I started RevenueLoan because I am on a mission. I have a passion for entrepreneurship. I've been starting and running technology companies for 15 years now. I love entrepreneurs and generally find myself spending all my time trying to help them with all aspects of their business.
Why do I do this? Well, two reasons. First, I received lots of help as a young entrepreneur. I wouldn't have been nearly as successful had it not been for the help and mentorship of lots of kind friendly people. Second, I believe MANY people aspire to be entrepreneurs and to build something that they and their employees believe in and can be proud of. To accomplish this goal, financing is a often a core impediment to realizing small business success and growth.
Two and half years ago My partner Chris DeVore and I started Founder's Co-op because we thought that the traditional venture capital model was broken. We thought success for a startup company was better facilitated by a super angel entity than by a traditional vc fund. We continue to believe this....and are in the process of proving it! I want to be clear -- this does NOT mean that I think venture capitalists suck or are useless. On the contrary, venture capitalists play a vital role in the startup process.
During the first year of operating Founder's Co-op, we perceived another opportunity to support a group of underserved entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs had small businesses and big visions and were impeded because they didn't fit traditional bank debt or traditional venture capital or angel equity models. This market insight-- which was facilitated by Erik Benson and the partners at Voyager Capital -led to the creation of RevenueLoan, the company. We did the first two RevenueLoan investments under the Founder's Co-op umbrella (or flag) before determining that the opportunity required a separate investment vehicle. One of those deals has already proven to be very successful for the entrepreneur and for us!
Founder's Co-op is on a mission to innovate in the area of financing of early stage technology companies. RevenueLoan is a vital innovation. The reason I'm so excited about the company is because I think it's the best investment agreement I know of that truly aligns entrepreneur and investor incentives. RevenueLoan puts an extra focus on increasing top line revenue growth which for any entrepreneur is a critical success metric!
In conclusion -- and just to put a fine point on it -- I'm excited about RevenueLoan because I think it is going to help a large number of entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
