“We would argue that true founder-friendly investing is having an active partner to help ensure success. Maybe a better term is founder-enabled or founder-supportive.
Some will say, ‘isn’t the true definition of founder-friendly investing being passive? Whatever the founder wants to do, have at it, call me when you need more funding. We would argue, no.
When we make an investment, what’s very typical for us is a company has fantastic product. Fantastic market, reputation, and customer references.
The company has customers that are truly advocates. So those are the pillars of strength. Inside the company, there are usually one to three founders who have grown the product based on their own personal pain and experience. And they’ve done quite well.
But these founders also see a whole new set of challenges over the horizon. When that realization happens, that’s the perfect time for us to step in. Founder-friendly investing strategies help become a solution set against those challenges.”
– Jason Babcoke, Managing Director for Sumeru Equity Partners
Learn more about founder-friendly investing by listening to this podcast with Managing Director for Sumeru Equity Partners Jason Babcoke