Allan Tear’s Post

Formula 🏎️ for success 🦄 #proudinvestor

"How lucky am I to have had something that makes saying goodbye so hard" - AA Milne Today I shut off the lights for the last time at our building. Eight years here, and 15 years of creating spaces for tech startups within the lovely converted industrial relics of Providence. Place gets short shrift in our digital world. But, we're human, and place matters. Beginnings and endings, triumphs and setbacks, boredom and inspiration all happen in a place. Our idea for RevUp Capital, one of the first funds to apply revenue funding to early stage companies, was born and grew up here, reaching across the US and beyond. Our growth team worked from here on all 60 portfolio companies to date. And Founders League was a home for dozens of other entrepreneurs until the pandemic intervened. I want to say "thank you 🙏" to the folks who participated in making this building come alive. Cornish Associates for transforming it from a blacked out dive bar to an airy, inspiring space. Melissa Withers for being the animating energy and reminding us all that being together matters. Micaela Kamp, Nick Lee, Quinn Traendly, Taylor Smith, Rebecca Lawrence, Nikhil Arora, Con Cirillo, Stuart Balcombe, Kyle Nacci, Andrew Levy and all the other talented marketers who brought their ideas and energy to Clemence St. The only constant is change. We've set up shop in lovely co-working communities, and there is a freedom and excitement in that shared energy. But I will miss having a work "home". 👋 See you 'round the block, 95 Clemence.

❤️ this. “Be Exit Curious”

2% for the past 20 yrs… That’s the amount of VC that women-led startups have received. Unchanged for the last two decades. That’s why awareness building documentaries like Show Her The Money are so important. Not just to bring attention to a missed opportunity for investors, but also to broaden the conversation about what kinds of companies are investable. It was great fun to participate in a local showing of the film in Newport, RI, and to meet some of the badass women featured. Thanks to Annette Tonti, Rogue Venture Partners, and RIHub for organizing. Great to see allies Theodore Howell, Pat Sabatino and many others out on a beautiful summer night. And Dawn Lafreeda, who bought her first Dennys at 23 and now owns 81 (!) is my new #revenuefirst hero. There are many ways to make a fortune on your own terms, friends…

Most exciting AI company I’ve worked with 👇 hiring up and down the ladder 🪜 to support 🚀 growth

Every Zoom jockey should use this!

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir a venture capitalist's blood" Pretty much every day I look at an unrealistic set of financial projections 📈 from an early stage company. "Look", I say, "I'm a revenue investor. I want you to grow, but this plan seems highly speculative. If you were just setting targets internally, what would you shoot for?" 9 times out of 10 those founders exhale a sigh of relief. Because their projections were built to meet the growth expectations of early stage VC - and not because the founders had any crystal clear vision or supporting historical data on achieving the plan. Then they tell me their real plan, the one they believe in, and we can talk about how to make this more practical plan happen. Fundraising financial projections are performative. Founders and investors know they are a fabrication. They mostly serve as a signal that the founder is "thinking venture scale". Along the way, they can become a trap. If you raise with these financials, they then become the target you missed and have to explain at the board meeting. They force over-resourcing before customer and market patterns are truly understood. And, more often than not, when you don't raise, fundraising financials become the "let's wait and see" milestone for VCs that you're always chasing. Y'know what financials are really good for? Steering your business. Understanding unit economics. Managing cash. Prioritizing resources. And knowing when your go-to-market strategy is working. Don't let an investor's expectations lead you to make a plan you can't stand by. Apologies to Daniel Burnham for misappropriating his quote, which is better applied to life than financial projections. "Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized."