Haystack

Congratulations to Kinetic for raising their $21M Series B, led by Shawn Carolan at Menlo Ventures, with participation from Lux Capital, Construct Capital, and Haystack. My colleagues, Semil and Aashay, first met Nikhil Naikal in 2021 through a friend of the firm, Jason Costa. When Haystack first funded him, Nikhil was a savvy technologist with a pitch deck, small team, and prototype. He was thinking through the business model, the GTM strategy, and how to navigate all the various currents within the automotive space. Aashay and Semil spent a lot of time brainstorming with him, and he has had our unrelenting support in his decision to aggressively pursue the passenger EV market. Fast forward to 2024 - Kinetic is fully in motion, operating collision repair centers in Las Vegas, Orange County, San Bernardino, and Lake Elsinore that have conducted hundreds of repairs to date. Nikhil, Sander, and Christopher have built a robust team and are extremely clear in their identity and their operational path ahead. Haystack is particularly proud to have invested in every round since the company’s inception and to have closely witnessed this journey. Nobody who owns and relies on a car that is software-defined (in other words: every modern car), wants to think about a collision, much less about a car's software repair. But if and when that day comes, we deserve digital repair hubs that match the sophistication and standards of the factories that build these cars. Kinetic has been extremely strategic with partnerships and is fundamentally collaborative. All ecosystem participants are incentivized to work with Kinetic from a cost, quality, and process standpoint - the old-school auto repair shops, the insurance companies, and of course - the vehicle owners at the heart of it all. Re-investing in our inflecting companies is a highly coordinated team effort, both internally with Semil and Aashay and externally with respected industry friends - in this case, Bilal Zuberi and Rachel Holt. We make these investments from our small companion fund, Needles (Needles in a Haystack) as well as - in rare cases - via SPV. As an investor, I like businesses that require upfront investment and reward meticulous planning in an effort to build something very tangible. In an era full of online distractions, I have gravitated towards IRL businesses that provide concrete value to end users, that challenge dusty legacy participants, and that play into extremely clear supply and demand dynamics. Luckily, we have plenty of examples in the Haystack portfolio that fit this bill - Hadrian, Astranis Space Technologies, and Layup Parts, to name a few. For companies of this ilk - founders are rolling up their sleeves to build tactile technology and deliver unprecedented services. They are poised to build extremely lucrative, powerful businesses. We are super honored to have earned the right to work with them. Thank you, Nikhil and team, for letting us along for the ride.

[new post] The Story Behind Haystack Investment In Pomerium --> https://lnkd.in/gr5CrPwf [This was a fun story to write. Hope you like it. And make sure to search for "Pomerium" - such a cool concept from Ancient Rome!]

Haystack is looking to hire a Junior Finance/Operations hire that would work closely with myself and our CFO. We're looking for sharp, detail-oriented, team players who have 2+ years of relevant experience but who already know they want to build a career within the finance/ops side of the VC house. We're positioning this as a two-year role with the opportunity to extend to a career track if it's a great fit. Please let me know if anyone comes to mind - I'd really appreciate it. And feel free to forward within your networks, too.