C2V Sep 2020 Notes from the Trenches
Welcome friends! As we head into the home stretch of 2020 we figured it was time, not to dwell on what might have been, but rather find some reasons to be optimistic (beyond the obvious “at least 2020 is still on track to end as scheduled”). So without further ado, let’s start squeezing these lemons into a sugary and refreshing drink.
Things we’re looking forward to:
Record voter turnout and the 46th peaceful transition of power. There are few institutions as consistent and resilient over the past (nearly) 250 years as American democracy and we’re about to see it rise to the occasion again (do your part and vote!).
A 5-day version of the Masters!? They undoubtedly have a plan for getting the rounds in as scheduled, but we are looking at days that are 2.5 hours shorter than in April, Bryson will still presumably be taking 12 practice swings before every shot, and the weather remains a moving target. So be prepared to call in sick that Monday just in case.
A packed sports calendar with no end in sight! After several months in a dark desert where Matt may or may not have taken in several hours of professional cornhole out of sheer desperation, we’re now looking at potential NBA and NHL seasons that will end and then restart while football is still going! We deserve this, friends. Let’s make sure to revel in it.
Virtual Halloween! Let’s see our kids try to tear the house down hopped up on only digital candy.
LP Matrix
Here at C2V, our mission is based on the belief that early-stage companies need more than just capital. What differentiates us is that we’re not the only ones getting our hands dirty, but we believe in having our investors in the trenches with us. We’re incredibly lucky to have a talented group of investors who help support our portfolio companies. Recently our marketing intern, Thea, reached out to our LPs (limited partners)in order to create profiles on them and their areas of interest, as well as gather feedback. The profiles we create will be part of a matchmaking process, or LP Matrix, which will allow us to make connections between founders and investors.
Our diverse group of LPs not only have incredible backgrounds but a wide variety of interests. The majority of our investors have past experience working in direct investing and advisory work.
65% of them shared their interest in direct investing and
Over 88% expressed that they wanted to continue doing advisory work
Of our areas of focus, the three that our LPs were most drawn to were Media Analytics, Enterprise SaaS, and MarTech/Data.
The insights they provided will help us to better support both our LPs and our portfolio companies. We’re thrilled to be able to work with such amazing people who are constantly going above and beyond.
Investment Process
We’re often asked by founders how we decide which companies to invest in. The simple answer - it’s complicated. Over the years, we’ve developed a rigorous and highly selective process which allows us to pinpoint the organizations that we feel will be successful.
Our selection process is divided into two parts - the initial screening and further due diligence. When first presented with a deal, we assess the organization based on a few higher-level criteria:
Basic fit with thesis & investment strategy
Product-market Fit
TAM and scalability
Historical insights, pattern recognition & competitive landscape
Domain expertise
Following the first part of the process, we identity 20-25% of the inbound deals that we want to evaluate further. Those companies then move on to the second part of the process. Here we evaluate:
Founder and team
Product
Financial metrics & roadmap
TAM/SAM, customer, and competitive landscape
Go-to-market plan, feasibility, and traction
After diving deeper into each organization, we’ll then decide which companies will be part of the handful that we ultimately invest in. This group is only about 2-3% of all the deals we see. Though it's not always easy to predict what will be the next big idea, our investment process simplifies and streamlines the difficult decision-making process.
Stay tuned for 11th Investment
We’re excited to share that our 11th investment is in the works. Keep an eye out for the official announcement when we reveal which company is joining our portfolio. In the meantime, make sure you check out the amazing things the rest of our portfolio companies are up to.
Portfolio Updates & Press
Announcing Petal’s Series C, Medium
How Dentons, the world's largest law firm, is using tech to boost its pro-bono caseload by nearly 40%, Business Insider
Our Next Chapter at Little Fund, The Little Littlefund Blog
C2V Content
September has been an incredibly exciting month across the board. Content-wise, we’ve been busy as usual. With so much going on, we wanted to take a moment to share some insights from the C2V perspective. This week #InTheTrenches, we discussed startup competition. Many early-stage founders spend too much time worrying about other teams who are building a similar product, when they’re really competing against themselves. By worrying less about the competition and focusing more on limiting classic startup mistakes, you have a much greater chance of being successful. Check out the full video on our Instagram and make sure to follow us for more #InTheTrenches.