Ed Illig

I help leaders bring vision and strategy to life, by design.

[Ed Illig @Illig]

Cheers to @cruise, for featuring my daughter today — @gm @honda @emplify #InternationalWomensDay #hereforafew

[Ed Illig @Illig]

True story.

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

A question I have never heard an LP ask that would be quite illuminating – who else has invested in this fund that you absolutely cannot let down?

The #1 answer for me is my mom, who came with a solid list of questions on how it works and whether she could invest in Fund 1 🥰

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

Big announcement below! 👇

Let's talk about the current state of GP-LP affairs:
🤯Emerging VC managers have absolutely exploded over the past 5 years.
📈 At the same time, more and more data has surfaced that shows that emerging VC firms tend to outperform larger, established firms.
🤔 All of this has made it intriguing but tough for LPs to know where to direct their attention.
🛍 GPs frequently meet LPs at conferences who are window shopping but not committed to the asset class or emerging managers.
🧾 And both crews get overwhelmed by transactional convos.

So @sydneypaige10 and I created Abundance. Abundance is a private, nomination-based retreat for active LPs and top emerging GPs to form new experiences together & build lasting relationships.

Why Abundance?
Abundance is knowing that there is more than enough for more than one to succeed. And a single win within a community is a win for the community itself.

The journey of an emerging VC manager from 1st close to final close or Fund 1 to Fund 2 is (1) communal and (2) requires an abundant mindset. LPs look for structure and confidence to feel comfortable investing in early VC firms.

Yet many of the feeds we scroll and conferences we attend reinforce inherent power dynamics and transactional thinking, which allows scarcity mindset to creep in for emerging GPs. Some of the best events I’ve attended have been intentionally non-transactional, e.g. Camp Hustle, Recast Summit, and other GPs’ AGMs.

The fundraising success stories we see usually involve a community (usually of other GPs & LPs) coming together to support and open doors for the emerging GP. We designed Abundance to be an immersive gathering that fosters these connections.

Starting tonight, ~100 GPs and LPs are descending upon Seattle for the inaugural Abundance retreat. This has been under wraps for months and I can’t wait to see it come to life!

Thanks in advance to our awesome sponsors who were the earliest believers in this vision. @sydecario @awscloud @AWSstartups Gunderson & Zelda Ventures. & logo design by @Illig.

Presented by @TheCouncilCap & @SymphonicVC.

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

In 2011, Marc Andreessen famously proclaimed, “Software is Eating the World.” The thesis was that internet startups were “poised to take over large swathes of the economy,” and make all the failed dreams of the dot-com era (Act I) finally come true.

Andreessen was at least half right. In the decade that followed (Act II), software companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google ascended to become the most valuable in the world. Billions of people did indeed buy smartphones, as predicted. And entire industries—news, entertainment, travel, communications, retail, productivity, finance, and more—were swallowed whole by software.

But software still hasn't eaten everything. The industries that form the foundation of the American economy—healthcare, logistics, construction, transportation, manufacturing, etc—are still waiting for the revolution. Just ask any consumer trying to find the right specialist at a hospital, or get insurance for a leaky roof. All across America, we are confronted with the type of antiquated, complex bureaucracies that we thought software would fix. The pandemic revealed how brittle our systems are. It’s now clear our foundations are crumbling.

But there’s good news: we are now on the precipice of Software's Third Act, in which startups will finally deliver on the dream of transforming the economy’s foundational industries. Identifying, backing, and supporting these companies is my life’s work, and inspires everything we do at The Council Fund.

In the full essay (linked below), I cover:
⏳ why Act III is finally the time for software to transform essential industries
🦿 which founders will have a leg up in Act III
🌁 why Silicon Valley will still be center-stage in Act III
🧗 how companies can scale vertically vs horizontally
🌟 how we @thecouncilcap support them

[Ed Illig @Illig]

Smart choice.

[Ed Illig @Illig]

A publisher friend sent me @ellerhymes, “fonts hanging out,” vid. And now this, her take on modern branding. What a delightful word wonk and deft online talent. So bright. Over the last decade I’ve rarely followed new people on socmed. This morning, I followed this phenom. Props.

[Elle Cordova @ellerhymes]

How brands talk these days

[Elle Cordova @ellerhymes]

Fonts hanging out

[Ed Illig @Illig]

@tindle Did you say something, George? :) HNY from across the pond!

[Erika⚡️⚡️ @brickywhat]

https://t.co/L9SCoTOZAf

[Erika⚡️⚡️ @brickywhat]

*Pinch Me Moment Alert* I was lucky enough to talk about my journey as a woman investor for an article in @nasdaq! I got to share about what I look for in a founder, how this app changed my life, and tell the world about @TheCouncilCap and @AmberIllig🤩

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

Love to see our Principal @brickywhat featured in @Nasdaq as a rising star in VC!! 💫 Congrats Erika!

[Ed Illig @Illig]

Good news and how

[The Tennis Letter @TheTennisLetter]

Coco Gauff & Novak Djokovic announce that Western & Southern Open will stay in Cincinnati!

More than $200,000,000 will be invested in stadium improvements to raise the tournaments prestige worldwide.

It will be a 2 week event by 2025.

Great news. ❤️

[Ed Illig @Illig]

@brickywhat @TheCouncilCap @AmberIllig Cheers to this. Congrats!

[Ed Illig @Illig]

@chris_simone Cheers to your move! Keep an eye out for @AmberIllig — you two likely have a few things in common on the investor/healthcare front, and beyond.

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

@CindyBiSV has very strong reputation amongst top founders as a high-conviction, quick decision maker. iykyk

Before investing full time, Cindy was an operator at software companies and a founder of an exited hardware startup.

[Ed Illig @Illig]

A more angelic approach: Do well and do good —

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

Recently we shared a deal with our Angel members that received record-breaking interest (fertility related).

After going through our process and meeting our angels, here's what the founder had to say 🥲

[The Council @TheCouncilCap]

For the first time, The Council Angels is opening its door to new members and sharing the application publicly.

If you're a female operator at a high-growth tech company looking to level up your angel investing skills, read on

Apply to join us here 👇🏼
https://t.co/VLxjWOgsbB

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

After years in early stage investing, I get a ton of q’s from operators wanting to angel invest, and angels navigating LP opportunities.

🤫Hint: invite to a special event below

[Ed Illig @Illig]

Active vs Passive help —

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

‘Let me know how I can be helpful’ is dead.

Proactively identifying exactly where you can help and stepping up is where it’s at.

This past month I’ve:

1. sent 3 executive candidates to founders after personally vetting them irl ☕️

[Ed Illig @Illig]

Work/life, balanced:

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

If you didn't know, I had a baby 1 month ago, while continuing to raise The Council Fund I.

Here are 3 irrational fears I had while waiting for baby to arrive that have turned out to be total trash 🗑!

🧵👇🏼

[Ed Illig @Illig]

What do Apple, Cruise, Eli Lilly, Snap, angels, women, and transformative investing all have in common? Her. Read on.

[Amber Illig @AmberIllig]

Thank you @MarijaButkovic for covering our launch in Forbes! I couldn't have pictured a better way to announce.

https://t.co/7fXa18Kvtd