We provide capital, connections, and community to help founders take the leap towards building fast-growing, scalable businesses.
For Founders, By Founders
We provide seed capital to founders working on big ideas. We invest up to $100k at the earliest stages, providing necessary capital to turn ideas into fast growing businesses.
And because we’re founders ourselves, we can help you once we’ve invested — from fundraising, product, growth, sales, and more. Between our experience and our network of amazing folks from around Chicago, we can connect you to the right people and resources to help get you to the next level.
We believe in you, because we are like you.
We’re a group of founders & operators who have been in your shoes before. Fighting to stay alive, to build a team, to find customers, and raise money all at the same time. You’re ready for the next level, and we’re ready to help you get there.
We invest in passionate and resourceful founders working on big ideas. We want to help you get from zero to one — and we bring capital, connections, and community to help. And unlike many others, we invest at the very beginning, and you don’t need an introduction to talk to us.
The thesis behind our work
As we look around at the startup community, we see disparity. Because while the passion, grit, and focus it takes to turn a business into something great is evenly distributed, capital and connections are not. And we want to change that.
The population of founders in Chicago (and everywhere else, too) should mirror the community around them. But we don’t see that. Instead we see deep bias towards certain people, certain industries, and certain backgrounds — none of which are predictive of success. And we see this opportunity gap widening over time, creating a chasm that prevents many from starting companies and getting them to the next level.
That’s why we’re creating LongJump. To help founders of all backgrounds, all races, all genders, and all socio-economic conditions to get their start. This isnt a charity; this is an opportunity.
How We Invest
Most early stage investment processes are opaque - making what’s already a challenging and anxiety-inducing process even more so.
Our goal is to be the opposite - so we’re committed to demystifying as much of our process as we can, so you know where you stand. As we learn what serves you best (and what we can reasonably accomplish), this structure may shift in the future.
Our Terms
We have a standard deal for all of our investments
What we offer
- We will invest $100k in your company, subject to standard due diligence. No more, no less.
- A set of partners that will give you our time, blood, sweat, tears, and plenty of hugs.
- A supportive, collaborative community of fellow founders who are at the same stage as you are.
- Introductions, support, and connectivity to our growing network of more than 190 limited partners, many of whom are founders, investors, service providers, and accomplished operators.
What we ask for
- When we make you an offer to invest, we’ll give you an offer to take an equity position in your company that we think is fair, with two options for you to choose from: a SAFE option and a common option.
- SAFE Option
- If you have raised less than $100k in the last 6 months, then our offer is standardized: $100k on a $4M post-money SAFE.
- If you have raised $100k or more in the last 6 months, then we will make you a specific offer after reviewing your current terms.
- Common Option
- No matter what SAFE terms we offer, you'll always have a second option to instead sell us common shares equivalent to 4% ownership in your company.
- In addition, if you decide to take our SAFE terms, you have the option to change your mind within 90 days and convert our investment to 4% common shares. This option does not exist in the other direction; once we own common, that's where we stay.
- For either structure, we ask for pro-rata rights and basic information rights.
Have questions? We’ve put together some Terms FAQs.
Our Investing Process
Our process is rather different than your typical venture fund - read on to learn how.
We accept applications, not pitch decks.
You do not need a referral or introduction to be considered for a LongJump investment. But you do have to complete an application.
We do this for a number of reasons: to reduce bias, to streamline the information exchange from you to us and to help us, as full-time founders, manage the investment process more efficiently.
Our application helps us learn the basics about you, your business, your team, and your progress to date. It’s reasonably comprehensive, so plan accordingly.
Our promise to you is that we will review every application and even if we don’t move your company forward to an interview, you will get specific feedback from us as to why.
Application review happens quarterly
While applications remain open throughout most of the year, we “close” them for a few weeks every quarter so that we can review the applications submitted over the past 3 months.
We know this isn’t always ideal, especially if you are looking to raise capital near the beginning of one of our cycles. Right now, we feel most comfortable with this structure so we can effectively our time between running our companies and investing.
What happens after you apply
After you apply, you’ll get an automated email from us confirming we have your application and providing you any guidance on timing & schedules.
Application review
Each application is reviewed by every partner at LongJump. After we review them individually, we discuss as a group in order to determine which companies we are most excited to learn more about. The application review process typically takes us 2-3 weeks after an application cycle closes.
Partner Interview
If we choose to move forward to learn more about you and your company, you’ll receive an invitation from us to interview with the full LongJump partnership.
This interview is typically conducted remotely over Zoom and is ~1 hour. We mostly do these on weekends and weekday evenings. These interviews are much more discussion than pitch. They are designed for us to explore questions we have about your application/business and are highly conversational.
If you’re not invited for an interview, we’ll still be in touch to let you know that and will provide specific feedback as to why (and to invite you to re-apply!)
Partner Diligence
After your interview, the partnership will discuss and if we want to proceed further, one partner (sometimes two) will be designated as your deal lead.
This partner will then work directly with you to answer any additional questions we have before making an investment decision. This process sometimes involves members of the LongJump network with specific domain expertise in your market. This helps in our diligence and also gives you the opportunity to get to know the fund LPs who may be strong advisors for you post-investment.
Again, if we choose not to move forward after your interview, we’ll spend time with you to share feedback and, oftentimes, we’ll find ways to support beyond capital.
Decisions & Offers
If your deal lead is interested in making an investment, they will write up a deal memo and share it with the rest of the partnership. That gives us the opportunity to ask any final questions and get aligned on a decision.
We do not require partner consensus to invest. Assuming the deal lead is a strong yes and has at least one other partner with a similar commitment to the deal, we’ll make an offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is LongJump?
Simply put, LongJump is an investment fund, run by founders and operators. We invest in high potential founders and help them turn their ideas into fast-growing businesses. In addition to capital, we also provide connections and community to our portfolio, helping to connect you with other investors, employees, and advisors.
How much do you invest?
Generally, we write $100k checks.
Is LongJump an accelerator or incubator?
No. There is no content or programming associated with LongJump right now. We make investment decisions once per quarter, but after we invest we help you when you need it and stay out of your way when you don’t.
Do you lead rounds?
It depends. We like to be the first outside investor in your company. If that’s the case, and we can be a catalyst for other investors to invest, then yes we will “lead”. But in many cases, we don’t expect or require you to want to raise additional capital — our goal is to help you move quickly, de-risk your business, and achieve the milestones you need to raise additional capital or reach profitability down the road.
What do you invest in?
We are focused on business that:
- Are headquartered in the Chicagoland area or within a few hours drive
- Haven’t yet raised significant outside capital
- Are technology-focused or tech-enabled and can scale rapidly
- Are in industries and utilize business models where our investment can help them make meaningful progress.
Further, we look for businesses that have at least one of the following:
- A member of their founding team from an underrepresented group, or
- That the business concept, customers, or market be focused on serving underrepresented groups, or
- That the business concept, customers. or market be something that wouldn’t normally be funded in Chicago / the midwest.
Outside of those guidelines, we will focus on the quality of the founding team and their unique insights on their market and will be open-minded about the markets they serve.
What makes you different?
Today, there are (unfortunately) very few funds like LongJump:
- We believe you’re going to build a great business. We aren’t providing grants or treating this as a charity. We think you’ll build the next Grubhub, Sprout Social, Cleversafe, and Cameo - and enable us to fund the next generation of great entrepreneurs like you.
- We’re fellow founders. We know the pain of fundraising and company building firsthand because we’re doing it in our own companies, right now. We’ll do everything we can to help you learn from what we’ve experienced (and are experiencing).
- We invest earlier than others will. You don’t need revenue, traction, or a lead investor in your round for us to invest in you.
- We’re focused on overlooked founders. We have firsthand experience with problems most investors don’t - we’re excited to work with founders and industries others don’t understand the potential of.
- We don’t need warm introductions. We believe great founders are everywhere, including outside of the existing LongJump network. All potential investments go through the same application and decision-making process.
- We put Chicago tech behind you. Many of Chicago’s best founders and operators (across every function and industry you can think of) are investors in LongJump and a part of the LongJump network. They invested because they believe in you - and are excited to roll up their sleeves to help you succeed. And as our portfolio grows, you’ll learn from each other.
Which investment option, SAFE or common, is best for me?
We invest in companies that have different capital needs, timelines, and plans for the future.
Some companies view us like part-time co-founders and want to align us perfectly with them, so they choose the common option.
Other companies want to generate some early fundraising momentum, so they choose the SAFE option.
When we make an offer, we typically have a detailed discussion with founders about which structure we think will benefit their company the most, but always leave it to them to make a final decision.
I’ve already raised on different terms than your standard options. Will you take my existing terms?
Generally speaking, no.
We generally invest at a much earlier stage than other investors, before you have a full team, a launched product/service, revenue, or other investors. This is the reason we exist, but it also carries significant risk. That risk requires us to stay within some clear boundaries for terms we invest on.
That said, we’ve had portfolio companies who previously raised capital on different terms than ours accept our offer. They placed significant value in the role our partnership & network could play in their future growth.
How are the SAFE and common terms you offer different?
The primary difference between the two is that a SAFE generally converts into preferred shares (at a priced round), which comes with some advantages:
- A liquidation preference over common shares. Tactically, this means that when your company exits, preferred shareholders have the option of getting their investment back first before common shareholders see any returns. Put another way, most investors get their money back first before the founders and team get anything.
- Preferred class rights. While this is usually negotiated during each subsequent fundraise, some typical rights include:
- The ability to block meaningful transactions (acquisitions, fundraises, taking on debt)
- Anti-dilution - meaning that if your company ever experiences a down round, preferred shareholders get more shares in the company so their ownership is less affected (out of your ownership)
- The ability to appoint a director (or directors) to the board
- Depending on the fundraise process, some companies have each round of investment as its own separate preferred 'class', who may each have independent abilities to do the above, as well as creating a 'stack' of different investors with different liquidation preferences that have to be cleared before you see any return.
As a result, common shares are seen as a less valuable security than preferred shares. By investing in common, we also align ourselves directly with you - when you choose that option, we only make money when you do. This is different from essentially every other investment fund - who exclusively invest to get preferred shares.
I want to get involved & help LongJump. How can I do that?
Awesome. Just contact us hello@longjump.vc.