Like markers on a map helping those on their way, the following posts share lessons learned along my journey with the hope that they can help you on yours. As and when conditions change, I'll do my best to note any updates. Please read on thinking of this as a living logbook -- a guide -- not, some Eternal Truth.

The Skinny: As founder and Managing Director of Modern Tender, Laurie "LFJ" Felker Jones has most often worked as a fractional Operating Partner with global funds and their portfolios to drive investment and impact alpha at sca le. She has worked with 800+ founders and numerous global funders to advise $40mm+ of funding across asset classes. As a Newton Venture Programme Fellow , she's incubated an alternative fund model that provides early liquidity, competitive impact-al

Update, April 2026: I've stepped into an in-house investing role and am no longer taking on new consulting engagements. The content below reflects how I've worked — and the thinking still stands. I hope it helps you on your way. The Top Line → What: I support ambitious, mission-driven people and ventures on their way . Usually this means helping them straighten out the path from where they are to where they want to go. → Why: Ideally "impact alpha" aka creating a lock-step

At an event last night, I was reminded to share (again) 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.” Most people are genuinely happy to help you 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺. Just make it easy! 🔗 This is a great guide : ✍️ 𝗔𝗻𝗱, 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 👇 --- Subject: Intro to [Connection Name] Hi Laurie, Thanks so much for offering to introduce me to [connection]. I’m interested to connect because [they are interested in

Update: Through stress tests and incubation, the core of this model has strengthened as the complexity has simplified. Given current market conditions, fund models support continued high conviction in structured equity and redemption strategies which offer competitive early liquidity to allocators, return ownership to founders, and are more likely to be aligned with impact fidelity. What has evolved is the sector aperture: while “financing tech for good” may not have the s

If you're a founder or funder curious about what kinds of funding might be right for you, check out Capital Explorer , a free tool that will help you discover which of up to 16 different financing options might be right for you ! Capital Explorer is one of several free tools from Village Capital that help entrepreneurs on their way to building scalable, mission-driven businesses worldwide -- including with aligned financing sources. Here's a nifty preview. Want more support?

*I wrote the following background in the fall of 2021, from the HQ of UpSurge Baltimore where I was just starting as a Entrepreneur In Residence with Techstars in their Equitech portfolio. Since then, I've worked formally with Techstars and many other funds in the US, UK, and UAE as a Senior Advisor and Operating Partner to founders in their programs and portfolios. Whether you're looking for a quick orientation ( The Skinny ) or to go more in-depth ( The Whole Enchilada ),

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 𝗧𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 #𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗞 & 𝗨𝗦 A conversation this morning with a close colleague reminded me that visibility matters. She had no idea about this part of my life & I remembered how impactful it was to learn similar info about several others in our field. Turns out we had more in common than nerding out on tech-for-good or impact finance! 🤓 ✨ To further visibility & inclusion, her

If You Build It… Late in 2022, I was on a Zoom with my friend and colleague Maria Pope , who at the time was running community at Republic. She asked a simple question: “What are you going to at SXSW?” My honest answer was: “Eh... seems like kind of a tech bro scene. I just don’t see something for me. So… nothing?” If you know Maria, you know there's always a follow-up challenge: “OK, but what would you want to go to?” Without overthinking it, I blurted out with gusto: "Some

I've had a few conversations of late that reminded me to share why 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 “𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗲”: 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶�

👋 Oh hey, it's me again with a friendly reminder to #flipthescript about investing in female founders and mixed teams. Among the very good and actionable recommendations made by Startup Coalition in their latest report , I also suggest a narrative reframe ➡️ 🛑 stop putting the onus on female founders 💡 start putting the onus on investors Sincere s/o to Isabella Rhodes , Vinous Ali , & Jordan Sullivan for authoring this report so we can keeping moving this work forw

As a follow up to this #flipthescript post last week, I've been thinking about: “𝗙𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 ‘𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁” 🤔 ➡️ It just doesn’t work for me. Instead of empowering, I feel like an imposter – after all, “fake” is literally in the prompt! Instead, what I’ve found helpful is this little tweak: “𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲 it ‘til you make it”. The swap of this one little letter helps me remember that I can 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰�

In short, the following case study showcases a "philanthropy in, investment out" alternative, impact-linked sustainable fund model with a flexible instrument for early stage impact investments. Since it was first created in 2022 from a US-centric legal context, a legal review in the UK provided context on how to adapt it in that jurisdiction. Additionally, in 2022, Elemental Excelerator brought the D-SAFE to market, which is a very similar mechanism for funding developme

The great Ada Ryland , an outstanding startup and innovation mentor who I’m incredibly fortunate to also call a friend, shared the following framework with me. It is not mine. She isn’t even sure it’s hers. She thinks it came from her business mentor. Maybe one day we’ll sort that out… In the meantime, with Ada’s permission, I’m sharing this framework here. It’s made a huge difference for me; I reference and share it often in one-on-one conversations. So much in fact, that I

Are you an early-stage founder trying to figure out the right amount of equity to bring aboard an advisor to your startup? Don't try to cut your own hair! Instead, I've included a handy-dandy template* below so you don't have to figure this out from a blank sheet of paper! *This is not legal advice & should only be considered a guide to help you prep the conversation with the advisor and formalize any agreements your lawyer. You're welcome! ⬇️ Click on the image below or ➡️ c

Note: I first shared the following post in 2019 as "I am not a Superwoman" “To all the Mamas out there - whether your babies are in your arms, your homes, your memories, or in your dreams, Happy Mother's Day to you!” Mother’s Day is upon us. Relationship status: #itscomplicated Some mamas are THRILLED to honor their moms, and thrilled to be honored themselves. For others this season can stir up lots of big emotions. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that May is also the host