Written by: Gabriel Anderson, Founder & Managing Partner at Graph Paper Capital

I’m thrilled to officially launch Graph Paper Capital and open our call for applications for GPC1 Spring cohort. We’re looking to back 10-15 of the most ambitious web3 founders, and very excited about what we have in store for the GPC network.

For founders and builders in web3, here’s a quick TL;DR about GPC and our value-add.

What is GPC?

GPC is an early-stage accelerator and networked ecosystem, backing web3 founders with capital, access, and insights. We strongly believe that web3 technologies will massively transform society and founders are the best suited to accelerate the innovation and adoption of these technologies.

Backing founders is the highest leverage public good. And that’s why we’re on a mission to back the most-promising web3 startups with financial, social, and knowledge capital. You can learn more about GPC, in our launch blog post.

Every Founder Needs Access and Insights

At GPC, we specialize in helping pre-seed and seed-stage web3 startups find PMF and get to default alive. We’ve done this before, and taken all the learnings from building an accelerator before to only do it better now.

Our insight is that even 15 mins with the right mentor can be a game changer for your startup, providing you with unparalleled access and insights. At GPC, we’re optimizing for just that: Creating multiple high-impact touchpoints to help founders get momentum. We’re starting with a smaller batch of founders because the GPC core team will be personally routing you to experienced, domain-specific mentors to help you get unstuck.

• Our track record: The GPC core team and our advisors have collectively been building and mentoring startups for almost 40 years and spent the past decade in crypto and web3. I’m a previous 3x founder and 2x EIR: Ex-ConsenSys, Ex-VaynerMedia. I’ve spent a career in early-stage growth and most recently was MD of Tachyon, where I invested in, mentored, and advised 90+ web3 founders that have collectively raised ~$150M at $1B in total valuations, and built a network of 450+ founders, investors, and domain experts in web3.

• GPC Network: We’ve curated an alpha launch network of 70+ fellow founders and builders (and counting), with a proven track record of helping pre-seed and seed stage web3 startups find PMF and go from 0 to 1. Every person in our network is participating in the distributed venture fund with us, so they’re highly motivated to help you succeed. It’s like taking 150 of the most high-leverage people in crypto and putting them on your cap table.

• Curated Fundraising support: In addition to getting you ready for fundraising, we help curate your first several investor meetings with helpful investors from the GPC network. The program will conclude with a virtual Demo Day, along with two invite-only investor days in September 2023. We’re backed by Protocol Labs, which also gives our founders access to select fundraising events like FIL.VC through our respective investor networks.

Everything You Need to Get to Default Alive

We believe that founders need more than just financial capital to succeed. They need strategic, smart money on their cap table, insight into the market and users, and access to people, capital, and resources that can help them iterate fast. Throughout our 12-week program, we add value to our founders by giving them access to:

• Capital: We invest $300,000 on 2 different SAFEs: An upfront $125,000 SAFE for 7% using a simple YC SAFE with a Val Cap and no discount, and another $175,000 contributed to your next round.

• Battle-tested tools & resources: We provide toolkits, resources & office hours focused on finding PMF and getting to default alive as a web3 startup. Program rituals enforce accountability, keeping you focused on TOMTM.

• Curated touchpoints with high-impact mentors: The GPC core team will be creating multiple high-impact touchpoints routing founders to specific mentors in our network for extremely valuable technical, product, market, & GTM feedback.

• Fundraising Prep & Kick-off: We start preparing you for how to launch a successful fundraising process, which is different from a Demo Day. You’ll have a targeted investor CRM, a solid pitch deck, and know how to align your goals with the economic incentives of your investors. Your batch concludes with a Demo Day and IRL Investor Days, where you can present your startup to active investors and high-value members of our network.

Who should apply to GPC

If you’re an ambitious founder building in web3, with a bias towards action and execution, we want you to apply to the GPC Accelerator. We back companies that have already gotten funding, to companies that are at the earliest stages. Applications for GPC1 close on April 21, so we recommend applying as soon as you have a founding team and an idea you’re excited about. Apply here.

Have questions? Check out our FAQ or schedule an ofc hours call

How to make sure your application stands out

You can improve your odds of being selected, by:

1. Clear articulation of the problem or core needs of a clear set of users and customers. The best founders we’ve met can clearly articulate their product because they’ve spent a ton of time on the problem, the market, and/or the customer.

2. Clear evidence that you’re the right team/founder to build this. What do you know about the market or the customer that others don’t? Do you have a history of success or a life story that show grit and perseverance and pushing through to results? Why are you the right founder or team to build this?

3. Demonstrating a track record of bringing things into the world. The world is full of people with great ideas but short on execution. We look for people who can ship and create things, big and small. The act of creation takes effort, sacrifice, perseverance… all traits we see in ourselves and look for in world-changing founders.

4. Getting referred by a member of our network. Our network is made up of people with high integrity who are smart and ambitious and is one of the highest signals we have. That said, referrals are not mandatory. We want to back amazing founders no matter your background, your geographic location or your starting lot in life.

Cohort Dates and Application Process

We’re looking to back 10-15 high-quality teams for our first batch. GPC1 application deadline is April 21, 2023, and the cohort will run from June 2023 to August 2023. If a company applies, they will hear back from us on the next steps and interview details by May 5, 2023. The interviews and final decisions regarding acceptance to the cohort will be communicated by the end of May.

You’ll find more details about the program and application process in our FAQs.

We will keep sharing more details about our accelerator and networked ecosystem in the coming weeks. To keep yourself up to date, Subscribe now!