A key to building great companies is creating strong alignment between the interests of investors and entrepreneurs. When these interests mesh, all parties become true partners, each contributing everything at their disposal to maximize the likelihood of mutual success.

In our experience, entrepreneurs typically seek three key things in addition to funding from their venture partners:

• Fair valuation of their companies
• Access to resources, contacts, and strategic experience
• Personal support from seasoned people they can trust

Our job is to meet these needs and give entrepreneurs the support they require to succeed, while at the same time creating sustainable value and significant returns for our valued partners.

Our process for investigating new opportunities is straightforward and aims to provide candid and timely responses to our prospective partners.

The six basic steps are as follows:

• Business Plan: You provide us with a business plan outlining the investment opportunity.
• Initial Assessment: We make a quick assessment of our interest.
• Initial Meeting: We schedule a face-to-face meeting if we believe the opportunity has merit.
• Second Assessment: Following the initial meeting, our team discusses and decides if we wish to pursue the opportunity further. We ask ourselves a routine set of specific questions that allow us to thoroughly assess the opportunity.
• Due Diligence: If interested in pursuing the opportunity, we perform rigorous, in-depth research on the critical factors noted above.
• Investment Decision: Following due diligence, our team gathers again to make a final decision on the investment.
• If “Yes”: We call you and begin to process the necessary legal documentation.
• If “No”: We provide honest feedback on why we have decided against the investment