How do I pitch Jesse Robbins?

Jesse Robbins invests at the seed and early stage in AI, developer tools, and cloud infrastructure. The best way to reach him is through a warm introduction from a founder in his network — he reads every intro that comes through and responds to most.

What gets his attention: founders with deep technical insight who are building something they desperately need to exist. He looks for what he calls the “surprise test” — a product that changes how you think about a problem from the first time you use it. Tailscale was like that. Continue was like that. If the reaction is “oh, this is what it should have been all along,” that’s a strong signal.

He’s less interested in pitch-perfect narratives than in real usage and honest thinking about hard problems. His evaluation is shaped by his own experience founding companies — he has built from zero, navigated open-source business models, and understands the specific demands of selling to developers. He’s been the founder in the room, and he invests accordingly.