Happy Sunday, friends. I wanted to share something Jamie Finney from the Greater Colorado Venture Fund recently wrote in the Innovative Finance Newsletter that really resonated with me. Jamie brings home the point that as alternative capital investors, our “why” must align with the “why” of the founders we fund. This was interesting to me for two reasons.

First, I think it is interesting to view the proliferation of predatory online lending in the last few years through this lens. Jamie points out that “the demand for a VC-alternative was so ripe that these hasty RBI funders didn’t have to add a Why function to get money deployed.  They just had to brand as non-dilutive, presume riches were a good enough “Why”, and wire the money.” Those funders are some of the ones we’re hearing about now who are having management and portfolio challenges. When your why is money, a lot of other important things get forgotten along the way.

Second, it reminded me that an alignment of whys can be a powerful thing. In my experience, the “why”  is the spark that ignited most investors I’ve met in the alternative capital community. That’s what pushed most of us to start something new, something that aligned with our values, something that gave entrepreneurs optionality and helped them get to their end goal, whatever that is. It’s what got me excited about doing something different and taking an approach I hadn’t considered before, and on the days when the grind gets to me, it’s that “why” that pushes me. Reflecting on Jamie’s piece reminded me that for me it’s because I believe entrepreneurs deserve options, and they should be allowed to choose their paths based on their own goals, their own whys. Here’s hoping you’re staying true to your why…