Biography of Julian Shapiro: Partner at Hyper & Startup Investor at Julian.capital
Biography of Julian Shapiro:
Early Career & Technical Foundations
Julian Shapiro began his career as a software engineer and
open-source contributor. Among his most notable early projects is Velocity.js,
an animation engine which earned support from Stripe and found adoption in apps
by Samsung, Uber, WhatsApp and others. As an engineer, he honed his instincts
for product and optimization—skills that would later fuel his marketing and
investing efforts.
Growth & Marketing Leadership
With his technical chops as a base, Julian shifted into
growth marketing roles. He served as VP of Marketing at Webflow,
contributing to its expansion in its early stages. Building on that, he founded
Demand Curve, a growth marketing education platform and community, which
has coached thousands of startups in user acquisition strategies, content
funnels, and scalable growth systems.
During this time, he also ran a growth agency Bell Curve (as
a sister venture), advising companies such as LinkedIn and Ancestry on digital
growth campaigns. He shared insights publicly as a growth marketing columnist
for TechCrunch, writing thought leadership content on user growth, acquisition
mechanics, and positioning strategies.
Biography of Julian Shapir:Hyper & Startup Investor at Julian.capital/Founder of Demand Curve/Y Combinator/investor/ Seed, angel,pre-seed#age#net wort
Transition into Investing
Julian’s transition to investing leverages his depth of
experience in growth to inform how he evaluates early-stage companies. He now
leads Julian.capital, a seed and pre-seed fund focused on deep
technology startups. The fund typically writes checks around US$500K and
prides itself on rapid decision-making and direct operational support (e.g.
growth, design help).
He also participates as a Partner at Hyper, adding to
his venture background.
As of his public profiles, Julian is based in San
Francisco / Bay Area and continues to write on Julian.com, where he
publishes long-form essays, startup handbooks, and reflections on growth,
product, and strategy.
Investment Focus & Strategy
Julian’s investment approach reflects his background in
growth:
- Sector
Focus: Julian.capital emphasizes deep technology (deeptech),
while also evaluating opportunities across software infrastructure and
adjacent verticals.
- Stage:
The fund is oriented toward pre-seed and seed rounds, with checks
averaging ~$500K.
- Speed
& Support: The fund differentiates by offering fast decisions
(within ~14 days) and hands-on support in growth, design, and go-to-market
strategy.
- Sourcing
Deals: Julian emphasizes outbound deal flow, rather than
relying solely on inbound referrals. He scans platforms like Twitter,
AngelList, and public announcements to spot rising founders.
Investment Thesis & Criteria
Julian evaluates startups through the lens of a growth
marketer. Some key criteria he applies:
- Product-Led
Growth (PLG) — He favors businesses where user adoption itself drives
expansion (e.g. virality, network effects, user invites). In his view, PLG
offers scalability, defensibility, and built-in distribution leverage.
- Founder
Formidability — He looks for founders who are (a) biased to act
decisively, (b) resourceful and ambitious, and (c) insightful
communicators who think strategically. He probes past decisions,
communication style, and clarity of thought.
- Market
Pull & Size — He assesses whether the value proposition resonates
with customers now or is likely to become compelling given emerging
trends. He weighs the total addressable market and tailwinds.
- Scalable
Acquisition Edge — Because of his background, Julian gives outsized
weight to the startup’s ability to acquire users efficiently and
defensibly at scale. He often reverse-engineers growth channels in early
diligence.
- Optional
Upside & Platform Potential — He gives more conviction to
companies where future optionality exists (e.g. cross-selling, platform
expansion), or where the product can wedge into broader use cases.
He sizes his checks relative to how highly a deal ranks
among his pipeline across those dimensions.
Notable Investments & Impact
Some startups and initiatives linked to Julian:
- DealCart
(pre-seed) — a platform facilitating group purchases and deal sharing via
social channels.
- Pogo
(seed) — a personalized shopping/data insights app.
- Agroshift
(pre-seed) — tech-enabled supply chain platform for farmers.
Beyond individual deals, Julian builds DeepChecks.vc, a platform for sourcing deeptech deal flow and connecting founders with investors.
