Founders First Capital Partners’ Post

Thanks to GBI Magazine for taking the time to speak with us here at YFM Equity Partners about our views on the year ahead for tax efficient investing and the UK's entrepreneurial economy #venturecapital #entrepreneur #growthcapital

“Trust is something that funders and investors need to go out and earn, rather than expect to be given.” Our Chief Financial Officer Amy Gutcher, highlighted the importance of investing in relationships and building trust between communities and funders at The Social Innovation Partnership (TSIP)’s recent roundtable discussion on Redistribution. TSIP identifies the importance of redistributing wealth, power and resources as one of the "interlocking forces for system change" required in its new strategy: Reimagining a Fair Society. It convened the roundtable to explore why redistribution matters for a fairer society and what you can do to enable it. Amy spoke from the funder's perspective, alongside Matt Smith CBE from Key Fund Investments about redistributing wealth. Southwark Community Representative Sylvia Raven spoke about her experience of redistributing assets. While Natasha Friend from Camden Giving and Robin Chu, from the School for Social Entrepreneurs, spoke about their experience of redistributing resources. You can read a summary of the discussion and listen to the complete recording below. #InvestingForImpact #SocialInvestment #Equity #Fairness #SystemChange

Jim Balsillie On Tech Investing, Family And What He’s Into Now I love seeing a Principal taking a hands on approach to their family office and continued investment process. This is where the longevity of a family office is built as the principal can generally install a culture of success. It helps here that the Principal came from an investing background but also has strong entrepreneurial experience. F Partners Read The Full Article Here: https://lnkd.in/e6ZdcnTC #singlefamilyoffice #familyoffice #familyoffices #privatemarkets #privateinvestors

Sometimes, a person's light shines so brightly that you want to jump over the fence and join their journey. That was my start to 2024 being interviewed by the remarkable George Sun. This young man raised his first investment fund as a teenager and is now financing the teams going through the entrepreneurship programs he promotes in high schools. His vision extends beyond business; he's crafting a future where young minds lead innovation. Witnessing his journey is a masterclass in ambition and impact." #OnPurpose #OnPoint #LookoutWorld #GeorgeSun https://lnkd.in/gTwjDM6X

Expanding Access to Capital with the Empowering Main Street in America Act! The introduction of Senator Tim Scott’s Empowering Main Street in America Act of 2024 could be a game-changer for small businesses, minority founders, and aspiring investors across the country. This legislation aims to widen access to capital, simplify regulations, and create new opportunities for Americans to invest in their communities. For those of us working on empowering disinvested communities, this is the kind of policy that can lead to real change. Some key highlights of the legislation: 📊 Micro Exemption: Firms can raise up to $500,000 with minimal regulatory hurdles—a major boost for early-stage businesses. 📈 Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF): Issuers raising $500,000 or less won't need costly accounting reviews—encouraging more small-scale crowdfunding efforts. 🔍 Accredited Investor Expansion: The wealth threshold would be lowered to $500,000, and individuals could qualify through a knowledge-based test—removing barriers for retail investors who are ready to invest smartly. 🤝 Safe Harbor for Finders: Supporting those who connect early-stage firms with investors, an essential role for community capital. This legislation, designed in collaboration with Black investors and business leaders, could directly support minority communities—communities that have consistently faced barriers in accessing capital. Senator Scott understands firsthand how tough it is for smaller firms to scale, and his focus on boosting entrepreneurship and economic inclusion is exactly what Main Street America needs. As a community capital and real estate crowdfunding advocate, I’m thrilled to see provisions that make capital more accessible for smaller, community-focused ventures. Initiatives like these pave the way for minority founders to thrive, for small businesses to create jobs, and for inclusive wealth-building opportunities. #EmpoweringMainStreet #CommunityCapital #InvestmentCrowdfunding #InclusiveEconomy #SmallBusinessGrowth #CapitalAccess #AccreditedInvestor #RealEstateCrowdfunding #ImpactInvesting #MinorityEntrepreneurship #MainStreetAmerica #TimScott #EconomicOpportunity #SocialImpact https://lnkd.in/gAHZ6aPU

Some of the best ideation and action planning on how to further synergize local, state, and federal programs to best serve small businesses starts over an impromptu meeting at a local #smallbiz coffee shop! SBA SD Director Jaime Wood met with SBA resource partner Joni Ekstrum, Pres./CEO, South Dakota Biotech; and Joe Batcheller, Pres./CEO, Downtown Sioux Falls, Inc. today -- just a few of the topics of discussion: 🚀 Federal & State Technology (FAST) Grant implementation and impact (SD Biotech / SD BioRise is the SBA FAST grant host and small business innovation in SD is skyrocketing!) 🚀 SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) Grant implementation and impact (SD Biotech / SD BioRise is the SBA GAFC host in SD and seeing some incredible impact in the work they are doing with SD Tribal entities) 🚀 Increased access and entrepreneurial support to small businesses from all backgrounds and industries -- both urban and rural 🚀 Government contracting and certifications (Women-owned, Service-disabled Veteran Owned, Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone), and 8(a) Business Development) 🚀 Small business exporting 🚀 Innovation/Tech small businesses 🚀 Food and tourism industry small businesses (We have some great domestic and international chefs and AMAZING wholesome food in SD - great combination for small business ownership!) 🚀 Small Business Saturday planning (November is just around the corner!)

The most rational thing entrepreneurs can do is support Harris for President. (One Example. It so odd that entrepreneur's accept the burden of paying for substandard healthcare and enriching for profit insurance companies. Why we haven't all banded together to reduce costs (collectively we can increase our buying power) OR worked together to innovate a system that works feels so off brand. We are a country that innovates, why we all think the best we can do is what we have or what already exists in other countries is counter to who we say we are.)

Talib Graves-Manns and Wilson Lester, co-GPs of Partners in Equity (PIE), connect main street entrepreneurs with patient equity to increase the number of Black and Brown businesses that own their own commercial real estate. They provide equity-based down payment assistance that allows businesses to acquire new or preserve existing commercial real estate. Creating access to private equity in Black and Brown community corridors is particularly powerful because of the ways that these entrepreneurial ecosystems have been systemically left out of commercial and private finance. “What we’re essentially doing,” Wilson explains, “is identifying a new asset class that provides a significant opportunity to direct capital into stable and quality investments, particularly in markets that are underinvested, where we can acquire property alongside the business owner at a below-market value resulting in outsized alpha.” Along with their partner, napoleon wallace, the co-founders of PIE have had decades of success in their respective careers before coming together to collaborate on this work. #DiversityInVC #ImpactinAction #ImpactInvesting #dei #diversityandinclusion #emergingmanagers #fundmanagers #alternateinvestments #Include #privateequity #PE Learn more about Talib and Wilson here! https://lnkd.in/e56Z95FE

I’ve successfully fundraised millions in a good markets and in bad markets. They require widly different strategies. Here’s how. Back in 2020 and 2021 I led the raise of over €1mn in total for two different companies. This was at the peak of the market and people were investing money like it was tap water. There’s no party like the parties of 21’, let’s just say it like that 😎 Many things can be said about this type of bull market, but here’s a few important points: 1. Interest rates were almost 0, which means that investors were incentivised to take more risk with their money 2. Founders abilities to raise more money was more important for investor returns on paper than actually building a good business 3. General investor trust in future returns were high, mostly because everyone thought you could always raise more money This translated into the following fundraising strategies becoming quite successful: 1. Brand and FOMO is everything, since investors don’t check the numbers too deeply 2. Status is key, since it can serve as a proxy for competence in fast paced environments 3. Crazy, unprofitable ideas work, because investors trust your money-making abilities by default The short term effect of this was that more founders were able to raise money, while investors had great returns - on paper.  However, a disaster was lurking in the numbers. All the paper returns were effectively just promises about future growth. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆. When these promises couldn’t be kept due to systemic over-selling and lack of focus, it caused a domino effect: 1. Founders didn’t deliver on their projections 2. New investors weren’t convinced about new rounds 3. Old investors didn’t get the returns they hoped for due to lack of new rounds Then, when you add rising interest rates on top of this, you end up with the negative downward spiral that started in full effect in the fall of 2022. The market was filled up with broken promises and investors became very mistrusting about new ideas, understandably. This leads us to the bear market, which is equally interesting as it require very different strategies to win. But I’m saving that for another post. What is your craziest bull market story?

"...the sensitivity of fundraising to performance is almost three times higher for minority-owned groups." (Racial Diversity in Private Capital Fundraising) We need to continue to build on the shoulders of those that have been leading these efforts for decades. It's been great to help support your vision Harvey Butler and have the support of Barclays behind you. While minority-owned investment managers outperform their benchmarks, only .7% of U.S. assets are managed by people of color. This a HUGE opportunity for everyone to win -- Corporate Members, LPs, MBEs, PE/VC's, etc etc. The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) is well positioned to pull together corporate demand and the private capital industry to stimulate greater investment into the MBE ecosystem. It's great to see the hire of Alexandre Swayne as the new Associate Director of Capital Programs as the organization continues to reduce the friction for NMSDC-certified investment firms to access their 18,000 certified MBEs.