jamie finney

Author @ Vntr Prtnr @ GCVF (rural CO only)
Cofdr, Invstr @ Kokopelli Capital

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

I’m yet to find a capital allocator who doesn’t want this future, they just don’t yet know how to invest in it.

We now need the LP ecosystem to scale with the rising GP ecosystem.
https://t.co/washYrFOXJ

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

"NONE of the statistics I care about have appreciably changed in the last decade."

Despite increasing evidence and "dedicated" funds, the supply chain from capital to impact is clearly broken.

Quintessential @ajscholz if you ask me.

https://t.co/YCaJnvGAvr

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

When Finance Happens Around the Fire https://t.co/CS9Z8CMHoZ

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

>Find me a GP on Fund I or Fund II who does not resonate with this (by @jonbragdon)

I think we all want a more diverse GP landscape. This is the math to start understanding to work on that future together.

https://t.co/r8dDfD6m0v

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

Everyone loves to talk about "the infrastructure for tomorrow's economy."

What about today's economy?

Cashflow lending recognizes that we already have a lot of great businesses and people who are worthy of capital.

I'll let @Nedhelps tell you more:
https://t.co/kbB0PBsuHI

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

Corn Fed Finance https://t.co/eIz91pU9xv

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

If you are an investor who cares about community, @dustintmix 's work is a must read. Chess > checkers.

Which is why I'm excited to have him author our first Innovative Finance guestpost:
https://t.co/4NG8o7zDTJ

[Nia 🪩 @_johnsonator]

a lot of capitalists and socialists are going to be real mad at me BUT

the idea that land = capital is the problem

and it’s keeping us trapped in the same zero sum doom loop 🤷🏾‍♀️

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

Use angel investors to amplify your capital ecosystem.

Use funds to kickstart it.

Don't get these backwards. Far too many communities do.

https://t.co/njBaVfAjHZ

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

VCs seem to be scrambling to nail their capital efficient/profit-minded approaches.
Wonder if anyone has tried not marketing b/c they're just continuing with business as usual

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

@connerdelights credit for prompting the value caputre vs. creation thinking: https://t.co/Kk0ClcvskV

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

The Silver Tsunami is an epic amt of wealth and employment - the wealthiest gen. ever.

It took 10s of Mllns of ppl decades to build.

Are we okay with all that value being simply captured and pocketed overnight?

Or is this a value creation opportunity?

https://t.co/fMIRG9bqxz

[Nathan Barry @nathanbarry]

In the last 7 years, we’ve paid $6.9 million in profit sharing to the ConvertKit team.

While most companies hope to return money to shareholders in a moonshot acquisition, we’ve created a unique model to help our team think like owners.

Here’s how our compensation model works:

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

What is that 2x?

Founders - Is this the cost of capital?

GPs - So this is the price of capital the market is telling me to offer?

LPs - Is your upside capped?

It depends if we're talking debt or risk capital. This distinction matters a lot.

https://t.co/VnzgnXBMTV

[Tyler Tringas @tylertringas]

One of the first things we did in launching @calmfund was co-create a new investment structure that aligned us & our investors with businesses building sustainable profitable calm companies. We called it the Shared Earnings Agreement (SEAL) and it really did solve a many of the misalignments created by the standard early stage investors toolkit (primarily drawn from the venture capital model).

Most importantly it gave investors an incentive to back entrepreneurs seeking to build companies that might one day be sustainably profitable and generate dividends (or what we call Shared Earnings) for founders, employees, and investors alike. The majority of our initial investments were done on a SEAL and broadly, it worked. We now have multiple portfolio companies from our Fund 1 & 2 making quarterly Shared Earnings distributions to our investors. This cashflow is in addition to the uncapped upside of companies that have exited to strategics or gone on to raise additional capital to fuel growth.

Many people began primarily associating our fund with the SEAL, and while I am proud of the hard work to bring it to fruition, I always said that the SEAL was just a tool in the toolkit. The thing that makes Calm Fund unique is the thesis of investing in calm companies the fundamentally different approach to constructing our portfolio of many companies that are likely to succeed (rather than solely hunting for unicorns).

That thesis is going mainstream now as businesses that actually make money are becoming a priority for investors. There are coordination costs associated with asking co-investors, angels, founders, and LPs alike to do their due diligence on a "new" investment structure they haven't seen before. There are also benefits to using more established structure including better legal/tax guidance over time.

So for the past ~2 years we have been iterating on a structure that builds upon the most established convertible equity agreement in early stage investing: the SAFE. Our Shared Earnings SAFE structure is built upon the foundation of a SAFE, while incorporating the best benefits of the SEAL.

You can read more about the thinking behind the structure, and download the templates we use at the link that follows. As always I'm happy to answer any questions here in replies or privately.

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

Thx for the help on this one: @jonbragdon @tylertringas + Ines Schiller

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

Re: "Income Stmt Investing"
(vs cap table - aka equity.)

Which line item on the inc. stmt. do you choose?
Rev? Profit/NI? Adjust for fdr comp?

Likely not 1-size fits all, but lots of room to standardize

https://t.co/eMs4tTFbz8

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

@itsurboyevan @bryce @indievc Congrats

[Jason Shuman @JasonrShuman]

American Capitalism has an addiction problem.

It's getting out control and we're not talking about it enough.

Here’s 5 addiction trends we need to do something about.

[Jason Cohen @asmartbear]

So I assume this is what @jasonfried was just arguing vehemently against. And I agree -- while Garry's way is a valid way, most people should go the Fried way.

I was also explaining how there aren't only two ways.

When unit economics are good, when retention is high (good both financially and indicates customers genuinely want the product), especially if NRR >100%, then continuing to invest in growth, even at roughly $0 profit or single-digit negative (if you want to take investment-- which doesn't have to be traditional either), then you are building wealth and derisking the business.

If those assumptions aren't holding, then just "spend to grow" is high-risk. It's possible, of course, that your future self finds a way to fix everything. Just not a high-percentage bet.

[jamie finney @jam_finney]

What is keeping alt cap term sheets "alt"?

Coming soon: Innovative Finance Newsletter: short features on specific terms that are holding finance back.

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https://t.co/BSsXITuZVF