The "4pm on a Saturday" Test VCs Use on Founders | Skylar Dorosin, nvp Capital

Skylar Dorosin breaks down how she and NVP Capital evaluate founders building vertical AI in the least glamorous corners of the economy: healthcare, industrials, fintech, physical AI. She opens on her path from operator to investor, joining BetterUp as its 13th employee and building compliance products at Justworks before realizing she "couldn't not join" NVP. Her core thesis: in under-digitized spaces the real question isn't the tech, it's how you make the frontline worker —the nurse, the attorney, the person on the assembly line — the superhero, rather than building another executive dashboard. She gets specific on the red flags that make her check out: a founder who leads with "$4 million in contracted ARR," the manufactured urgency of a fake exploding offer (she once got the "I have until 2:00" call at 1:58 and passed on the spot), and the market-size slide she wishes founders would just delete. Her standout contrarian take: speed beats polish early — she'll take the founder who answers due diligence in eight minutes over the one who takes eight hours with a better answer, because "if you take eight hours, you're done." The episode closes with a run of Fund It or Pass scenarios and a rapid-fire round on green flags, deck pet peeves, and why she asks every founder about where they went to high school before she'll hear about the market. Please visit our website to get more information: https://www.rho.co/ 🔔𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.    / @rhobusiness   In this video we break down everything you need to know about funding your startup 🔗 Stay Connected With Us. Twitter (X): https://x.com/rhobusiness LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rhobusiness/ Website: https://www.rho.co/ 📩 For business inquiries: [email protected]