Where the Term Appears In the channel's conversation with Nabeel Hyatt (Spark Capital), spray and prey describes one end of the venture investing spectrum: writing many small checks into many startups so that no single bet has to be right — a portfolio-level risk-mitigation strategy rather than a conviction play on a few companies [^aadbfc77]. How the Channel Uses It Nabeel brings up the phrase to reject it, alongside the opposite extreme of mega-fund proxies for the whole market. His alternative is a concentrated philosophy: only a couple of investments a year, working with eight to ten companies the way a CEO manages eight or nine direct reports, because being in the muck and in the nuance is what lets an investor give good feedback [^aadbfc77]. Why the Contrast Matters For readers exploring how investors choose AI products, the term is a useful marker of a philosophy split: spray and prey spreads risk across volume; Nabeel's view is that the whole point of this thing is risk — accept it, make fewer calls, and do the work with good people [^aadbfc77]. - Spray and prey = many small checks into many startups, mitigating risk through breadth.- It appears in the channel as the strategy Nabeel Hyatt explicitly rejects in favor of concentrated, hands-on investing.- The underlying trade-off is breadth vs. depth: portfolio coverage vs. being close enough to founders to help.