INVANTI v1.1

One of the most interesting dynamics of running the Venture Founders Program is that we are, ourselves, traveling a similar journey as our founders. We are trying to identify a gap, build a venture, and ultimately make impact that we believe in. At points, our focus is entirely on our founders and thinking about the best ways we can support them to build their ventures. But at other times, we swing focus to our own venture. We do our own assumption testing, finding out what value we can provide to Invanti’s customers (and who they even are!), as well as thinking through our launch strategy and eventual, long-term business model.

Maria and I actually really enjoy this part of our endeavor. Learning new things about entrepreneurship, impact investing, and economic development satisfies our natural curiosity. Testing assumptions that we take from this research, in terms of what it can mean for Invanti, is equally exciting. We have met dozens of great people doing exiting things, literally all across the country.

We thought that just as important as documenting the journeys of our founders, is documenting our own. So we wanted to take some time to tell you what we’ve learned thus far:

1. What we’ve learned from the Venture Founders Program Pilot:

a. It is possible to start with a broadly-defined problem area and distill it down to an entrepreneurial venture opportunity.

b. That being said, not every broadly-defined problem area will lead to venture idea (at least not the first time through).

c. Learning how to foster and support new ventures is important. Just as, if not more important, is learning how to foster and support new entrepreneurs.

2. What we’ve learned about Future Founders

a. Through many discussions over many beers in many bars, we are confident that there is a demographic (or, at least one) that would be excited about the chance to take a six-month, full-time stab at creating a venture focused on delivering impact.

b. Starting with entrepreneurial people, as opposed to other programs that also require an idea, is a really interesting way to think about making entrepreneurship in the U.S. more inclusive. This starting point removes some (although not all) of the barriers to people from a more diverse range of backgrounds having a path toward becoming entrepreneurs.

c. We have early validation that for some of our target Future Founders, employers might be willing to grant six-month sabbaticals for them to give Invanti a shot. This would be extremely helpful to our recruiting pitch, and we would love any input that others can give us on this idea.

3. What we’ve learned about Impact Investors

a. There is more supply of impact investing dollars than there is supply of investable impact ventures. Investment dollars are hungry for the kind of ventures that create positive impact and financial returns.

b. Most investors or people that live in the impact investing world find the Invanti premise and idea interesting. What it would take to move them from intrigued to invested is simple: results. “Show us one, or a few, ventures that were created in this way, and you would have something really valuable.”

c. We are getting mixed validation on who might be interested in investing at this early of a stage in venture creation. Certain investors are skittish enough investing in entrepreneurs that already have ideas, much less entrepreneurs who might not even know the problem they are solving yet. We are hoping that our process, especially if we have results to point to, can de-risk those fears, but would love to hear more from people about this idea.

Based on all of these learnings, our current frame of mind revolves around a few key value propositions we think we can deliver.

For Future Founders: Invanti provides:

· the opportunity to become passionate about a problem;

· access to an ecosystem that allows you to become an entrepreneur that turns that passion into a viable business;

· the opportunity to deliver both social and financial returns through a venture that fixes something that matters.

For Investors: Invanti provides:

· a flow of investable and high-quality ventures that align impact and profit, with entrepreneurs uniquely positioned to lead them;

· access to a process that allows investor input on defining promising problem areas and early decisions in the pre-investor, venture stages;

· valuable research on systems that current (or future) portfolio companies operate within as well as new spaces for future investments.

For Communities: Invanti provides:

· new, locally-based ventures that create positive economic and social impact;

· a draw for talented individuals to stay in, or move to, the community;

· a proactive approach for catalyzing the earliest stages of the entrepreneurial journey.

As we conduct more research, talk with more people, and continue to test our ideas in the Venture Founders Program, no doubt that some of the above will change. However, we think we are getting to a place where the most basic of our assumptions is validated: Invanti is a viable, proactive approach to creating ventures that fix things that matter because they align profit and impact.