An Interview With Brendan Hayes, CRO At Astronomic

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Below is our recent interview with Brendan Hayes, CRO at Astronomic:

Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to your company?

A: Astronomic is a community ecosystem that connects founders and investors, both digitally and through curated invitation-only events in Austin & San Francisco. We do this primarily through two event vehicles. Founder Dinners match six Founders from similar industries & verticals, across growth stages, so they can share experiences and insights. Investor Dinners showcase one pre-seed, seed, or bridge stage Founder in front of about twenty Angel and Family Office investors whose thesis matches the opportunity. With over a thousand active investors and several thousand founders, Astronomic boasts one of the largest entrepreneur groups in the US.

Q: What makes you the best choice? How are you unique?

A: For Founders, it’s often difficult to meet good-fit Angel investors… especially at scale. Accelerator programs typically follow the Venture Capital model and take equity in exchange for a small capital infusion, with possible VC follow on investment. Angel platforms often require a daunting application process that yields unpredictable results from AI matching algorithms, and take additional fees for successful outcomes. Astronomic allows Founders to pay a flat fee for a custom-baked event that connects them to dozens of hand-picked, smart money Angel investors & advisors. So, they can raise capital on their own terms.

For Angel Investors, qualified deal flow can be hard to come by. Astronomic presents Founders within the industry, vertical, stage and check size investors prefer. Our community also facilitates interactions between like-minded Angels and Family Offices, who often report to us they have formed strategic partnerships or other collaborations. The compounding collective knowledge at each Investor Dinner helps shape perspective on the deal presented, so capital allocators can collaborate to develop informed opinions. They can also take these new relationships offline, and often do, to pursue other joint ventures.

Q: Who is your ideal client and why?

A: Founders at pre-seed, seed or bridge before series A with at least $250k in annual revenue or a previous exit. Seasoned Founders normally understand the value of our program, which empowers them to operate outside of accelerator and VC swim lanes until it’s absolutely necessary to accept those kinds of term sheets. Early phase first time Founders also get great benefits, but we recommend they wait to engage us until they have at least some viable revenue traction that suggests Product Market Fit. We’re creating new relationships with qualified investors, but they will normally look for qualifying traction metrics as standard practice before committing to deals.

Q: What can we expect from you in next 6 months? What are your plans?

A: Rebuilding and launching our web & mobile application suite. We’ve gone mostly offline for FH ’26 to focus on events, which are in abundant demand. However, we see the digital side of the ecosystem scaling long-term. So, we’re in build mode – using feedback we’ve gotten from customers and partners to shape our product and Go To Market.

Q: What is the best thing about your company that people might not know about?

A: We’re operating a joint venture with Sahin Boydas (prev. exit to $SNAP, 200+ angel investments) called Vibe House in San Francisco. We host weekly ai coding hackathons with Founders, as well as a number of one-off events and Founder residents. The house is optimized for wellness with healthy food and bio-hacking modalities on site. We’re excited to see where it goes, and to nurture up-and-coming Founders on their way to explosive growth.