Will Coffield grew up with a chef mother and defense-attorney father, which he credits for developing his ability to craft strong arguments and navigate complex conflict—skills he explicitly uses to help founders work through the inherently conflict-filled nature of startups. He co-founded Riot Ventures in 2017 based on his insight that industrial modernization was underfunded compared to enterprise SaaS and consumer internet, and he co-hosts the Perfectly Boring podcast where he interviews founders transforming unsexy, under-digitized sectors like freight finance and hardware infrastructure.

• Champions portfolio companies enthusiastically, frequently sharing milestones, fundraising news, and press coverage. For instance, he repeatedly promoted Omaze’s achievements, such as their Giving Tuesday campaigns and partnerships with franchises like Star Wars to support UNICEF.
• Focuses on SaaS metrics and business models, often sharing educational content for founders. He highlighted an article arguing why the most important success metric in SaaS can be misleading and shared visuals on mechanisms for growing a SaaS startup.
• Values tools and networks built specifically for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs). He actively promoted Alignable, a social network for small businesses, sharing their rankings on what SMBs think of tech vendors and celebrating their funding rounds.
• Reflects on the nuances of the venture capital industry and the founder-investor dynamic with a focus on humility. He shared a litmus test for entrepreneurs asking if their VC fills up the Brita pitcher after pouring themselves a glass of water, suggesting he values low-ego partners.
• Strong engagement with the Los Angeles tech ecosystem and local accelerators. He shared articles discussing the state of the Los Angeles startup scene and praised Amplify.LA for their unique approach to the accelerator model.
• Interest in marketplace dynamics and financial technology. He shared resources regarding marketplace calculations and commented on how new payment integrations, such as Facebook messaging payments, could create challenges for incumbents like PayPal.