Charles Hudson

Charles Hudson

Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures

Bio


Charles Hudson is the Managing Partner at Precursor Ventures, a classic seed stage investment firm based out of San Francisco, CA. Precursor seeks to invest in a company's first round of institutional investment and focuses on investments in B2B software applications, B2C software and services, and connected hardware.

Prior to launching Precursor, Charles Hudson was a Partner with SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed stage investors in Internet and mobile startups. He focused on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces. He was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup.

Prior to joining SoftTech VC and co-founding Bionic Panda Games, Charles Hudson was the VP of Business Development for Serious Business until the company was acquired by Zynga in February 2010. Prior to Serious Business, he was the Sr. Director for Business Development at Gaia Interactive, an online hangout and virtual world for teens. Prior to Gaia, Charles worked in New Business Development at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile, and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, a leading provider of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems for $830 million in 2007.

Charles was also the founder of the Virtual Goods Summit and Social Gaming Summit, two of the leading conferences in the free-to-play games space.

Charles spent several years working at In-Q-Tel, the strategic venture capital group for the Central Intelligence Agency. While at In-Q-Tel, he focused on identifying investment opportunities that could deliver significant value to the CIA and the commercial market in both the short and long term. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Stanford University.

Key Quotes


“There are some things I think you can tweak and massage about your story to make it easier for people to understand. But don't lose the thread.”

Career


Managing Partner

Precursor Ventures

2015 - Present

Lecturer

Stanford University Graduate School of Business

2019 - Present

Board Member

Venture Forward

2020 - Present

Board Member

National Venture Capital Association

2019 - Present

Board Member

Reinvent Technology

2020 - Present

Board Member

Tastemakers Africa

2020 - Present

Board Member

Pico

2019 - Present

Board Member

Populus

2019 - Present

Board Member

Pair Eyewear

2018 - Present

Member of the Steering Committee

Ada Ventures

2019 - Present

Board Member

H2 (h2.co)

2018 - Present

Board Member

LightSide Games

2010 - Present

Board Member

Fixt: On-Site, On-Demand Device Solutions

2017 - 2020

Board Member

Kahuna

2012 - 2019

Interim CEO

Kahuna

2016 - 2016

Advisor

Day View Capital Management

2017 - 2018

Venture Partner

Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC)

2015 - 2018

Partner

Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC)

2013 - 2015

Venture Partner

Uncork Capital (formerly SoftTech VC)

2010 - 2012

Member of the Board of Trustees

Hood College

2014 - 2018

Board Member

Tulip Retail

2013 - 2016

Managing Partner and Founder

CH3 Media Holdings LLC

2010 - 2014

Board Member

Newhound

2012 - 2014

Co-Founder and CEO

Bionic Panda Games

2010 - 2013

Consultant

WebMediaBrands

2010 - 2012

VP

Serious Business

2008 - 2010

Managing Partner

3rd Power LLC

2007 - 2009

Senior Director, Business Development

Gaia Interactive

2007 - 2008

New Business Development Manager

Google

2006 - 2007

Product Manager, MGA

IronPort Systems

2005 - 2006

Consultant

Dashjack

2005 - 2005

Student Chair

MIT/Stanford VLAB

2004 - 2005

Marketing Intern

Cassatt Corporation

2004 - 2004

Sr. Associate

In-Q-Tel

2000 - 2004

Product Management Intern

Excite@Home

1999 - 2000