From DoorDash to VC: Family Dinner with Hank Couture

Succeeding in the startup world requires a bias to action.

A vice president at DoorDash and founder of venture capital firm LeapYear, Hank Couture discussed how to develop and scale a startup during Family Dinner on Wednesday. 

LeapYear is a venture capital firm that provides $30,000 in funding for 1.5% equity to around 30 student founders yearly. LeapYear has funded about 60 teams so far, around 30% of which have advanced to Y Combinator. 

“We look for unique insight. We look for a relentless team,” Couture said. “Somebody asked me today, ‘What’s success in a year?’ and I said ‘Stay alive.’ It sounds very simple but it’s actually very, very hard.”

After a stint at a startup in college, Couture worked on the trading floor at Goldman Sachs. In 2016, Couture joined the DoorDash team through an online application. 

“I had never heard of the company, but I researched the founders, the investors, all, this seemed pretty cool,” Couture said. “I definitely had a very deep interest in joining a startup, and I think among most of the people that were there at that time, that was the common thing that brought us together.”

When Couture joined DoorDash, the company earned just $20 million in revenue. Upon his exit in 2023, DoorDash grew to $7 billion. 

In 2024, Couture founded LeapYear to support student startups and rejoined DoorDash as a vice president last April. Couture’s time at DoorDash fueled his commitment to his personal motto, “bias to action.”

“You try 10 things, and then two work, and then you double down on the two,” Couture said. “I remember when I showed up for my first day, and I was like, ‘What do I do?’ And my boss was like, ‘Just do things. We need to grow.’”

Couture said that one of the most common mistakes students make is pivoting their companies hastily.

“A couple really incredible teams that we funded apply to LeapYear with one idea, they get a month into it and they’re like, ‘This is hard. I think we’re going to pivot to try something else,’” Couture said. “They come up with a new idea. Their new idea is good too. And then they get a month into that and they pivot again.”

Couture advised students to commit to their idea persistently and expect challenges along the way. 

“If there is a good idea out there, there will be somebody else who is amazing at that idea and there will be competition,” Couture said. “If you are not absolutely invested, they will beat you. Part of founder-market fit isn’t just finding a good idea, it’s finding a good idea for you. One that you can stay passionate about over a long time horizon.”