Tom McLeod on Startups, Tech, and Creative Financing | Ep 93
Episode description
Tom McLeod isn’t your typical founder or investor.
He bootstrapped a SaaS to 100k users, built a League of Legends app used by millions, sold it to Tencent, and now backs businesses at the intersection of identity, community, and cashflow. Think: car clubs, not cloud infra.
In this episode of Seed to Harvest, Tom breaks down:
• The 3 founder archetypes he’s seen across cycles
• Why he hires founders (even though they always leave)
• What he learned going from bootstrapped to venture-backed
• How he thinks about underwriting non-venture-scale returns
It’s a fresh take for anyone rethinking capital models or scouting overlooked operator talent.
Connect with Paige 🌱💜
Behind Genius Ventures blog - https://www.behindgeniusventures.com/
Personal Blog - https://paigefinndoherty.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/paigefinnn
Connect with Tom 🌱💜
Email- Tom@saltwater.com
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/tmcleod/?hl=en
Twitter- https://x.com/tmcleod3?lang=en