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Celesta is led by former senior operating executives from major hardware companies like Flex who take active engineering roles with portfolio companies, focusing specifically on deep tech infrastructure including semiconductors, networking, and industrial technology rather than software or consumer products. The firm operates with over $1B across US-India-Israel corridors and is increasing India's portfolio share from 15% to 25%+, specializing in the long development cycles and capital intensity that many generalist VCs avoid.
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Video Interview
On why founders should ask whether a firm finishes business diligence before the term sheet
"At least for Celesta, if we're giving someone a term sheet, post-term sheet diligence is just legal diligence and corporate organization... we've made up our mind on the business side before the term sheet. Some firms will give a term sheet and then decide after... whether or not they actually want to do the investment... if you have a term sheet and then the investor walks away, now you've got lots of unanswered questions about what did they see that I didn't. You kind of have a stigma attached to you."
David Goldman | Celesta Capital
On choosing the individual investor, not just the firm
"In California, it's a lot easier to get a divorce than it is to remove a board member. So make sure this is someone that you want to spend potentially a decade working with."
David Goldman | Celesta Capital
On why an inflated market slide backfires
"The market slide is almost never helpful... people... listen to podcasts that [say] VCs only like big markets... and they'll show you this hundreds of billion dollar market. I'm like, that's not your market. Can we actually talk about who you would sell to and how much they spend on the thing that you buy, not how much is spent globally on the entire industry that you're in, even though ninety-five percent of that has nothing to do with you?"
David Goldman | Celesta Capital
On routing outreach to build an internal champion
"Be thoughtful about potential group dynamics in the fund... if it's a fund that has one really famous partner and you just go directly to that partner first, they're presumably... going to pass it off to someone who's more junior, who now doesn't get any ownership or credit for that deal. Whereas if you were to go to that person first and then they're able to... shepherd it through, and maybe you go to the more famous investor after, you can help them get credit... and you can still get the deal done."
David Goldman | Celesta Capital
On the most common reason deep tech companies stall between rounds
"Not having a good pulse on what investors are looking for for your next round is the biggest problem that I see. And keeping in mind that that can change... you go out to raise Series B and you're still using two-year-old information... if you set a plan at the close of your fundraise and you say, I need to get these milestones in order to raise my next round, you better be sure that those are the right milestones."
David Goldman | Celesta Capital
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