What we offer founders is a $50k investment for 3.5% of common shares (in the form of a SAFE, no preferences or anything funny) and our support for at least a year. The amount may seem 'non-standard' to some advisors.
What we often hear is:
All of those are valid things. Based on our experience we know that a lot of 'common' structures are based on common misunderstandings and outliers that have done well.
Rather than say, 'just trust us,' we ask that you don't dismiss us and try out our two week boot camp. In that we will focus on how funding works so that you can make a better decision and not make a decision based only on advice.
After the initial two weeks we make an investment decision (you decide if you would like it) and the money is transferred to you as soon as the legal documents are signed. We can help you with the business structure, lawyers, etc.
Our support comes in the form of an intense period (build momentum, figure out what is important) followed my a less intense 8-9 months (where you execute). After that period we are still available to you but for each founding team that help could look different. Generally it is regular check-ins and working with you on things like sales calls or investor pitches.
We are focused on early stage so a return can take some time. We view our shares as founder shares. We aren't totally protected from the future of investment rounds, dilution, etc. Our investment return is tied to the founders return which we believe aligns our interests with yours in a way that is good for founders.
We are very patient capital. You won't find us expecting a return on the investment in 36 months.
We are a Venture Practice. Our success is directly tied to your success, not the size of our fund, and we are committed to the long term. There are no time lines on our fund or participation metrics that are set from different funding sources.
We use a programming pattern that is similar to an Accelerator program because we know it is important to both have a set of peers to share the experience with. It is possible to get a lot done in a 10-12 week program period but we also know the time it takes to build meaningful momentum is not normally 10-12 weeks.
By treating it as a practice we view it as training founders to develop the skills that will help them navigate the global market. We look to global expectations, metrics, and cadence as our guide.
We have investors that understand it takes time, support, and some luck. They are willing to fund both the investment and the support.
We do have plans to grow the practice and expand how we operate but instead of starting from a traditional investment structure, we decided to approach it from the earliest stage first so that we stay focused on those early founders.