The art and science of collaborative company creation.
Our capabilities
Where investment rigor meets business building
Concept Development
We combine the depth and patience of fundamental, long-arc investment research with the pragmatism of company building. Our processes are designed to uncover opportunities that have significantly asymmetric upside with mitigated risk.
User Research and Design
We leverage our unique mix of user-oriented and design capabilities to garner a deep understanding of the constituencies at the heart of each concept. We are able to design, test and validate solutions that address their most pressing pain points.
Founding Talent
We combine rigorous, analytical talent processes with human-centered, long-term oriented relationship building in a demanding process that helps us assess (and then attract and retain) the highest quality leaders for our founding teams.
Capital Partnering
In addition to our institutional investment fund, we bring a deep understanding (and relationships) within the multi-stage investing ecosystem, and develop unique capital strategies that bend the risk-return curve for our companies.
Accumulated Advantages
We support our founding CEOs and teams with a uniquely large set of capabilities focused on a small group of companies; as co-founders in the business, we are there through thick and thin.
Our History
Since our inception in 2015, we've taken a hands-on approach to building
2016
Called on a hundred friends and family to support the launch of "Beets," the test product that acted as the beta for the official launch of Care/of.
2017
Reviewed tens of thousands of land deeds and real estate transactions in Maricopa County before greenlighting Orchard (then known as Project Scorpion).
2019
Interviewed, shadowed and surveyed hundreds of dentists in New York City before launching "Stella Dental," our first prototype of a Tend dental office.
2020
Got to know 300+ physicians, including details about their financial journeys, before launching Earned (then known as Project Vital).
2022
Heard from 175+ HVAC technicians about the challenges they face in the trade before greenlighting Zephyr, our platform build to empower them.
2023
Gave new meaning to our "building" approach by chipping away at over 25 ice sculptures during our winter strategy offsite.
Working Style
A consistent philosophy for everything we do
[ 01 ]
Touching bottom
We aim to do whatever it takes to build deeply held conviction in a concept, including the work required to understand the atomic level of data supporting any key insight.
[ 02 ]
Spectrum of strengths
While we believe deeply in the power of specialization and self-direction, we also know that the most powerful insights are surfaced at the juxtaposition of experience and perspective.
[ 03 ]
Beginner's mindset
No matter how familiar a challenge or opportunity, we aim to take an outsider’s lens to understanding a concept, and to bring a fresh set of eyes to an industry or situation.
[ 04 ]
Empathy as a superpower
While we believe in the power of rigorous analysis, we also know that caring deeply about the human experience sets us apart.
