We invest in startups that will add to human flourishing and/or strengthen communities. We look for Seed/Seed+ stage companies with exponential growth potential, where we have confidence in the management team, and we believe the company is truly adding value to the world. We look for impact AND to make VC returns.

I've invested personally and professionally for over 30 years and I recently retired from a position as a Lead Portfolio Manager with $20 billion+ in AUM in publicly traded securities. While that position was exciting and rewarding, I began to see limited impact on real-world problems from my work. While I certainly was able to influence management’s behavior at certain points, I believe I can have a greater impact by directing this syndicate toward companies that are working to solve many of our world’s issues.

Background

Our world is broken. Capitalism is broken. We are facing real problems and, increasingly, the public seems to doubt that the problems are fixable. Our society is beset by pessimism and distrust. Many are lonely and climate change represents an existential threat.

This fund won't fix everything, but it allows investors to use their resources to address many of the world's problems. We do that by investing in entrepreneurs who are using business to serve people, connect people, strengthen communities, and increase human health. I believe that this syndicate is my calling and purpose.

Certainly, the world's problems can also be addressed through non-profits or politics and those blunt mandates can effect change. However, we believe businesses can solve these problems much better. We also believe that we can make sizable returns if these problems are addressed. A huge societal problem + an elegant solution results in significant return potential.

We aim to achieve market-rate venture capital returns by investing in proven and passionate management teams that can build sustainable and scalable businesses. My Christian faith drives this objective, but we will invest in companies of all faiths or no faith at all...as long as they are creating value for society by achieving one of the two objectives above.

Frequently (but not always), these two major themes will also satisfy one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). If you are not familiar with SDGs, they address issues like eliminating poverty, good health, quality education, clean water, decent work, and climate action. While governments can address these issues with blunt force (often expensive and can result in unintended consequences), I believe that businesses are the best methods to address such challenges.

There are many industries and groups that are more knowledgeable about Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) investing than I am, but I believe that frequently optics are valued more than reality. Portfolios are constructed based on what information companies disclose as opposed to the kind of value they are either adding to or taking away from the world. We are looking for teams that are passionate about solving the world's problems. If they are successful, then many of the SDGs will be improved as well. We will attempt to avoid those that simply give lip service to meeting a vague objective of improving the world or achieving improvement on one ESG metric by shortchanging their employees or community in other ways.

I plan to use my network to point the Flourish Fund syndicate toward unique opportunities that each of us would feel proud to own long-term. I expect most of our investments to target B2B and B2B2C kinds of markets across multiple industries.

Investment Thesis

The Flourish Fund invests in companies that are adding to human flourishing and strengthening communities.

For human flourishing, we invest in edtech, health tech, and workforce development. In general, these areas have been largely run with human capital alone. We believe that applying technology to these industries can result in better outcomes and improved efficiency. For each vertical, here are some of the areas we are looking to invest:

Healthcare: AI for remote care/diagnostics, the development of efficient tools for clinicians, and personalization of healthcare given the unique differences among various populations/genomes.

Education: New teaching tools, networks for collaboration, and the use of AI for lesson planning/teaching.

Workforce development: Candidate sourcing and training that uses technology tailored to the individual and company/role.

We are also seeking investments in aging and reducing the impact of climate change (through data analysis and more direct linkages with the financial system).

The second mandate is to strengthen communities. We look for solutions to end our sense of isolation/loneliness that seems to be so strong. Areas of potential investment in this area include:

Network development: Development of various professional and personal networks so that there can be a greater connection that occurs outside of social media (ad-supported network) and within social networks (real connections online and in the real world). The idea is that such a network provides tangible benefits to its members.

Mental health: Tools geared to treat our sense of loneliness/isolation and to develop real community amongst diverse groups.

Neighborhoods: Tools to strengthen neighborhoods with scale. This could be the result of blockchain, social networks, or other community-related technology that could serve to unite people around a common interest/cause.

Value Creation

We often perceive that most companies create value. If they weren’t creating value for someone, how would they stay in business or attract investors? In reality, many companies and industries are designed to extract value from our world. They may serve to prey on human weakness or those that are vulnerable. In addition, some companies may provide value that they deliver to their customers but at the expense of one of their constituencies (e.g., their employees or the environment). This is a short-sighted business mindset and is harmful to the company, its investors, and capitalism over the long term.

By contrast, the Flourish Fund seeks to invest, encourage, and develop companies that create value for shareholders, employees, customers, partners/suppliers, and the community. Businesses that can change industries and/or influence governmental/industry policy are especially attractive. These are rare opportunities but ones that I will look for intently.

There are other syndicates that will likely have more deal flow, but I will strive to put together a well-constructed memo on each investment. I am a member of some angel networks and a mentor at a few accelerators where I see significant deal flow. I also have my own personal relationships that I've built over the years that also can provide opportunities.

I will work hard to answer your questions because I want to continue to learn from both entrepreneurs and investors. I'd love to get to know you and find ways we can help each other

For more on my background, check out my LinkedIn Page.

If you would like more information on this syndicate purpose, check out Flourish Fund.co and Curbo Advisors (consulting/advising) for more information on me.

If you are a founder and would like to discuss the potential for Flourish Fund to make an investment in your firm, please email relevant materials to us at [email protected].