Introducing the StartUp To ScaleUp SPV

I’m think that I’m thrilled to share an innovative twist to our relationship.

Starting August 1st, 10% of your payments to me will be allocated into an SPV (or similar vehicle), allowing you and everyone I work with to participate in select startup pre-seed investments. I’ll be matching every dollar, so you get 100% participation in 50% of every investment.

We have no thesis yet, but, we’ll be part of pre-seed rounds to help build or design the skeleton MVPs or finance founders so they can quit their jobs. This is the earliest stage, the riskiest, and the most fun.

My role is to help you become a more effective founder. By involving you in a small pre-seed fund, we’ll evaluate (ideas) startups together, giving you a glimpse into not just the investment process (not much at pre-seed!), but also the strategic thinking, decision-making, and unique challenges faced by others. My hope, is this will act as a mirror, reflecting aspects of your own journey, and help you identify areas for your own growth.

We’re looking for incredible people doing something a bit weird, focusing on the founder, not the solution. We’ll commit some cash (10-25k), lower their anxiety, do minimal due diligence, and be great partners. We will try to do at least 5 investments a year.

This initiative aims to bring us all a bit closer, enable you to dip your toes into due diligence, and throw out some moonshots. Most of all, it’s easier to be judgy of other people than ourselves 🙂

It’s not just about finance; it’s a journey of learning and engagement. Follow along, contribute insights, or lend a minute to the process.

I’m still figuring this out, working on the details, the legalities, and the framework. But I firmly believe founders should have side-gigs, mentor others, and nurture pet projects. That’s what this is all about.

All evaluations, data, stuff will be in the SPV Data Room (here).

James

P.S. Just to be extra clear, this doesn’t require anything from you. No capital, no qualified investor status, nothing.