What is the primary investment thesis of Earl Grey Capital Fund II?

The fund focuses on the 'programmatic layers of the internet.' This specifically includes APIs, protocols, and platforms. The GPs leverage their background as founders of Clearbit, a successful API-first business, to identify and support companies building technical infrastructure at the early stage.

How does the team demonstrate their value to founders?

Slide 4 uses a case study of NexHealth to show the 'Earl Grey in practice' model. It illustrates how GP Alex MacCaw introduced the founder to their eventual lead investor, Josh Buckley, and helped fill the round with 'super angels.' This positions the GPs as connectors rather than just sources of capital.

What are the specific performance metrics of their first fund?

According to slide 5, Fund I deployed $8.5M across 72 investments and 6 SPVs. It achieved an 85th percentile performance ranking on AngelList. The portfolio includes 3 unicorns and 16 markups over 5x, with top performers showing valuation multiples between 700% and 8000%.

Who are the General Partners and what is their background?

The fund is run by Amit Vasudev, Alex MacCaw, and Matt Sornson. They are the co-founders of Clearbit, which they grew to over $50M in ARR. Their background is deeply rooted in the developer and startup communities, which they cite as a primary source of deal flow.

What incentives do they offer to their Limited Partners (LPs)?

Beyond standard returns, slide 7 outlines three benefits for LPs: the ability to co-invest, a 'Deal Partner' arrangement where LPs can earn carry on deals they introduce, and access to networking opportunities within the portfolio. This encourages an active, rather than passive, LP base.

Earl Grey Capital Fund II Pitch Deck (2022) Breakdown

See all 8 slides of the Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck, with a slide-by-slide teardown of what the deck does well and where it falls short.

Earl Grey Capital, led by Clearbit co-founders Amit Vasudev, Matt Sornson, and Alex MacCaw, utilizes an 8-slide deck to raise their $20M Fund II. The presentation is a textbook example of 'operator-led' venture capital, focusing heavily on the GPs' ability to win deals through their technical reputation and founder-friendly reputation. Rather than relying on theoretical market sizes, the deck showcases a high-velocity investing track record from Fund I, including 110 investments and 3 unicorns. By highlighting a network of over 80 high-profile LPs—including David Sacks and Josh Kopelman—the G…

Key takeaways

The fund targets a $20M raise focused on the 'programmatic layers of the internet,' specifically APIs, protocols, and platforms as stated on slide 1.
The GPs leverage their operational success at Clearbit, citing a $50M+ ARR API business and 1000+ customers on slide 3.
Investing velocity is a core theme, with the team reporting 110 total investments, 72 of which occurred across 2021-22 as noted on slide 3.
Slide 5 provides a detailed performance table showing valuation multiples for top portfolio companies, including SWORD Health at 8000% and Crossbeam at 3674%.
Fund I performance is benchmarked at the 85th percentile on AngelList, with $8.5M deployed across 72 investments as seen on slide 5.
The deck utilizes a specific case study for NexHealth on slide 4 to demonstrate how the GPs provide value beyond capital through introductions to lead investors like Josh Buckley.
The LP base is a significant part of the pitch, featuring 80+ LPs including prominent names like Ryan Hoover, Hiten Shah, and David Sacks on slide 6.
The fund offers a 'Deal Partner' incentive where LPs can earn carry on any deal they introduce to the fund, according to slide 7.

The Power of the Operator-Investor

The Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck is a lean, 8-slide presentation that prioritizes speed, reputation, and track record over traditional venture capital fluff. In an era where 'operator-led' funds are proliferating, this deck serves as a blueprint for how to transition from successful founder to professional investor. The GPs—Amit Vasudev, Matt Sornson, and Alex MacCaw—rely heavily on their Clearbit pedigree to establish immediate credibility with potential Limited Partners (LPs).

Slide 1: The Thesis

The cover slide does more than just name the fund. It establishes a clear, technical niche: "A 20M early-stage fund focused on APIs, protocols, and platforms – the programmatic layers of the internet." By defining their focus as the "programmatic layers," they signal to LPs that they are not generalists. They are specialists in the exact type of business they built with Clearbit. The inclusion of the GPs' names and photos at the bottom reinforces that this is a talent-led vehicle.

Slide 2: Portfolio Highlights

Slide 2 is a pure social proof slide. It features six logos: NexHealth, Census, Mutiny, Royal, Syndicate, and Thirdweb. Beneath each logo, they list the valuation and the high-profile co-investors or lead investors. For example, NexHealth is listed at $1B with Buckley/a16z, and Census at $650M with Sequoia. This slide serves two purposes: it proves they can get into competitive deals and shows that the 'smart money' in Silicon Valley (a16z, Sequoia, Tiger Global) follows their lead.

Slide 3: Team Track Record

This slide bridges the gap between their operational past and their investing future. Under the heading "Co-founded Clearbit," they list impressive metrics: $50M+ ARR, 1000+ customers, and 800,000+ users. This isn't just vanity; it's a justification for their thesis. If you are investing in APIs, you want the team that built a $50M ARR API business. The bottom half of the slide transitions to their investing activity, noting 110 total investments, with a staggering 72 of those occurring in the 2021-22 window. This indicates a high-velocity, high-conviction approach.

Slide 4: The 'In Practice' Case Study

Slide 4 is perhaps the most important slide for a new fund. It explains the 'how.' Using NexHealth as a case study, it tracks the company from a Series A at a $35M valuation to a Series C at a $1B valuation. The text explains that GP Alex MacCaw provided the initial advice and introduced the founder to Josh Buckley, who led the round. This narrative counters the common LP fear that small funds are just 'passive checks.' It proves Earl Grey adds tangible value by navigating founders toward lead capital and top-tier angels like Naval Ravikant and Harry Stebbings.

Slide 5: Investing Track Record (The Data)

While slide 2 was about logos, slide 5 is about the math. It features a table showing "Valuation Multiple %" for 12 portfolio companies. The numbers are aggressive: SWORD Health at 8000, Crossbeam at 3674, and NexHealth at 2857. To the left, they summarize Fund I: $8.5M deployed, 72 investments, 3 unicorns, and an 85th percentile performance ranking on AngelList. This data-heavy approach is designed to satisfy the analytical requirements of institutional LPs or family offices who need to see realized or marked-up gains before committing to Fund II.

Slide 6: The LP Network

Slide 6 highlights the "80+ LPs onboard." By categorizing them into "Investors" and "Founders, Operators, Emerging Managers, Partners," Earl Grey shows the breadth of their network. The list of names is a 'who's who' of the tech ecosystem: David Sacks, Josh Kopelman, Ryan Hoover, and Hiten Shah. For a prospective LP, seeing these names creates a 'fear of missing out' (FOMO) and suggests that by joining the fund, they are joining an elite syndicate of information sharing.

Slide 7: The LP Value Proposition

This slide explicitly states what LPs get beyond just financial returns. It lists "Co-invest with us," "Deal partner (Carry on any deal you intro)," and "Network opportunities." The 'Deal Partner' mention is a clever tactical move. It incentivizes their 80+ LPs to act as a decentralized sourcing engine, effectively giving the $20M fund the reach of a much larger firm. They also clarify that both QP (Qualified Purchaser) and non-QP investors are eligible, provided they are accredited, widening the net for potential capital.

Slide 8: Resources

The final slide is a simple directory of links to their memo, team bios, full portfolio, and Fund I updates. This transparency is a hallmark of the 'new' wave of venture capital, where GPs provide LPs with the same level of data and documentation that they would expect from their own portfolio companies.

What Earl Grey Capital Does Well

The strength of this deck lies in its brevity and focus . It does not waste time explaining why the internet is growing or why APIs are important. It assumes the audience is sophisticated enough to understand the market and instead focuses entirely on why this specific team is the best at capturing that market. The use of a specific case study (NexHealth) to illustrate their value-add is much more effective than a generic list of 'services' like recruiting or marketing support. Furthermore, the transparency regarding their Fund I performance—specifically the 85th percentile ranking—provides a hard benchmark that is difficult for LPs to ignore.

What is Missing from the Deck

While the deck is highly effective for a specific type of investor, it omits several traditional elements. There is no mention of management fees or fund terms (though these may have been in the linked memo). There is also no discussion of the competitive landscape of other seed-stage funds. The GPs assume their 'operator' status is a unique enough differentiator. Additionally, there is no mention of the target number of investments for Fund II or the expected check size, which are standard metrics LPs use to model their own portfolio construction. Finally, the deck lacks a macro-economic outlook ; it was raised in 2022, a volatile time, yet it remains focused entirely on internal metrics.

Founder and GP Takeaways: What to Copy

Focus on the 'Programmatic' Niche: Don't just say you invest in 'SaaS.' Define the specific layer of the stack you understand better than anyone else. · Use a 'Deal Partner' Model: If you are raising a smaller fund, incentivize your LPs to bring you deals by offering them a share of the carry. It turns your cap table into a sales force. · Visualizing the 'Follow-on' Path: Slide 4's bar chart showing the valuation growth from Series A to C, along with who led those rounds, is a brilliant way to show that you are a 'kingmaker' who can get companies to the next level. · The Power of the Table: Instead of just listing logos, list the multiples. In a fund deck, the math is the only thing that eventually matters. · Social Proof as a Moat: If you have high-profile LPs, name them. In venture capital, your network is your net worth, and this deck leverages that principle to the maximum.

Frequently asked questions

What is the primary investment thesis of Earl Grey Capital Fund II?: The fund focuses on the 'programmatic layers of the internet.' This specifically includes APIs, protocols, and platforms. The GPs leverage their background as founders of Clearbit, a successful API-first business, to identify and support companies building technical infrastructure at the early stage.
How does the team demonstrate their value to founders?: Slide 4 uses a case study of NexHealth to show the 'Earl Grey in practice' model. It illustrates how GP Alex MacCaw introduced the founder to their eventual lead investor, Josh Buckley, and helped fill the round with 'super angels.' This positions the GPs as connectors rather than just sources of capital.
What are the specific performance metrics of their first fund?: According to slide 5, Fund I deployed $8.5M across 72 investments and 6 SPVs. It achieved an 85th percentile performance ranking on AngelList. The portfolio includes 3 unicorns and 16 markups over 5x, with top performers showing valuation multiples between 700% and 8000%.
Who are the General Partners and what is their background?: The fund is run by Amit Vasudev, Alex MacCaw, and Matt Sornson. They are the co-founders of Clearbit, which they grew to over $50M in ARR. Their background is deeply rooted in the developer and startup communities, which they cite as a primary source of deal flow.
What incentives do they offer to their Limited Partners (LPs)?: Beyond standard returns, slide 7 outlines three benefits for LPs: the ability to co-invest, a 'Deal Partner' arrangement where LPs can earn carry on deals they introduce, and access to networking opportunities within the portfolio. This encourages an active, rather than passive, LP base.

Cover slide of the Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck — 2022 — Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck, slide 1 (2022)

Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck: the facts

Company: Earl Grey Capital Fund II
Year: 2022
Slides: 8
Sector: Venture Capital

Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck PDF

The full Earl Grey Capital Fund II deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck was used for

This is Earl Grey Capital’s Fund II deck, used in 2022 to raise an early-stage venture fund. The deck positions the firm as a Clearbit-founder-led GP team and emphasizes its ability to help founders get lead investors and introductions, not just capital. The deck also shows that the fund targeted both QP and non-QP accredited investors, including founders, operators, co-investors, and partners.

Business model: Venture capital fund

Round: Early-stage venture fund
Year: 2022
Raising: Fund II
Raised: ~$20M
Founders: Amit Vasudev, Matt Sornson, Alex MacCaw
Industry: Venture Capital
Total funding: $20M

Use of funds as presented: Investing in pre-seed and seed-stage companies; the deck also frames value-add support around introductions, co-investment, and network access.

What happened after the Earl Grey Capital Fund II deck

The deck was used to raise Fund II in 2022, but later public reporting indicates the fund had not ultimately matched the deck’s ~$20M target and was still active in 2026.

Later public fund-update page states Fund II had raised about $13M and had called 44% of commitments by July 2026.
The same page reports a portfolio of 14 pre-seed and seed-stage companies.
The public update reports 1.80x Net TVPI, ~33.5% Net IRR, and 0.16x DPI as of July 2026.

What the Earl Grey Capital Fund II deck got right

Strong GP signaling. The deck is anchored by the founders’ Clearbit pedigree, which gives the fund immediate credibility for LPs evaluating a small, founder-led vehicle.
Clear value-add mechanism. The pitch is concrete about how the fund adds value: introducing founders to lead investors, super angels, and other network participants.
Tangible case-study framing. The deck uses a specific transaction example to show the firm helping a company reach a lead and complete a round, rather than speaking only in abstractions.
Broader LP eligibility. The offer is inclusive and flexible, explicitly stating both QP and non-QP accredited investors can participate.
Eventually measurable fund performance. The later public update indicates the fund produced measurable performance, including Net TVPI and Net IRR figures, which supports the fund’s eventual track record even though those results were not available at deck time.

What could have been stronger

Sparse fund-economics disclosure. The visible deck excerpt does not show a full fund strategy breakdown, portfolio construction, fee/carry terms, or return assumptions, so it is hard to evaluate economics from the deck alone.
Unclear final fund size. The raise target in the deck (~$20M) does not match the later public fund-update figure (~$13M raised), so the final closed amount is not clearly established from the deck itself.
Limited evidence of sourcing repeatability. The deck excerpt relies heavily on social proof and a single relationship-driven example, but it does not provide a broader sampling of sourcing repeatability across multiple deals.

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

The team is anchored by Clearbit co-founders, which is a strong signaling asset in a small early-stage venture fund.
The slide text shows the firm pitching concrete help with introductions to lead investors and super angels, not just passive capital.
The deck’s use of a specific company example suggests a network-driven sourcing and syndication strategy.

Risks that stand out

The deck may overstate the final raise size relative to what was ultimately closed.
A network-heavy strategy can be hard to scale without repeated founder access and consistent co-investor appetite.
The excerpted deck provides little transparency on fund terms, portfolio construction, or downside management.

Questions this deck invites

Did Fund II close at the advertised ~$20M target, or at a materially different final size?
How much of Fund II was allocated to pre-seed versus seed, and what concentration limits were used?
What share of outcomes came from the network-introduction value proposition versus conventional lead-investor participation?
Which investments in Fund II can be directly attributed to the Clearbit-founder network shown in the deck?

What founders can take from the Earl Grey Capital Fund II deck

A small fund can lean on founder credibility and relationships more effectively than on complex fund modeling.
A single well-chosen deal example can communicate a value proposition around introductions, syndication, and leverage.
For venture fund decks, the closing mechanism matters: showing how the GP helps complete rounds can be a stronger pitch than abstract platform claims.
If a fund’s final size differs from its original target, later public updates become important for reconciling the story.

Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck: common questions

How much did Earl Grey Capital Fund II raise?

The deck itself says Fund II was a ~$20M raise in 2022, and the deck listing repeats that amount and year. A later fund-update page says Fund II actually raised about $13M and had called 44% of commitments by July 2026, so the deck’s raise target and the eventual closed size appear to differ.

Who were the GPs behind the Fund II deck?

The deck credits Amit Vasudev, Matt Sornson, and Alex MacCaw as the team behind the fund. A public deck listing also describes them as the Clearbit co-founders running Earl Grey Capital.

Who was the fund trying to raise from?

The visible slides suggest the fund was marketed as an early-stage vehicle focused on founders, operators, co-investors, and partners who want to work actively together. The excerpted text also says both QP and non-QP investors were eligible as long as they were accredited.

What stage and strategy was this fund deck for?

The deck title and public descriptions identify it as Fund II, and the excerpted slides suggest the firm was positioning around its own operating experience and network rather than a formal institutional platform.

What kind of companies did Fund II invest in after the raise?

The slide text references introducing a company founder to Josh Buckley and filling out a round with super angels and founders, which indicates the deck was selling access to deal flow and value-add introductions. The later fund-performance page shows the fund did deploy into pre-seed and seed-stage companies.

Sources

Funding and outcome facts on this page were researched on 2026-08-21 from the pages below.

Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck slides

Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck slide 1 of 8 — Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck — slide 1 of 8

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Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck slide 4 of 8 — Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck — slide 4 of 8

Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck slide 5 of 8 — Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck — slide 5 of 8

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What each slide of the Earl Grey Capital Fund II pitch deck says

Slide 1

- 7 pl - A 20M early-stage fund focused on APIs, \ =| protocols, and platforms - the programmatic £ layers of the internet. &l By Amit Vasudev, Alex MacCaw and Matt Sornson

Slide 3

Team track record €) Co-founded Clearbit - $50M+ ARR API business - 1000+ customers - 800,000+ users across free and paid products i - Deep roots within startup & developer communities -l Investing - 110investments - 72 across 2021-22

Slide 4

"Once decided to raise, reached out to Alex MacCaw for advice. He introduced me to Josh Buckley and a strong group of super angels and founders like Des Traynor, Naval Ravikant, Rahul Vohra, and Harry Stebbings. We decided to accept Josh's term sheet, close out our other offers, «and get back to work." In practice @lmnh Alamin Uddn reaches out to Earl Grey inbound. EGC commits 10 Invest and introduces Alamin to his eventual lead (Josh Buckiey). Earl Grey and Buckley help fill out the round with super Tiger leads Series <2 years later at 18 cap. Earl Grey TIGERGLOBAL

Slide 5

. emecnnoraie |NVEStiNG track record Investing since 2019 As Company & Valuation Multiple % = Follow on & Co-investors SWORD Health ~~ 8000 Founder's Fund Khosla Sapphire General Catalyst i iro 8 Crossbeam 3674 al6z Redpoint - 16 markups over 5x © NexHealth 2857 al6z Josh Buckley Tiger Global - unicorns 8 Census 2520 Sequoia Tiger Global © oxygen 2401 Tribe Capital Ankur Nagpal YC Fund | + TrueWork 1620 Khosla Sequoia -$8.5M deployed B simplified 1000 Craft 8bit Todd Goldberg/Rahul Vohra Bobby Goodlatte - 72 investments 6 SPVs) © Trellis Technologi 971 QED General Catalyst - 20+ markups 0 Royal 800 162 Coinbase Ventures Founder's Fund Chainsmoker - 85th AL performance percentile £5 Field Tr…

Slide 6

80+ LPs onboard Investors Founder, Operators, Emerging Managers, Partners David Sacks Ryan Hoover Jaleh Rezai Josh Buckley Ankur Nagpal Auren Hoffman Jeff Fagnan Calvin French-Owen Hiten Shah Josh Hannah Eoghan McCabe Eric Feldman Josh Kopelman JD Ross Justin Mares + 70 more

Slide 7

What you get: Co-invest with us Deal partner Carry on any deal you intro Network Opportunities with portfolio Investors We are looking for founders, operators, co-investors and partners who want to actively work together. Both QP and non-QP investors are eligible (but must be accredited).

Slide text above is read directly from the Earl Grey Capital Fund II deck PDF embedded on this page.