The next wave of truly meaningful, impactful companies will see them being created… everywhere else. The notion of one geographical nexus for innovation is outdated; Silicon Valley will always be an important place for startups, but one of many.
By now we’ve all witnessed best-in-class, game-changing companies created in Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Boston. But already, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Nashville, Washington DC, Detroit, St Louis, and many other cities across America are setting the stage for startups to proliferate at a faster pace than ever before. And 2020’s global pandemic has accelerated this thesis. With location being much more flexible, we are already witnessing a massive shift in mindset about what it takes to build a startup. Talent? Team? Great ideas? Agility? Check. Where you choose to live? Not so much.
So, how does a new venture studio & pre-seed fund approach this thesis, combined with the new reality of a post-pandemic world? Do we build offices in all of these places?
No. We build zero offices.
So then, what does it take to provide outsized support to our portfolio companies and co-founders? During our years of building and investing in companies that happen to be based in emerging tech markets across the US, we have found no shortage of talent, hustle, and know-how. In-person meetings can of course be valuable. But we’ve found that it’s the ongoing support, regular check-ins, deep dives into product road maps, analysis of metrics, help with recruiting, introductions to investors and mentors - and more - that really moves the needle. And for that, video, Slack, phone, and text, are better and faster.
It is our mission to work with the best and brightest founders, entrepreneurs, and leaders from the outset of their missions - no matter where they happen to live - and to help provide the resources we wish we’d had when we were building our own startups. We believe that the great ideas of tomorrow will have no borders, and if given the proper resources such as mentorship, funding, product, and creative development which are often plentiful in larger markets, these great ideas will set the pace for a tech revolution in cities and towns across the country.
We don’t care about where our founders went to school, or about pedigrees of any kind - but we have a special affection for founders who are on a mission of their own. We want to work with mission-driven founders who are trying to make a big impact in sectors including healthcare tech, education tech, agricultural tech, enterprise, logistics, fintech, mobile, IoT, and software services.
Our partnership brings backgrounds from Google, MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Mucker, Facebook, Time Warner, Apple, Yale -- but we’re hustlers and company builders just like we expect our founders to be, and we love to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Are we mission-aligned? Let us know if you think so.
