When we were thinking of what to call ourselves, we took inspiration from Founders. The ones that never back down. Or give up. The ones that run through a brick wall. And keep going on and on, rain or shine, come what may. Go to sleep exhausted, to get up and fight again the next day. And so we decided to call ourselves Tenacity Ventures, for the one trait every Founder has in abundance.
And guess what? To back such Founders we need to have Tenacity too.
Core belief
Our fouders find the problem space complicating and growing sharply over a period of time, and the existing solutions not scalable. They are tiny, but they don’t care. They know that the complacence, politics and lethargy of bigger companies provides enough of a wedge for them to get through. They feel that their TAM is deeper than people think and growth underappreciated.
Investment size
We are investing from a $100M fund and looking to build a concentrated portfolio of high-quality companies. Our average starting check size will be ~$5M, and our growth capital is ideal for companies that have achieved some product market fit.
Our Tribe
Our investor network has collectively encountered nearly everything our young founders are currently experiencing or are likely to face in the future. We bring those insights, distilled contextually to our portfolio companies. This is not generic advice, but specific advice coming from people who have put their money where their mouth is.
Core belief
Our fouders find the problem space complicating and growing sharply over a period of time, and the existing solutions not scalable. They are tiny, but they don’t care. They know that the complacence, politics and lethargy of bigger companies provides enough of a wedge for them to get through. They feel that their TAM is deeper than people think and growth underappreciated.
Investment size
We are investing from a $100M fund and looking to build a concentrated portfolio of high-quality companies. Our average starting check size will be ~$5M, and our growth capital is ideal for companies that have achieved some product market fit.
Our Tribe
Our investor network has collectively encountered nearly everything our young founders are currently experiencing or are likely to face in the future. We bring those insights, distilled contextually to our portfolio companies. This is not generic advice, but specific advice coming from people who have put their money where their mouth is.
Core belief
They find their problem space complicating and growing sharply over a period of time, and the existing solutions not scalable. They are tiny, but they don’t care because they know that the complacence, politics and lethargy of bigger companies provides enough of a wedge for them to get through
Mindset
They are mission driven, with a bit of chip on the shoulder. They know that the path that they have willingly chosen will yield meaningful fruits in a decade, if that. They have tremendous tolerance for pain and yet are eternal optimists. Their joy comes far more from a customer email noting their delight than from announcing a new financing round
Experience
Our founders are not generalists who are learning the problems and reading about solutions. They have been in the trenches, they have often spent time on the other side from a solution like theirs, and found it missing this and that. While some of them are brilliant 20-somethings, most are grayer and full of customer insights. With a marker in their hands, they can hold an impromptu lecture on an arcane topic, and in 60 minutes convince you that this is the most important problem that you have not thought about
We wear our battle scars with confidence. We work with you on the actual drivers of the business:
We will come with sharp points of view but are always listening to you and your instincts
Think of us as a no bullshit, high bar capital co-founder. We have made more mistakes of every kind than we hope you will make, and so we do not think very highly of ourselves. Our goal is to help shorten the learning curves of our founders.
We know that growing a company has no one prescription, and the path is not always obvious. We are not a bank - so, if all you need is capital and you truly do not need any help in any aspect of institution building then we might not be the best partner for you at this point
We want to understand very deep ‘whys” behind a business before we invest. We want to imagine the world five or ten years out with you with your company playing a meaningful role. If we are having trouble imagining it, we will respectfully bow out.
After we have invested, we sit fully on your side of the table. We are not there seeking MIS and exits from you. We think returns is our joint responsibility and not just yours. We will not mince words when we think you are making mistakes.
No matter what, we will operate with empathy because we know how hard these battles are. When you are down, we promise to be the guys that you call vs. the guys whose phones you dread picking up. We are quiet in press, audible in boardrooms, and animated in late-night discussions with you over take-out food
Venture insights that matter
If you are a founder raising capital, we would love to hear from you.
Please write to us at founders@tenacity.vc with a description of your team and company, as well as the problem you are solving – either with a few bullet-points, a short slide deck, or whatever other format you like!
We will respond as soon as we can
