Our Investor Manifesto
Available, Responsive, Dependable, Accountable.
Founders that we are newly engaging with often ask us what we bring to the table as investors. Statements like ‘Founder Friendly’ are no longer enough to explain who we are, and what we believe in. This gets even more difficult when it’s a question posed to a relatively young VC firm. Hence we decided to layout what we truly believe in, and how we intend to be Founder Friendly.
In many ways a founder’s and an investor’s destinies are intertwined. An investor cannot be successful without his/her founders being successful — our founders are our path. Conversely, founders need more of their investors than “simply” capital — investors should be true and genuine partners.
At Secocha, we are firm believers that the onus is on us to build the foundations of a truly special relationship that reflects our intertwined destinies. For this reason, we created Secocha Founders Circle to give you ownership in us just as we invest in you. From a business perspective, we are all partners.
But a true partnership is more than incentives and ownership. It is a relationship of trust and confidence built over time through genuine and transparent engagements, which match mutual expectations. With that in mind, we promise to do everything we can to build a partnership on some core principles:
- Available
We’ll take the time to engage with you on a regular basis on strategic, tactical and also more mundane things. Just as importantly, we understand that your role as a founder requires unique levels of commitment, responsibility and care that few ever experience. That comes with a degree of emotional pressure without an obvious outlet. We never want you to feel alone but if you don’t feel comfortable speaking with an investor, we will help you find someone with whom you do.
2. Responsive
You need to get things done and are running against the clock. We understand and need to match the pace at which you’re working. When we can help, we’ll tell you and will act on it as quickly as we can. When we can’t help, we’ll let you know just as quickly so you can potentially seek someone else’s help.
3. Dependable
We know that entrepreneurship involves many many ups and downs; that we all hope that everything will go right but that reality is more sinuous; and that the difference between success and failure often lies in resilience. We’re therefore committed to maintaining our engagement standards in good and bad times; to believe in you and your vision for as long as you will; and to be your most bullish partisans throughout the journey.
4. Accountable
We are counting on you to keep us on our toes by participating in regular anonymous Net Promoter Score surveys.
