We are constantly inspired by relentless founders tackling big problems globally. That's why we decided to professionalize our angel investing side hustle via 10K Ventures - investing our own capital, time, and network as fast and early as possible.
Industry agnostic.
Geographically opportunistic.
Founder-centric.
Invested alongside Tiger Global, a16z, Softbank, Alter Global, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, local VCs and angels, and more.
Track Record so far:
- Invested in 20+ early-stage startups directly ****
- % IRR*= 67+%
- 1 Exit 🙌
*Vintage: Q1/2019. Estimates as of Q4/2022. Includes both realized and unrealized returns.
Portfolio: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/10kv/recent_investments
OUR (HYPO)THESIS*:
#1: GOAL: 400X RETURN - We aim for $25k tickets to be $10MM outcomes.
We have limited capital but ambitious targets, hence we are astute and disciplined in finding these deals. Each deal we make shall be backed by strong convictions that it could return >400x of our investment.
#2: We value Quality and ROI as much as Entry VALUATION.
We care about returns and probability of success as much as entry valuations. We acknowledge that serial entrepreneurs or repeat founders could demand a higher valuation in exchange for a “de-risked” premium on team and execution. But at the same time, sometimes the big winners are further driven by external forces. Either way, what we’re looking for is to find opportunities backed by a strong conviction of achieving massive total value creation potential…
…which leads us to…
#3: We like LARGE TAMs, with Low-PMF-High-Execution Risk type of verticals.
We like LARGE TAMs as this indicates how big the revenue potential is going to be (=valuation in the long run). We don’t just mean large top-down hypothetical market sizes, we want to have strong convictions that there is a clear path to a certain scale and we do this through bottom-up calculations and clearly understand what needs to be true in order to reach that level of scale and impact.
Our bare minimum is for us to see a clear path to at least $100M Annual Rev RR / ARR potential.
Typically, these are category-defining or clear emerging category leaders in a particular geography. Usually identifying and finding solutions to what would be the largest problems in >10 years.
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
― Buckminster Fuller
In addition, we also prefer gunning for a high probability of scaling with a low probability of failure - We need to have strong convictions that this works, but simultaneously notoriously difficult enough that only a few could pull it off.
#4: For Low-PMF-High-Execution Risk type of verticals, the biggest de-risking element of the equation: The FOUNDERS.
We believe that especially since we are focused on investing in Low-PMF-High-Execution risk verticals, ultimately, we hypothesize that it’s all about getting 💯 conviction on the founders.
Here are some hypotheses on what we think resonated with us:
- We prefer problem space-centric and thesis-driven entrepreneurs. They have built strong convictions on the problem space they’re in (as opposed to the solution), which could indicatively mean they don’t give up easily if certain approaches/solutions don’t work.
- We prefer serial entrepreneurs. All things equal, we have a preference for founders who has experience in building great products and has experienced both wins and losses over their entrepreneurial journey. We prefer the ones who knows how to sell the vision to investors, talent, and partners; and drive and implement their vision to reality (Note: this doesn’t mean we rule out first time founders. Ultimately, what we like to see is strong track record of exceptional capabilities and/or network.)
- We prefer those with a strong narrative on founder-market fit. Ultimately, we want to back founders who seemingly are born for it. They immediately have the necessary knowledge, network, and most importantly the empathy and commitment to make their vision happen.
And how do we attract founders?
#5: On Attracting Founders and winning deals - RELEVANCE and REPUTATION are key.
It’s hard to pick winning founders, but it's much harder to be picked by winning founders. The top founders and hottest deals are not only difficult to find and catch, they're also 100 times harder to get in and close. As angel investors, we always aim to be part of the cap table to show our commitment and earn the "badge of trust" from the founders. However, achieving this is often even more difficult.
To earn our reputation and the trust of the founders, we must hustle our way to provide value-add. This way, we can stand out from the rest and end up being picked.
So far, below are the things we think we could add value:
- NETWORK. We are constantly building from the ground up a strong network of investors, talent, and BD/partnerships in that we can provide strategic INTROS to founders.
- SIGNALLING. We strive to have a good reputation and maintain a strong track record of picking winners (vs spray-and-pray approach).
- NOTHING ELSE 🤷♀️🤷♂️. We try our best to be of value-add, but if there’s no need, we don’t push for it. We’re not superhumans who would know all answers to founders’ questions; we’re just superfans for these founders we’d go the extra mile for them when they’re in need of support.