The Cannon Project Research
Investment Thesis
The Cannon Project operates on the core belief that "High-Slope Talent is the Best Asset Class." Founded in 2015 by Ian Feeney, the firm is a hybrid company-builder and venture investor based in New York City. Rather than starting from a sector thesis, The Cannon Project starts from a talent thesis: it runs a technology career agency that recruits high-performing go-to-market and engineering operators, places them into high-potential companies as founding or early team members, and then selectively invests capital from its venture vehicle, TCP Capital Fund I, into the companies it has helped staff. The firm frames itself as building "founding teams from scratch" and integrating human capital with financial capital at the earliest, highest-leverage moment in a company's life.
Sector Focus
The Cannon Project does not publish a narrow sector mandate. Its portfolio skews heavily toward AI infrastructure and applied AI (Etched, Baseten, HeyGen, Decagon, Rogo), enterprise and GTM software (Ramp, Airtable, Rippling, Ironclad, Unify, Gumloop), developer tools (Cursor), and security/compliance/operations tooling (Incident.io, Outtake AI, Norm, Manifest). The common thread is high-growth venture-backed software companies, particularly ones where the firm placed early technical or GTM talent.
Stage Focus
Public sources describe TCP Capital Fund I as an early-stage seed fund, and the firm's talent-placement motion naturally puts it in front of companies at the founding and seed stage. However, observed recent activity shows the firm also participating in later rounds (Series B) for companies it has a long-standing relationship with, suggesting a "get in early via talent, follow on via capital" pattern rather than a strict stage mandate. Stage exposure spans Seed through Series B.
Check Size
Check size is not disclosed publicly. Given the firm's structure (a talent-driven fund co-investing alongside large institutional lead investors such as Benchmark, Battery Ventures, and Sequoia), checks are likely small relative to round size and positioned as a value-add participant rather than a price-setter.
Lead Tendency
Available evidence (participation in Unify's $40M Series B led by Battery Ventures and Gumloop's $50M Series B led by Benchmark) indicates The Cannon Project typically follows rather than leads, joining rounds anchored by larger institutional funds. This is consistent with a talent-and-relationship-driven investing model rather than a price-discovery-driven one.
Recent Activity
Recent disclosed activity includes a seed investment in Avoca (AI platform for home services communication, October 2024), participation in Unify's $40M Series B alongside Battery Ventures, OpenAI Startup Fund, Thrive Capital, Emergence Capital, Abstract Ventures, and Capital49, and participation in Gumloop's $50M Series B led by Benchmark (March 2026). The firm also reports placing 300+ candidates in a recent year across Seed, Series A, and Series B enterprise AI companies, underscoring that talent placement remains the primary engine of the business, with investing as a selective follow-on.
Portfolio Highlights
The Cannon Project counts an unusually marquee set of "founding client" relationships for a fund of its size, including Snowflake, Ramp, Cursor, Rippling, Decagon, and Etched — companies where the firm's talent placements were early hires rather than necessarily direct capital investments in every case. Direct portfolio/investment relationships include Ramp, Cursor, Decagon, HeyGen, Rogo, Unify, Rippling, Airtable, Ironclad, Incident.io, Baseten, Gumloop, Outtake AI, Norm, Thatch, Manifest, Listen Labs, Etched, Profound, and Avoca.
Team
- Ian Feeney — Managing Partner / CEO & Founder. Founded the firm in 2015.
- Andy Linder — Partner.
- Paul De Sadeleer — Partner.
- Sam Warburg — Executive Search Partner, leading the talent-placement side of the business.
- Ryan Gross — Principal; background includes a sales leadership role at Optimizely.
- Kate Wallace, Blake Chasen, Frank Golden, Sonith Sunku — Technical and GTM advisors supporting portfolio companies and candidate evaluation.
Decision Process
The firm is run by a small partnership (Feeney, Linder, De Sadeleer) rather than a solo GP or large investment committee, consistent with partnership-style decision-making.
Founder Preferences
Because the firm's core product is talent, its strongest relationships are with founders who are actively building teams and open to sourcing early engineering and GTM hires through The Cannon Project's network — technical, execution-focused founders at the earliest stage of company formation are the best fit.
Geographic Focus
The firm is headquartered in New York, NY, and its public portfolio is predominantly US-based, with no stated international mandate.