Austin Clements: Slauson & Co.
In our Meet a VC series, we sit down with NVCA members to share the people, perspectives, and convictions behind the venture capital industry. This spotlight features Austin Clements of Slauson & Co., a Los Angeles–based seed-stage firm built on the belief that exceptional founders come from everywhere, and that backing them fuels innovation, opportunity, and the broader American economy.
There is a Slauson Avenue in Every Town
Austin Clements’ path to venture ran through wealth management at Bernstein, a media startup he founded, and an early investing role at TenOneTen Ventures. Along the way, he helped build Grid110, an accelerator for emerging Los Angeles entrepreneurs, and helped launch PledgeLA. Slauson & Co., the seed-stage firm he co-founded with his longtime friend Ajay Relan, is named for Slauson Avenue — the South LA street where they first met decades ago.
That name is more than a nod to where the founders come from; it represents their worldview. As Austin sees it, there’s a Slauson Avenue in every town in America where people with exceptional potential simply need the opportunity to turn it into something special. The firm’s entire thesis is rooted in finding them.
The foundation of the firm is an idea Austin and his partners have returned to since day one: economic inclusion. At its heart is a simple, expansive belief that brilliance is everywhere, and the job is to go find it.
“Everybody’s invited — regardless of your ethnicity, regardless of your gender. People with exceptional talent, interesting insights, or a unique lived experience deserve a real shot.”
Talent Is Everywhere
For Austin, backing a wider range of founders isn’t a matter of principle alone; it’s where the opportunity lives. The most exciting companies, in his experience, come from spotting extraordinary builders before the rest of the market does — talented people who may not fit the traditional Silicon Valley mold but have every bit of the capability. Widening that aperture, he believes, doesn’t just produce better outcomes for investors; it brings more ideas, more founders, and more communities into the engine of American innovation.
“Our work is centered on the founder — finding really talented people who are builders and doers, who may not know the rules of Silicon Valley but still have all the capabilities, and placing bets on them early.”
Getting Ahead of What’s Next
When Slauson started, the firm chased ideas that were deeply non-consensus. What’s evolved, Austin says, is a sharper instinct, one he credits to investor Hunter Walk: it’s not about being non-consensus; it’s about being pre-consensus, especially at the seed stage.
“We’re not investing in the hot thing of right now — that ship has sailed. We’re investing in what’s coming up next. That’s where the most interesting opportunities are.”
The other lesson is more personal. Austin came up believing his work ethic was his competitive advantage, that he could simply out-work any problem. Over time, he found a better way. “You don’t have to dial down the work ethic, but the easier path is leveraging the people around you. We’re in a people business.” Now, when he thinks about accelerating anything, his first question isn’t how hard he can work on it; it’s who he can bring in to move it forward faster.
More Than a Check
Slauson leads almost all of the deals it does, typically investing between $1 million and $3 million, and then works closely alongside the founders it backs. That lead-investor role is the core of how Austin and his partners operate.
Beyond the investment itself, the firm looks for ways to support founders at every stage. One example is its Friends & Family accelerator, which began with a $25,000 non-dilutive grant, dispersed across 20 companies. As the team asked what would actually move the needle, the check grew to $150,000, and in the most recent cohorts, $300,000.
But the capital, Austin insists, isn’t the point. The six-month program meets weekly, with speakers ranging from Airbnb cofounders to top-tier investors. What matters most is the peer group. For most participants, it’s their first venture-backed company.
“Having a team with you, on the journey — where if a question’s in your head and someone else asks it, you think ‘great, I’m not the only one’ — makes all the difference in what can otherwise be a really isolating journey.”
That community extends across the portfolio. Each year, the firm hosts “Slauson Summer Camp,” bringing founders together not to optimize conversion funnels but to ask how they’re actually doing. “The starting point,” Austin says, “is building a more authentic relationship than just a transactional one.” It’s a reminder that behind every venture-backed company are people taking real risks to build something new — and that the industry’s job is to help them succeed.
The Human Side of Venture
Ask Austin what he most wants people to see in venture and he points past the capital to the relationships. Venture, at its best, is coaching, collaboration, and community: the work that happens long after the wire clears.
Advancing Toward What Will Be
Austin lives by a single quote: “Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.” It has shaped, he says, everything from the college he chose to how he parents. Applied to venture, it makes him confident that more voices and perspectives in the industry aren’t just desirable — they’re inevitable.
“We’re in the business of betting on the underdog. And when the underdog breaks through, it doesn’t just crown a new champion — it changes the world in a whole different direction.”
He compares the shift ahead to the iPhone: obvious in hindsight, but it still took a Steve Jobs to force it into reality. The same, he believes, is true for the future of American innovation. It takes founders willing to build it and investors willing to back them. “It takes funds like ours to prove the point. We’re out to outperform everybody and if we do, we show what’s possible when capital reaches the full range of talent this country has to offer.”