I haven’t been active on social media over the past few years. In truth, I wasn’t super active in anything other than Mainvest, the company I started building in 2018 to build, and rebuild post-pandemic, strong and resilient local economies through community investment into owner-operated small businesses. I’ve spent the last 3 months winding down Mainvest amidst the final brick (not mortar) wall that we could not overcome. The back end infrastructure we built our investment platform on was reliant on a banking as a service platform, Synapse - whose path to implosion in May, froze all operations and user funds. After an 18 month self-funded grind towards profitability, the an existential factor forced our hand.. My core team, Lauren, Isabel, Robert, Tim, and Todd worked tirelessly and vigorously in a zero capital environment, fueled not by salary, nor short-term motivation of equity liquidity, but by a true alignment in the impact of our mission. As I work to process and post-mortem the experience of the last 6 years, I’m hoping to consolidate it into a long-form post of learnings, both personally and entrepreneurially, in case it’s of value or interest to anyone looking to build a mission-first company within the evolving socio-economic climate. The largest high-level takeaway was how challenging it is to build and deploy consistently in what has felt like the most volatile macro-environment in recent history, a strong juxtaposition to the environment I developed professionally in (working with an amazing team from 2011-2018 to grow and scale Uber from ~50 employees and 4 cities to what it has become). A huge part of Mainvest’s mission was the strengthening of the middle class economically through (buzzword-a-palooza) democratization of capital and economic opportunity through tech-enabled community investment. It’s a tough pill to swallow that amidst the attempt, things have aggressively trended in the opposite direction. Personally, moving on from Mainvest has felt in a way like coming out of a coma. The level of isolation that came with fully committing to the trenches to keep the business growing put everything else on the back seat - personal health/growth, relationships, passion for music, etc. There were weeks at a time that I wouldn’t speak to anyone other than partner businesses, my team, and my investors. Pro Tip: Don’t get there. In the near-term, I’m super excited to be rebuilding those connections as I continue to process everything that can be learned from the last 6 year journey. The biggest learning, that the mission of building an American economy that actually works for Americans is the most important thing I hope to continue to impact - mechanism-agnostic. Thank you to everyone who impacted the 6 year journey, I hope to cross paths again soon.
Michael Davis
3mo
Nick, I've already told you this independently but through all of the difficulty, you guys built something special. Our team admires what you all did. Not just for the mission focus (we have it too!), but for the day-to-day dedication it takes to build something in this particular space (SMB financing). I feel for you and the entire team on a human level too. Startups are brutally hard, and they can take everything from you as you try to create something that puts a positive dent in the world. I hope you and everyone else who has poured their soul into MainVest gets the recovery time you need... And that this isn't the last thing we see from you. Lastly, it's so easy to focus on the things that didn't go right, especially when the thing you've worked on has to stop, but invariably so so so many things went right to get you as far as you guys did. I hope the learnings from what didn't go according to plan + a reflection on what did work leads to another act.
I'd bet on you every day of the week bro...whatever you do next will be great like you've always been.
Piggee
3mo
Nick Mathews thanks for your leadership in this space as it’s served as a guiding light for our own mission at Piggee which is giving established Small and Medium size businesses the same access to their equity as the big guys and bring this type of investment to a broader range of everyday investors than historically was the case. Would love to talk offline about some of your learnings with Mainvest and see how Piggee could potentially fill a void for your loyal clients at Mainvest.
Joseph Price
3mo
Nick, I just want you to know say that as both a Mainvest platform fan and as a CEO in a virgin and volatile landscape, your post spoke to me and I’m sure so many others who know you and truly know the perils of the terrible grind that you experienced and described. I remember phone calls with you in early spring of 2022 as our own Mainvest campaign was prepping to launch - and with hours to go before pulling the trigger - Putin invaded Ukraine, skuttling months (perhaps years at that point) of sleepless nights’ planning and execution. I can fully emphasize with what you endured, just like so many of us here. You’ve helped many people on Main Street make their dreams a reality. You’re in the canon as one of the greats. Take some time for yourself, bro. You’ve more than earned it.
Melissa Withers
3mo
Was such an important effort, blazing trails to innovate how we deploy capital into the market. While we all had hoped for better outcomes this doesn't diminish the importance or impact of the Mainvest effort!
Brandon G.
3mo
You guys really brought the concept to the forefront and it was fun to play along. As a self-proclaimed champion of small businesses and user of the platform, there was clear alignment in our goals and mission and I loved the experience. Props to you and the team for building a platform that allowed so many small businesses to either get their start or grow sustainably, and another shout out for all of the small businesses who participated. I've discovered some very cool businesses by investing through the platform, like American Stonecraft, Mamo's Garlic Sauce, and others that put out incredible products that I'd otherwise never have been exposed to. Cheers to what's next!
Matt Atkin
3mo
Proud of you Nick, and grateful for the vulnerable post. Rooting you on no matter what you decide to do next
Jake Makler
3mo
You addressed a difficult problem with an innovative solution and we loved being along for the ride with you sir. Can’t wait to see what’s next
Zack Hughes
3mo
You're the man Nick. The timing with COVID and the post-COVID inflation etc was about the worst possible luck for Mainvest given the nature of the business. You did everything possible and deserved a better outcome. The next one will be up-and-to-the-right 📈
CEO at MainVest
3moAs a closing note, one thing that I can say with confidence did not contribute to the decision to wind down Mainvest was a lack of support from those who entrusted their capital to us for our big bold bets. Thank you immensely to Wesley and Marissa (Room 40), Graham (Lerer Hippeau), and Expa for the support personally and professionally you and your firms provided through this journey. On the angel investor and friend front: Abby, Andrew, Andrew^2, Brad, Curtis, Darius, David, Edward, eric, Eric Strader, Gaston, The Bliedens, Jason, The Le Dems, Jeremy, Jesse, Josh, Kevin, Lauren, Lyle, 🏀 Matt, Max, Michael, Michael^2, Scott, William, Will^2, Zach, and Zack^2, you all believed in what we were trying to build at the earliest stage and I can’t express enough how meaningful you all are.