VC 3: Investing Philosophy for 2026: What Founders Should Know

Mark Goldberg is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Chemistry, a new early-stage venture firm with a $350M debut fund backing standout software companies from Seed to Series A. Prior to Chemistry, Mark was a Partner at Index Ventures, where he led early-stage investments across software and fintech for nearly a decade. Before Index, Mark was one of the first business hires at Dropbox, helping the company navigate hypergrowth. Discussed in this episodeWhy Mark studied international relations, and why venture feels like “the liberal arts of jobs”Index’s US “invisibility” era and what that taught him about building a new firmThe Chemistry spinout thesis: “take great multi-stage DNA, reconstitute it with focus”Fund design: pre-seed → seed → A, light reserves, and concentrated doubling-downHiring strategy: network access > spreadsheet diligenceCulture principles: excellence, performance, “no one takes themselves too seriously”Conviction-based investing vs consensus IC, and why omissions are the real killerThe hardest lesson in venture: managing co-founder dynamics (and when to just listen)Episode highlights00:00 — “A+ people want to work with A+ people.”01:46 — GTMfund’s 2026 prediction: big players come roaring back (Google, Meta, Microsoft, Uber/Waymo).14:51 — GTMfund platform metrics: thousands of support items, intros, hires, and fundraising connects.26:29 — Why Mark left Index to build Chemistry: big-fund lessons, rebuilt with focus.33:39 — Chemistry’s strategy: early-stage focus, light reserves, and building for “product-market discovery.”44:05 — “Venture doesn’t scale well.” Why Chemistry stays small to avoid bureaucracy.49:59 — Events that actually work: chess tournaments, surfing, and hobby-driven gathering > happy hours.54:56 — Investment process: conviction, not consensus—optimize for outliers, not averages.1:10:32 — Hardest lesson in venture: co-founder dynamics, and learning when to listen (not “advise”).Brought to you by: AngelListFrom starting as a small, operator-led rolling fund, to evolving to an institutional platform, AngelList has been a core partner in every phase of GTMfund’s growth. Their software-first fund admin infrastructure allowed us to scale without sacrificing agility — from onboarding hundreds of LPs seamlessly to handling compliance, capital calls, and reporting as our fund size evolved.As we expanded from Fund I to Fund II, AngelList took care of the back-office operations, allowing us to stay focused on what matters most: investing in world-class founders and building the strongest go-to-market network in venture. They’ve scaled with us across funds and into the future.If your fund is growing in size or complexity, check them out at www.angellist.com/gtmfund.Follow Mark GoldbergLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-goldberg-25458110X (Twitter): https://x.com/Mark_Goldberg_X (formerly Twitter)Chemistry (website): https://www.chemistry.vc/ChemistryThe GTMnow Podcast The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.