Comps that already cleared the bar
Sometimes the better move isn't going back to a founder you passed on. It's a comparable company that already cleared the exact risk you passed for.
| Comp | Comp to | Strongest proof point | Proof points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseten ML infrastructure, baseten.co No big customers:De-risked | Fireworks AI Passed Oct 6, 2025 by Sam Ortiz “no enterprise customers yet” | Akta news · Sep 30, 2026 · 12 mo after you passed on Fireworks AI “Baseten announced a partnership with OpenAI to become its first B2B provider of open-source model inference” Kimi K3等中国开源模型接入OpenAI企业服务- DoNews快讯 Read source | 7 |
| Increase fintech infrastructure, increase.com Too early on revenue:De-risked | Hebbia Passed May 27, 2025 by Jordan Lee “too early on revenue” | Akta news · Sep 25, 2026 · 16 mo after you passed on Hebbia “Companies like Coast, Gusto, and Ramp rely on Increase technology to process more than $500B annualized in payments, card transactions, and loans.” CORRECTING and REPLACING Tekion, Increase, and Core Bank Partner to Bring Industry-First Embedded Banking to Automotive Retail Read source | 2 |
| Moov fintech infrastructure, moov.io Too early on revenue:De-risked | Hebbia Passed May 27, 2025 by Jordan Lee “too early on revenue” | Akta news · Sep 13, 2026 · 16 mo after you passed on Hebbia “Coinbase said Moov already serves more than 1,000 community banks and credit unions, describing an existing customer footprint” Coinbase and Moov Plan Stablecoin Services for Local Banks: Guest Post by Coinlive.me Read source | 1 |
| Decagon AI customer support, decagon.ai No big customers:De-risked | Neon Passed Sep 9, 2025 by Daniel Okafor “no enterprise logos” | Akta news · Oct 3, 2026 · 13 mo after you passed on Neon “Decagon announced on October 2, 2026 that it is a launch partner for OpenAI's B2B Marketplace, allowing eligible enterprise customers to apply part of their existing OpenAI commitment toward Decagon's AI agents.” Decagon Joins OpenAI’s B2B Marketplace as a Launch Partner Read source | 7 |
| Modal developer tools, modal.com Round dynamics:De-risked | Pinecone Passed Sep 29, 2025 by Daniel Okafor “valuation too high” | Akta news · Oct 22, 2026 · 13 mo after you passed on Pinecone “Since their $5B series C, Modal now reports it crossed $1 billion in annualized run rate, raised a $750 million Series D at a $16B valuation” Why AI Compute Comes in Rectangles — Erik Bernhardsson, Modal CEO — Latent Space Read source | 8 |
| Resend developer tools, resend.com No product yet:De-risked | Pylon Passed Oct 10, 2025 by Daniel Okafor “pre-product when we met” | Hacker News · Oct 20, 2026 · 12 mo after you passed on Pylon “I checked 8,062 Show HN domains: 223 send with Resend and have no MX record” I checked 8,062 Show HN domains: 223 send with Resend and have no MX record Read source | 4 |
| Clay GTM data tooling, clay.com No distribution yet:De-risked | Railway Passed Aug 15, 2025 by Priya Shah “distribution unproven” | Akta news · Oct 20, 2026 · 14 mo after you passed on Railway “By pairing data engineering with outsourced execution, demandDrive has driven broad adoption across its client base” demandDrive Named Clay's Inaugural "Rising Star" Partner Following Rapid GTM Tech Integration Read source | 3 |
| Baseten ML infrastructure, baseten.co No big customers:De-risked | Replicate Passed Jun 24, 2025 by Maya Chen “mostly bottoms-up hobby use” | Akta news · Sep 30, 2026 · 15 mo after you passed on Replicate “Baseten announced a partnership with OpenAI to become its first B2B provider of open-source model inference” Kimi K3等中国开源模型接入OpenAI企业服务- DoNews快讯 Read source | 7 |
| Modal developer tools, modal.com Round dynamics:De-risked | Supabase Passed May 25, 2025 by Maya Chen “round full and priced beyond us” | Akta news · Oct 22, 2026 · 17 mo after you passed on Supabase “Since their $5B series C, Modal now reports it crossed $1 billion in annualized run rate, raised a $750 million Series D at a $16B valuation” Why AI Compute Comes in Rectangles — Erik Bernhardsson, Modal CEO — Latent Space Read source | 8 |
| Resend developer tools, resend.com No product yet:De-risked | Turso Passed Jul 30, 2025 by Elena Rossi “pre-1.0, basically a demo” | Hacker News · Oct 20, 2026 · 15 mo after you passed on Turso “I checked 8,062 Show HN domains: 223 send with Resend and have no MX record” I checked 8,062 Show HN domains: 223 send with Resend and have no MX record Read source | 4 |
| Decagon AI customer support, decagon.ai No big customers:De-risked | Turso Passed Jul 30, 2025 by Elena Rossi “no production users” | Akta news · Oct 3, 2026 · 14 mo after you passed on Turso “Decagon announced on October 2, 2026 that it is a launch partner for OpenAI's B2B Marketplace, allowing eligible enterprise customers to apply part of their existing OpenAI commitment toward Decagon's AI agents.” Decagon Joins OpenAI’s B2B Marketplace as a Launch Partner Read source | 7 |
| Clay GTM data tooling, clay.com No distribution yet:De-risked | Warp Passed Jun 5, 2025 by Jordan Lee “no enterprise sales motion” | Akta news · Oct 20, 2026 · 16 mo after you passed on Warp “By pairing data engineering with outsourced execution, demandDrive has driven broad adoption across its client base” demandDrive Named Clay's Inaugural "Rising Star" Partner Following Rapid GTM Tech Integration Read source | 3 |