Hi, I’m Robin Haak. I’m an entrepreneur and active investor, and today I'm excited to unveil "Robin Fund l," which has been crafted to put founders first.

Why 

Having been a founder myself, from ideation to unicorn, I want to offer my experience and network to help position early-stage founders for long-term success. I get energized by being a sparring partner and giving it my all to help leaders and their organization's scale. 

As a founder, I’ve worked on building software and technology solutions to meaningful problems and continue to do so as an investor. 

I see value in reducing unnecessary friction and making the world more effortless, while maintaining a positive impact with my "DNA for good" approach. The “Robin Fund I” venture fund is small by design, enabling me to collaborate with entrepreneurs and value-add investors actively. Working as a solo GP allows me to be fast, nimble, efficient, accountable, and perform with high conviction.

The journey that got me here

#early After co-founding an accelerator early in my career, I was the first investor in the unicorn fintech startup N26 and more than 40 other startups. I worked hard to attract the N26 team to join us at a conference, where I convinced them to take us on their cap table and join us in our accelerator. 

I loved my job, and we were very successful, but it was the beginning of my investment career, and I lacked experience. I wanted to earn the position of being able to share knowledge and first-row experiences. This job was all about setting my north star. 

#founder When founding Jobspotting, we, as founders, paid ourselves minimum wage for three long years, during which I pitched hundreds of investors. It was a humbling experience that taught me patience, resilience, and perseverance, but first and foremost, it taught me about team love and the importance of gratitude. With a deep-tech AI/ML product, we were ahead of our time but managed a good exit, and I learned how to build around significant problems. This job taught me about startup and team values. 

#operator When joining and investing in SmartRecruiters, I moved part-time to San Francisco, where I took on the global operations for selling Enterprise B2B SaaS software globally, building and expanding the international go-to-market function. I took care of fundraising, and with this, I learned to have responsibility for hundreds of employees. Being in a fast-growing environment headquartered in the USA turns you into an athlete; you work on excellence and flawless execution, learn from the best, including your peers/coworkers, and work hard. This job taught me all about leadership. 

#growth When building Revaia, I learned the value of "high conviction." Not following the herd and doing extensive and hard work on deals and portfolios, but instead, sourcing, picking, winning, valuing, constructing, helping, and returning. It helped me understand my deep love for portfolio work and the ways in which I can add value. I was thankful and happy to be able to partner and work with outstanding entrepreneurs at companies such as Aircall, Getaccept, Fronitfy, and more. This job was about finding purpose. 

How and what?

#focus Through Fund One, I will primarily invest in Angel, Pre-Seed to Series A, and occasionally in Growth-stage companies. I am vertical agnostic and will focus on software and technology solutions to significant problems.

#community I will continue to build communities - as I am and have been on advisory boards such as Slush, Wo\men Inc., and Stepstone - it’s a passion of mine to help others grow and provide advice where I can. 

Today, I see myself shifting from the building to the service industry. Serving founders is my pleasure, but likewise, I will serve my limited partners by delivering superior returns and involving and connecting all of my partners in an equal way. I want everyone working with me to join this community and become successful together while having fun.  

#dailywork I am highly flexible on the round compilation: I do not care about stake and want to enable the correct round and syndicate for every company every time: high conviction and fast decision-making with high accountability, responsibility, transparency, respect, and trust. I will be working on creating real value in the entrepreneurial corner and working very hard one-on-one as a partner and friend, not as a brand or firm. 

Thank you

I have so much respect for this new role, but there is no courage without fear. I know it’s hard to do a solo GP, but this is how I can best serve both investors and founders. 

Thank you all for supporting my journey! I am thrilled and honored that you have read this far. I’m now off to fundraising and will complete the first closing as soon as possible, so I can start investing in outstanding entrepreneurs and help them build pre-eminent companies that make a real impact. I can't wait for it. 

Again, I am grateful for all of your support – thank you!

Sincerely,
Robin