Introduction: the shift toward founder-centric VC tools

As access to capital broadens and startups and their founders gain more leverage in choosing their investors, venture capital firms must differentiate themselves not just with capital, but with support. One of the most tangible ways to do this is by adopting founder-friendly software for data collection and portfolio review. These tools prioritize the founder’s experience, reduce operational burdens, and build transparency.

At Standard Metrics, we’ve invested in a two-sided platform since our founding and deeply believe that VC software should also serve a firm’s portfolio companies. Because of this, most of our customers report happier portfolio companies and higher response rates when using Standard Metrics for portfolio data collection.

As Irys Kornbluth (COO of Everywhere, a portfolio company on Standard Metrics) puts it, “As a founder, Standard Metrics has helped us streamline information sharing with investors. It integrates with all our systems and makes quarterly reporting to our investors hassle free. With Standard Metrics in place, we spend less time going over data during meetings with our investors and more time on strategy.”

What makes VC software like Standard Metrics “founder-friendly”?

Founder-friendly software is designed with portfolio companies in mind. Unlike traditional portfolio management platforms that solely prioritize LP or back-office reporting, these tools minimize the burden on portfolio companies, streamline communication, and facilitate seamless data sharing. These qualities define founder-friendly VC tools:

• Centralization: Data is stored cleanly in one place so not only VC firms can see it, but companies themselves can use it as a source of truth. As three-time Standard Metrics user and founder at defense technology companies Epirus, Spartan and, now, CX2 Nathan Mintz puts it, “Being able to keep track of our financial metrics in one place made everything easier. It would have been murder without Standard Metrics.”
• Ease of use: Tools with intuitive interfaces ensure that busy founders can quickly input, verify, or examine data without unnecessary friction.
• Minimal effort: The best solutions automate updates and integrate directly with a startup’s financial stack, reducing the burden on the founder’s time. ““Sending updates to our investors from Standard Metrics saved us from the back and forth of sifting through 45-plus emails,” added Mintz. “Standard Metrics takes away brain damage from the quarterly reporting process.”

Ultimately, founder-friendly platforms help nurture healthier VC and portfolio company relationships through proactive support and simplified interactions.

Benefits of founder-friendly platforms for VC firms

Founder-centric software is not just a boon for startups. VC firms stand to gain significant advantages by implementing these tools:

• Automated reporting: By eliminating manual data entry, these platforms facilitate regular and accurate updates with little to no friction. This leads to more consistent performance tracking, higher response rates from portfolio companies, and better portfolio reviews and LP reporting.
• Higher data quality: Real-time integrations ensure that the data shared is timely, accurate, and actionable. This improves investment decision-making and portfolio monitoring.
• Stronger relationships with portfolio companies: A better user experience leads to stronger relationships. Founders who feel supported are more likely to keep their investors informed, engaged, and involved. Reed McGinley-Stempel, CEO of Stytch, explained that with a founder friendly tool like Standard Metrics, context between him and his investors was richer: “Drafting multiple stakeholder updates for our investors, advisors, and strategics in Standard Metrics is seamless and allows us to provide richer context to our investors. For example, we can easily embed media (such as Loom videos) to provide more insight into the business and product.”

By reducing operational drag and increasing collaboration, VC firms using founder-friendly software become more attractive partners in a founder’s journey.

Key features to look for

When evaluating founder-friendly software for VC firms, it’s essential to focus on features that minimize friction and maximize usability. Key characteristics include:

• Clean, intuitive UX: Founders should be able to log in and navigate the platform without training or support.
• Low founder input requirement: Tools should auto-sync with accounting and CRM systems, pulling in data with minimal manual effort.
• Real-time updates and permissions: Founders can control who sees what data and when, ensuring comfort and compliance.
• Integration capabilities: Look for platforms that connect seamlessly with tools like QuickBooks and Xero other common startup systems.

These features ensure the software becomes a help, not a hindrance, to both founders and VCs.

Top tools for founder-friendly software: Standard Metrics and more

Among the most robust solutions in this category is Standard Metrics, a platform purpose-built to serve both VCs and their portfolio companies. Standard Metrics offers:

• Ease of use: Instead of endless email back-and-forth companies can upload their financial statements in the format that works for them (form fill, board deck, etc.) and we do the work of parsing, cleaning, and standardizing.

• Investor update functionality: Portfolio companies can build strong relationship with you outside of regular reporting cycles through investor updates and asks.

• Powerful permissions and integrations: Founders can connect accounting systems to help keep your firm in the loop while keeping their data secure.
• Network benefits: Many of the portfolio companies on our platform report to more than one investor, making portfolio review a breeze for portcos (and raising the response rates to your requests).
• Private market benchmarking: While you can use Standard Metric’s Global Benchmarking data (built from 9000+ anonymized portfolio companies on platform) to understand your portfolio, founders can also use the feature to put their company in context within the previously opaque private markets
• Centralized and trackable metrics: Companies can leverage their metrics repository as a source of truth for historical KPI data, updated in real-time from investor reports and connected systems of record, as well as monitor and visualize their progress over time across KPIs.

Poggio Labs co-founder and CEO Matt Slotnick recently called out Standard Metrics’ ease of use: “When an investor sent their first request via Standard Metrics, it happened to be the first that occured after our finance lead was out on maternity leave. I had set aside an hour to process the request, but it ended up only taking a handful of minutes of my time! Using their platform, the entire information request was streamlined, and the historical data was already entered. A huge time saver and welcomed relief.”

FAQs

What defines founder-friendly software? Founder-friendly software minimizes manual input, offers a transparent experience, and integrates seamlessly with startup tools.

How does founder-friendly software differ from traditional VC tools? Traditional VC platforms often focus on LP management and back-office operations, while founder-friendly tools prioritize data sharing, ease of use, and relationship-building.

Is founder-friendly software harder to implement? Not at all. Most founder-friendly platforms are designed to be plug-and-play, with minimal onboarding and robust support.

Why is Standard Metrics considered founder-friendly?

Standard Metrics eliminates the need for repeated data requests by syncing directly with portfolio companies’ systems and parsing uploaded financials automatically. Founders spend less time on reporting, while VCs get clean, standardized data and higher response rates.

How does Standard Metrics help improve reporting efficiency?

By centralizing metrics and automating data collection, Standard Metrics turns a process that usually takes days into a streamlined workflow. Founders can update investors with one upload, while VCs can generate portfolio reviews and LP reports instantly.

Conclusion: invest in founder experience

In a world where founders have choices, the firms that support them with transparency, efficiency, and empathy will win. Tools like Standard Metrics empower VCs to be better partners, improve data workflows, and build lasting relationships.

Book a demo with Standard Metrics today to see how founder-friendly reporting can transform your investment strategy.