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Coughdrop Capital is an early stage venture capital firm founded by brothers Austin Petersmith and Stu Smith.
We invest in B2B software startups at the earliest stages (pre-seed and seed) with check sizes ranging from $40K-$100K. We’ve been on both sides of the table as founders and investors. From the earliest startups to the Fortune 500, we have deep experience in go-to-market/sales, product, growth/marketing, and fundraising.
We are proud to be backed by great LPs like Jack Altman, Delian Asparouhov, Village Global, and the AngelList Systematic Fund of Funds (backed by Sequoia, Squarepoint, and Naval).
What founders say
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Rahul Vohra
Founder & CEO, Superhuman
"Austin and Stu were among our first 100 users, early investors in the company, and longtime evangelists for the product. Fortunate to have them on our cap table."
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Kristen Anderson
Founder & CEO, Catch Benefits
"Stu and Austin stand out as investors because they do what they say they're going to do. If that sounds common, know that it's not. Simple, clear, integrity."
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J Zac Stein
Founder & CEO, Span
Former President, Lattice
"Stu and Austin are thoughtful, optimistic, good humans who genuinely want to be helpful. Simply put, you want them on your cap table!"
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Jack Altman
Founder & CEO, Lattice | Founder, Alt Capital
“Stu and Austin were out of my way when I didn’t need them and there for me when I did. They’ve been one of my favorite angels to work with and I’d recommend them with my full weight to any founder who’s raising!”
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Immad Akhund
Founder & CEO, Mercury
“Before we launched, Austin was our 3rd customer. He then invested, and has helped us and rooted for us ever since."
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Jordi Hays
Technology Brother | prev. Founder, Party Round/Capital
“Coughdrop has been in our corner since Party Round was just a 6 page deck. I reached out cold on twitter and we jumped on a call 10 minutes later and since then they’ve helped us at every step of the way. Austin and Stu are pound for pound two of the most helpful people on our cap table.”
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Delian Asparouhov
Founder & COO, Varda Space Industries
"Stu and I have known each other since our days working together at Teespring. He wouldn't stop begging me to invest in Varda so I finally said yes."
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Isabella Sun
Founder & CEO, Short Story
"You guys have been AMAZING from day 1. You have made some of the best, most thoughtful intros. Because both of you are founders, you have this deep understanding of what founders need—relevant intros to domain experts, quick tactical advice that I can act on."
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Ryan Delk
Founder & CEO, Primer
"Stu is among the very small percentage (<10%) of investors who are actually helpful when you set out to build a generational company. We're lucky to have some of the best investors in the world behind us, and I count Stu and team as some of the most helpful so far."
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Joseph Kitonga
Founder & CEO, Vitable
"Stu basically taught me how to sell. And he coached my first AE.
This alone made them one of my favorite and most helpful investors.
They also helped make our next round happen with intros that converted just based on their reputation."
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Surbhi Rathore
Founder & CEO, Symbl.ai
"Stu and Austin are among the few investors in Symbl who have also been paying customers and contributed to product feedback and evolution"
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Walter Chen
Founder & CEO, Sacra
"Not your average microfund. Stu and Austin don't just fight for a sliver of allocation into competitive deals. They build relationships with founders over many years, support them and dig in for the long haul."
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Hiten Shah
Founder & CEO, Nira
“Austin and Stu are founders-first, so their investment comes with founder empathy and personal experience. Two invaluable things as you go on your own journey.”