Three things converged in the last 72 hours. Buddy Arnheim, founding GP at Lobby Capital (successor to August Capital, portfolio includes OpenTable/Box/SentinelOne), followed you on X and DM'd about a Partner role. You activated LinkedIn Premium and discovered KONE executives (EVP, multiple SVPs), an Otis GM, and elevator industry leaders have been silently viewing your profile. And you sent the T. Bruce MacKinnon (CEO, Elevator World) DM you'd been avoiding.
The industry is watching you. The VC world just knocked. PullSheet has 54 organic users with zero marketing spend. You're building all of this while working 40-hour weeks on elevator car tops. The ducks aren't just lining up — they're already in formation. The only thing that's been missing is you walking through the doors that are opening.
Successor to August Capital (Menlo Park, est. ~1995). Grew out of "The Lobby Conferences" — ~20-year invitation-only tech unconference. Co-founded by David Hornik, Buddy Arnheim, and Eric Carlborg. 12 team members, 4 partners, 15 portfolio companies. Investment range: $100K-$10M, sweet spot $5M. Fund philosophy: back-to-basics, human capital first, partner-led. Runs Lobby:Elevate summits for female founders and founders of color.
Founding General Partner. 25+ years early-stage tech. Founded Perkins Coie's Emerging Company & VC Practice. Co-founded Titan Aerospace (acquired by Google, 2014). Early advisor to SpinLaunch. Operator in robotics, computer vision, aerospace. BS Finance from Wharton, JD from U of Illinois. Adjunct professor. Hosts "The Fabric" podcast. Most recent investment: Mesh Security (Series A, Jan 2026). Lives in Los Altos Hills. LinkedIn: 5K+ followers.
OpenTable Box SentinelOne Trulia Skydio SpinLaunch Quizlet HotelTonight Hippo Insurance Cloudera Level Home Lively HSA
Kolena ($15M, led by Lobby) ForeVR Games ($10M Series A) Docyt ($11.5M Series A) Vowel ($13.5M) Apera AI Baton AI Better Trucks Faros AI Hidden Level Mesh Cybersecurity Procyon (exited)
Three deliberate actions: (1) Liked a repost on your timeline (Matt Shumer AI agent safety post), (2) Followed you, (3) DM'd. He named both IntentMesh AND PullSheet by name in his second message — meaning he explored your bio, clicked through to your sites. He likely viewed joshuaworth.com (full founder portfolio), intentmesh.systems (company site with "defensible data loop" language), and your LinkedIn.
Based on Lobby's pattern (Collin Wallace: 3x founder, Techstars MD, 80+ investments, Stanford lecturer):
Deal scout: $2K-5K/sourced deal + carry Venture Partner: $100K-200K+ retainer + carry Direct investment in PullSheet Network access: founders, LPs, co-investors
When Buddy replies, or if no reply by Monday, consider: "I've been digging into Lobby's portfolio and listening to The Fabric — really resonates with how I think about building. I'd love to hear more about what kinds of early-stage teams the group is tracking right now. Happy to jump on a call whenever works."
These executives viewed your LinkedIn profile. None of them reached out. None of them had to. They were doing their own homework on you.
First cross-manufacturer AI diagnostic tool for elevator/escalator techs. NOT fault codes (OEM-proprietary). Pick equipment, describe symptom (text/voice/photo), AI triage, clarifying Qs, diagnosis + confidence + reasoning + repair steps. Logbook+PDF, OSHA checklists, Pitstop training, 50-state licensing.
Free: 5 dx/day. Pro: $29/mo or $290/yr. iOS 1.0.5 in App Store review at $299.99 annual. iOS + Android via Capacitor. No competition in AI diagnostics category.
VC pitch deck (11 slides) C-suite sales deck (12 slides) 1-page sell sheet Go-to-market kit Full product debrief Agentic safety whitepaper Hive Architect Model whitepaper
Landing page conversion gap (shows blank troubleshooting interface, no marketing context). New landing page built but not yet deployed. LinkedIn post reached 965+ impressions but no sustained outreach campaign.
Apple tech reviewer era = peak likes. Current AI/builder era = growing different audience.