Well, here we are in the middle of a COVID surge, turmoil around the Presidential election in the US, and of course, the holidays are now upon us. It’s been a wild year to be sure, and we’re all looking forward to the stability that vaccines and political sanity might finally allow us to find. Lucky for us, one thing remains constant: entrepreneurs continue to build their businesses, and that means we continue to support them with our capital, and have a meaningful impact on the world around us. Even more important, the options for entrepreneurs continue to grow. The expansion of this capital ecosystem over the past few years has been incredible to watch and to participate in. 

I had a great conversation with Jonny Price at WeFunder about this recently and it prompted me to reflect about the progress we’ve all made. It also caused me to reflect on how grateful I am to be a part of this community. Jonny and I met in Kansas City in April of 2017 at the Kauffman Foundation. We were both invited to participate in a design session workshop with several investors and entrepreneurs focused on identifying new ways to fund and support small businesses. Ross Baird, Bryce Butler, and several other folks who have been instrumental in growing this new capital ecosystem were also there. (So was Andrew Yang, by the way.) 

Some of you know that was the meeting where I first got excited about revenue-based financing. The more I learned, the more excited I got. I spent the next few months interviewing practitioners, entrepreneurs, and potential investors to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. I had something like 120 meetings with people in those three categories over a couple months time. I dove in. What I found was that the industry was super fragmented and people weren’t talking about non-VC investing much at all, at least not outside a relatively small circle. I quickly learned that this is a community of ambitious, creative, smart people. Most important, I learned that this community is generous. That is, if you can find a practitioner and get in touch with them, they’ll share what they’ve learned with you. And that fragmentation doesn’t have to be the way things are.  

For that reason, I love doing this work to help bring investors together. I’m always excited about bringing you the Speaker Series - it’s a way for you (and me) to hear directly from seasoned practitioners about their experience. It shortcuts the process I took - googling, calling, emailing, and brings real insight and experience to you all, hopefully in a format that helps you as you grow. 

This idea - to connect investors and share the best thinking and key learnings in order to advance the collective state of the industry - is nothing new. The Kauffman Fellows Program does it in a structured and incredibly impactful way for the VC industry. We’re not at that level here, of course, but I hope the connectivity we’re bringing you is helpful, if not accelerative to your efforts. 

That’s one of things I’m thankful for. I’m super fortunate to be able to pursue work that I think is critically important. Not only do I get to support entrepreneurs directly every day at Novel, but I get to play a role in helping this community come together and learn. Thanks to all of you for allowing me to do that, and for sharing your knowledge and time with me. I’m grateful to and for each of you.

In related news, you should definitely sign up for the next Speaker Series with BJ Lackland, former CEO of Lighter Capital. Every time I talk to BJ I’m reminded how little I know, and how much there is to learn about our space. You can sign up below. Be there or be square.

Oh, and stay safe out there. Wear a mask. Protect your friends, family and coworkers. We’re all in this thing together.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Love,
Keith