Investeerimine riskikapitalifondi
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Edastan siinkohal investeerimispakkumise neile, kes pole oma raha veel Armeenia kaevandustesse investeerinud :)
Alltoodud pakkumine on USA riskikapitalifondilt Flywheel Ventures ning peaks olema natukene kindlam, kui mõned kohalikud investeerimisfond.
Kui kellelegi peaks antud pakkumine huvi pakkuma, siis kirjutage mulle partel@isepankur.ee peale ning ma saadan kontaktandmed edasi.
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Dear Pärtel,
I’m writing to invite you to invest in our new $35 million Flywheel Ventures investment fund. I apologize in advance for the length of this email, but it summarizes what I believe is an investment opportunity that I have been working toward my entire professional life, so I appreciate your review and reply.
First, though, let me admit that I *hate* raising money. I love almost everything about my job: helping entrepreneurs pursue their dreams, creating jobs for the talented people who work in our companies, checking out the newest technologies, working with an incredibly motivated team of colleagues, and of course, creating wealth for our investors. Frankly, the single worst part of my job is going out every 3-4 years and raising money from investors. It’s stressful, it’s time-consuming, and frankly, it just isn’t that much fun. Even with a track record of three funds having produced annual investment IRRs ranging from +8.6% to +26% to +51%, raising money always risks introducing an awkward topic into the personal and professional relationships that I value more than anything. If you have ever raised money for something, I’m sure you can relate.
So it’s with that admission that I ask your indulgence as I write to you today to ask you to consider investing in our new fund. Although it is the fourth fund professionally managed by Flywheel Ventures, it is only the second fund of institutional size and early-stage focus (the other two funds were “seed” funds), so in keeping with our culture, we have named it Flywheel II, LP. We are targeting $35M in total investment commitments, to be invested as usual over a 10-year period.
It probably seems like a crazy time to be raising a new Flywheel fund, but we actually think the next 2 years is a historic opportunity. If you think, as I do, that the global economy will recover at some point in the next 10 years, and you have the patience to wait that long, then the smartest decision you can make is to begin investing now at today’s attractive prices. Of course, given the state of the economy, and the impact that the past year has had on the value and liquidity of everyone’s investments, I am sure you are as nervous as everyone else, especially about investing in something as long-term and illiquid as a small, specialized venture capital fund. In fact, though, my partners and I at Flywheel think it is precisely because of the economic turmoil of the last year that NOW is a historic window of opportunity for our investment strategy. In fact, I personally believe that the next 2 years will likely be the investment opportunity that I’ve been working toward my entire professional career. To back that up, my partners and I are each tripling our personal investments in this new fund versus our previous funds.
Our view of this historic window of opportunity is pretty simple: we call it “Think Globally, Invest Locally.” We believe that the world is the midst of a historic shift, with the rising economies of the emerging world (especially in Asia) requiring that a significant portion of the world’s resources be redirected toward key global infrastructure challenges, particularly in the areas of digital services, physical infrastructure, energy, and water. Unlike other investors, though, we think the entrepreneurs and R&D innovations that will produce the next-generation solutions to these challenges are still found primarily in the USA, and especially in the western USA where we have strong relationships. In addition, at the very same time that the need for these next-generation solutions is quickly rising, the global credit crisis has created a critical shortage of the long-term investment capital needed by entrepreneurs to turn R&D innovations into these solutions. This gives us the opportunity to pick the very best investments in companies run by the very best entrepreneurs, and to invest at very attractive prices. In short, we see a historic opportunity to “buy low” now , with a focus on the most important global economic sectors, and “sell high” in 5-10 years, when global economic growth returns and puts a premium on these same, important sectors.
Capturing this historic opportunity requires working with the best team: our motto is “First Who, Then What." It shows in the team, culture, and relationships we’ve built at Flywheel. My partners Scott Caruso, Kim Sanchez Rael, and I have worked together full-time since 2003, and even longer as individual investors. We have each invested a significant portion of our own personal net worth in our Flywheel funds. Each of us came from prior entrepreneurial and operational careers, so we know how to partner closely with entrepreneurs to create tangible results and financial value in the companies we invest in. We’re assisted by a great investment and support team at Flywheel; everyone on the team has been part of a start-up organization and everyone shares in the profits of Flywheel. We’ve also built a worldwide network of over one hundred advisors and industry experts, including a new group of Global Advisors in Dubai, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul (with other cities TBA shortly) who assist our American-based portfolio companies with entering those overseas markets. Our advisory boards are chaired by Dr. Tom Byers, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Stanford University and the founder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. We’ve assembled, in short, one of the most talented investment teams and networks around the world.
We’ve proven that our “old-fashioned” venture investing strategy of “Fishing Where Everyone Else Isn’t” still works today as it did for the pioneers of venture capital in the 1970’s and 1980’s. We don’t believe in following the herd. Instead, we source small, capital-efficient, seed- and early-stage investment opportunities in great companies, entrepreneurs, and technologies where other investors aren’t looking. Over 70% of our investments had origins inside R&D organizations where we have strong relationships, over 80% were in companies that had no revenue at the time of our investment; and over 90% were in companies we identified prior to any other investors. We also believe in capital efficiency and real revenue growth. Our initial investments have averaged just over $650,000. We focus on achieving real revenue milestones before raising follow-on capital to scale growth; by following this strategy, we’ve helped our companies raise a total of $143 million in additional capital from leading investment firms like DCM, Intel Capital, and Sierra Ventures, but Flywheel has retained an average of 21.8% ownership in our companies after all of that funding.
Our ability to “Accelerate the Flywheel Effect” has created tangible, intrinsic financial value in our companies and for our investors. We bring the hands-on execution assistance of our team and support networks to help our companies grow with less capital: despite over 80% of our investments being made in pre-revenue companies, 90% of our companies are now producing commercial revenue, and collectively they will generate over $55 million in revenue this year, a 20% increase from 2008 against the most challenging economic backdrop in history.
In the end, though, we agree with Winston Churchill that “No Matter How Beautiful the Strategy, One Should Occasionally Look at the Results.” We’re most proud of our annual investment IRR results from the 3 prior Flywheel funds, which range from 8.6% to 26% to 51%. We have also achieved significant recognition from our industry peers, including participation and mentoring in the Kauffman Fellows Program, election to the Board of Directors of the National Venture Capital Association, and being chosen to represent the entire U.S. venture capital industry in testifying last month to the U.S. Senate about the role of venture capital in the American economy.
With this context, I am proud to extend to you, Pärtel, an invitation to consider an investment in Flywheel II, LP. Such an investment is more “affordable” than many individuals often assume; because an investment in the fund is structured as a commitment over 10 years, you do not have to put in the cash up front. Instead, we will call down capital from our investors as we identify and make investments over the 10-year life of the fund. While the amount and timing of these capital calls may vary, it typically averages about 15% of the total commitment per year in the first 5 years, and about 5% of the total commitment per year in the last 5 years.
Please reply and let me know if you’d like me to send you our formal private placement memorandum for Flywheel II, LP. The PPM describes the details of our team, opportunity, strategy, execution, and track record, as well as the risks and other considerations. To receive a PPM, you must qualify as an “accredited investor” under SEC guidelines; the most basic criteria is to have a net worth of at least $1 million OR a personal income for the past two years of $200K ($300K including a spouse). If these do not apply to you, there are alternative but more complicated criteria as well; if you have any questions about whether or not you are considered “accredited,” feel free to let myself or Yasine Armstrong (cc’d here) know, and we’ll work with you to make a determination.
Pärtel, my partners and I appreciate our relationship with you and your consideration of this invitation. If you would prefer to not receive Flywheel investment communications in the future, just hit reply and let us know, and we’ll mark our address book accordingly.
Best regards,
Trevor Loy
On behalf of the General Partners of Flywheel II, LP
Scott Caruso, Kim Sanchez Rael, and Trevor Loy
as well as the entire Flywheel Ventures team -
No selle körval tundub Armeenia kaevandus juba päris hea investeering...
