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?

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

👋 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

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