VC: How VCs Evaluate Technical Founders (TAM, Moats & Diligence), with Amanda Robson, Founder and GP of Modern Technical Fund
Podcast: The GTMnow PodcastPublished On: Tue Feb 17 2026
Description: Amanda “Robby” Robson (Founder of Modern Technical Fund) joins GTMnow to break down how she evaluates companies at the very earliest stages and why discipline matters more than ever in today’s market.Amanda has spent over a decade in venture before launching Modern Technical Fund, investing across verticals ranging from security and compliance to developer tools at firms like Norwest and Cowboy Ventures. Her investment thesis is centered on backing elite technical founders early and helping them translate deep engineering talent into real products, real customers, and real momentum.In this conversation, we unpack how Amanda thinks about founder quality, market timing, and risk when there’s limited data and plenty of noise, which is more critical than ever in an AI-heavy investing environment.Guest LinksAmanda’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-robson-7227685b/Amanda’s Twitter: https://x.com/robby_mtfModern Technical Fund’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/modern-technical-fund/Modern Technical Fund website: https://moderntechnicalfund.com/Host links: Max - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/Max - X: https://x.com/HackItMaxPaul - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulsirving/Paul - X: https://x.com/PaulGTMNewsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.comBrought 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.Transcript available under the episode here: https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/Subscribe to GTMnow for the latest episodes! https://gtmnow.com/Highlights:00:00 – Why Modern Technical Fund exclusively backs technical founders02:15 – What actually defines a “technical founder” beyond coding ability03:45 – Why product judgment and customer instinct matter early05:05 – How early teams split engineering and go-to-market roles07:10 – When investor advice helps and when it gets in the way09:05 – Why calibrating the hiring bar matters more than providing playbooks12:40 – How network-driven support helps founders see what “great” looks like15:45 – Why valuation discipline sets the bar in today’s market17:10 – When first-time founders become too risky at certain prices19:40 – How early-stage defensibility often comes down to the team27:20 – Why TAM momentum matters more than static market size30:30 – How small markets quietly turn into billion-dollar categories39:55 – What separates real AI companies from AI theater41:40 – Why infrastructure and data tools benefit most from AI tailwindsFor inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email gtmnow@gtmfund.comGTMnow is a media brand brought to you by VC firm, GTMfund: https://gtmfund.com/Follow us on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow/Follow us on X (Twitter):https://x.com/GTMnow_Follow us on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGQM23b5lZbcfLtHAe87J_AFollow us on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@gtmnow_Follow us on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/gtmnow_/
The note was deleted
The note was saved
Your message was sent