# Gaurav Jain on Building $500M Fund, Missing Ramp and Backing Irrational Founders

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neon-show-862453/gaurav-jain-on-building-500m-fund-missing-ramp-and-backing-irrational-founders
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neon-show-862453/gaurav-jain-on-building-500m-fund-missing-ramp-and-backing-irrational-founders.md
Podcast: [The Neon Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-neon-show-862453)
Published: 2026-07-17T11:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1601695/episodes/19507363-gaurav-jain-on-building-500m-fund-missing-ramp-and-backing-irrational-founders.mp3
Audio file: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1601695/episodes/19507363-gaurav-jain-on-building-500m-fund-missing-ramp-and-backing-irrational-founders.mp3
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Duration seconds: 3523

## Resource

What does it take to write the very first check into a company that has almost nothing to show yet, sometimes not even a finished idea? Afore Capital helped invent the pre-seed category. When Gaurav Jain and Anamitra Banerji started the firm ten years ago, "pre-seed" was almost a slight, a label for founders who couldn't raise a proper seed round. They set out to build the world's largest pre-seed fund anyway, closing $47 million on a $40 million target, and every fund since has closed above...

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