graduate from Seed to Series A.  Gutter HQ moved across Canal Street, and is now home to 50 people across 10 companies.

Elbow Grease is back to basics – working with a small group of founders and doing everything in our power to help them succeed.  We do not aspire to build a start-up factory, or a finishing school for fancy fundraisers.  This is not a speed run through our world, but rather the first steps in a lifelong partnership.

We are looking for a few founders hell-bent on building companies of consequence to join our small but mighty community. If you think that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.

With love and elbow grease,