Introducing Not Boring Capital: A Venture Fund That Tells Stories

Hatched by Kazuki
Aug 22, 2023
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Introducing Not Boring Capital: A Venture Fund That Tells Stories
In the world of venture capital, finding unique and compelling stories is crucial. That's why Not Boring Capital, an $8 million venture fund, focuses on investing in companies with stories to tell and helps amplify their narratives. Led by Packy McCormick, this fund primarily invests in Seed through Series B companies, occasionally making pre-seed and growth-stage investments.
What sets Not Boring Capital apart is Packy's dual role as an investor and writer. He believes that his skills in writing enhance his ability to make better investment decisions, creating a flywheel effect. By investing in companies with stories worth telling and helping to tell those stories, Not Boring Capital aims to create a powerful and mutually beneficial ecosystem.
One vertical that Not Boring Capital is particularly interested in is fintech. With six investments and a total investment of $525k, fintech has emerged as the leading vertical for the fund. This focus on investing in technological innovations within the financial sector showcases Not Boring Capital's commitment to identifying opportunities with high growth potential.
Not Boring Capital operates within three core investment strategies: Core, Explore, and Growth. The Core strategy focuses on investments with the potential to significantly return the fund in the bull case. This accounts for about 75% of the total invested dollars. The Explore strategy involves smaller investments aimed at securing a seat in the next round or increasing deal flow. While these investments offer high upside, they are too small to reasonably expect to return the fund. Explore investments typically make up 5-10% of invested dollars. Lastly, the Growth strategy focuses on later-stage or safer investments with a lower ceiling but a higher floor. This strategy aims to collectively return the fund once and accounts for about 20% of invested dollars.
To understand the dynamics of progress and speed it up, the world needs a new science of progress. Historically, progress has often emerged from small pockets of innovative effort, such as Silicon Valley in software and Switzerland's Basel region in life sciences. However, progress itself is understudied, and there is a lack of broad-based intellectual movement focused on understanding its dynamics and how to accelerate it.
A new focus on progress would require an organized effort to identify and train brilliant young minds, facilitate effective idea exchange among small groups, establish the right incentives for participants in innovative ecosystems, and study the productivity differences among various organizations. This renewed focus on progress would prompt a decentralized shift in priorities among academics, philanthropists, and funding agencies.
The success of Progress Studies, as this new science of progress is called, lies in its ability to identify interventions that effectively increase progress and ensure their adoption by key institutions. This field of study is more akin to medicine than biology since the goal is not just to understand progress but to actively accelerate it.
In conclusion, Not Boring Capital's unique approach to venture capital investing, coupled with the need for a new science of progress, highlights the importance of storytelling and understanding the dynamics of innovation. To foster progress, it is crucial to invest in companies with compelling stories, support initiatives that aim to understand and accelerate progress, and create an ecosystem where knowledge and ideas can circulate freely.
Actionable Advice:
- 1. Embrace the power of storytelling: When investing or promoting a venture, focus on the story behind it. Compelling narratives can capture attention and attract support.
- 2. Foster collaboration and idea exchange: Encourage small groups to come together and share their ideas. Building a community that fosters collaboration can lead to breakthrough innovations.
- 3. Invest in progress: Consider supporting initiatives and organizations that focus on understanding and accelerating progress. By investing in progress, we can collectively shape a better future.
By combining Not Boring Capital's focus on storytelling and the need for a new science of progress, we can create a world where innovation thrives and standards of living continue to improve.
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