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 Links
Amanda’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-robson-7227685b/
Amanda’s Twitter: https://x.com/robby_mtf
Modern 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/HackItMax
Paul - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulsirving/
Paul - X: https://x.com/PaulGTM
Newsletter: https://thegtmnewsletter.substack.com
Brought to you by: AngelList
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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/
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Highlights:
00:00 – Why Modern Technical Fund exclusively backs technical founders
02:15 – What actually defines a “technical founder” beyond coding ability
03:45 – Why product judgment and customer instinct matter early
05:05 – How early teams split engineering and go-to-market roles
07:10 – When investor advice helps and when it gets in the way
09:05 – Why calibrating the hiring bar matters more than providing playbooks
12:40 – How network-driven support helps founders see what “great” looks like
15:45 – Why valuation discipline sets the bar in today’s market
17:10 – When first-time founders become too risky at certain prices
19:40 – How early-stage defensibility often comes down to the team
27:20 – Why TAM momentum matters more than static market size
30:30 – How small markets quietly turn into billion-dollar categories
39:55 – What separates real AI companies from AI theater
41:40 – Why infrastructure and data tools benefit most from AI tailwinds
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