Recode Media Podcast: Byrce Roberts: Why venture capital doesn’t work for everyone
Indie VC has created small funds that can invest in companies that don’t require much cash upfront. We help them build something scalable and become profitable. They can then choose to raise more, or keep growing from profits. Funds that are designed to function in a universe that traditional venture capitalists don’t operate in.
Over the last decade, the proxy for an entrepreneur’s ambition has been funding. Investors have a monopoly on the language we use about entrepreneurship. A monopoly on the archetypes highlighted as ideal entrepreneurship. The world of entrepreneurship is much broader than this narrow definition.
The VC model focuses on $1 billion+ companies. This only works for a tiny few. You are talking about 10 to 20 companies a year. Indie VC is an alternative for the rest. An alternative for the majority of other companies out there.
We want to know what happens if you took the energy and focus you are spending on raising money, and shifted it to generating revenues and profits [like every other business in history].
The reality is venture capital is a niche business. Less than 1% of all companies raise venture capital.
We give companies between $100,000 and $1,000,000. We invest in companies already generating revenue. We work closely with you to get to profitability. We plug you into a community of entrepreneurs that you can learn from.
We have companies that were doing tens of thousands of dollars in monthly revenue before we invested. They are now doing millions of dollars of revenue per month.
The funny math wears off. The easy money doesn’t last forever. People have to build real businesses.