The Meaning of Partnership

Capital is the Least Useful Thing We Deliver

We commit to all our entrepreneurs that by far the least useful thing we provide is capital. The events so far this year have provided many opportunities for us to make good on this commitment and more. All organizations (and all of us as individuals) have faced real challenges and uncertainty of late. As I reflect on the last few weeks, I want to share a few examples of what we have been doing for our portfolio CEOs (of course without revealing any anonymous details).

Our team and our portfolio CEOs at our recent annual meeting.

1. Introduced company to 10 potential lead investors and back-channeled with each of them to ensure they have the context on why this is a can’t miss opportunity, particularly amidst the current market turbulence.
2. Reviewed line by line burn plan across five scenarios to ensure accurate down to the dollar and that the best scenario is selected to balance maximizing runway and obtaining key milestones.
3. Helped CEO realize hiring freeze was the right move even for a few weeks to ensure we don’t overcommit.
4. Assisted multiple companies to manage the transition to work from home and implementation of appropriate procedures to remain effective.
5. Supported and advised on the application process for small business disaster relief across a number of portfolio companies.
6. Collaborated to design substantial pivot and reduction in force that leads to rapid path to profitability despite current conditions.
7. Bridged company where no other investor is offering support (even though we have substantially less capital in the deal and in our fund).
8. Coached CEO how to close multiple pivotal deals immediately even with the confounding market uncertainty.
9. Ensured all companies and their teams were safe and well-informed in advance of a sequence of chaotic and surprising circumstances.
10. Completed a round for a company immediately to show our support and double down and reward their excellent execution.
11. Helped an executive team get back into the US rapidly from international travel before the situation became too complicated to handle.
12. Secured key governmental connections for multiple companies to contribute to the response to the current pandemic.

Weeks like this remind us why we do what we do: to serve entrepreneurs as our customers and do whatever it takes to help them succeed in transforming billions of lives. We love what we do and our partners have told us many times the past few days and weeks that this love shines through in how we contribute to their well-being and success.

Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in seed-stage companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation and computing.