Venture(s)
After more than 10 years of “liquidity bonanza” in all capital markets, many new, smaller and alternative asset classes enjoyed a very prosperous period. During this period, the word “venture(s)” has proliferated and has been used in abundance. To a certain point, misappropriated and disintegrated in marketing & industry jargon. According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, “venture” is both a noun and a verb, which mean “a risky or daring journey or undertaking” (noun), and “undertake a risky or daring journey or course of action” or “dare to do or say something that may be considered audacious (often used as a polite expression of hesitation or apology)” (verb).
Let me “dare” to start with the former definition of venture as a verb, highlighting Rumo Ventures’ generic mission to provide purpose and financial & strategic support to the “risky or daring journey” that all the businesses go through. Not to create a tremendously diversified portfolio of companies of dozens (if not hundreds) of companies in an expectation that “1-3” will mend the losses of the “other 97-99”. Early stage, growth stage, maturity stage, scale-up stage, Series A-Z stage, Pre-seed stage, Seires A+ stage… we don’t care, and we won’t label anyone with industry marketing jargon! We look at businesses for what they are. A vision, a product, a purpose, a mission… which celebrate operational and corporate achievements, not fund raisings or “Forbes under 30/40” titles. We then try to answer two questions: how investable is this company? Can we fulfil the responsibility of providing purpose and strategic support?
We have experienced and seen many companies which have been failed by silo, cult, niche, centric and self-serving definitions of how companies should be financed, governed, and served by shareholders/investors and advisors. Existing models have served many businesses well and we salute those. However there are many (too many) businesses and management teams that have been framed and restricted under the available models and were let down by shareholders/investors. Leading to failure, to untapped potential or simply by never being able to just exist in the first place.
Some are let down by inadequate advice, some forced by investors to become something that they were not meant to become, some abandoned the first-time the week-on-week growth wasn’t “200%”, some by poor governance and inadequate boards, and some (let’s face it) by pure stupidity.
There is nothing wrong with a business that is setting itself to become a triple digit million revenue business (or double digit for that matter), or a management team who would rather have “$100 million” in sales, with a team of 50 people and profitable vs. a “1,000” person team, selling $1billion, highly unprofitable and with only one “isoteric” one size fits all way to become financially sustainable/viable. However there is a lot wrong with a business which is forced or priested the idea of becoming something that they are not, or that there is no capital solution out there to support it, simply because it has a different potential, or a different captive market, or a different end game, or its founders have other objectives (sustainability, healthy working culture, quality assurance, becoming part of a larger conglomerate, etc).
We welcome any type of business proposition, from thousands to millions in revenue. But most importantly we welcome businesses that have a clear view of what they are or want to become, value outside contributions, embrace the value of a healthy culture and are looking to be themselves.
As Rumo Ventures we feel the weight of the responsibility of being an investor capable of embracing such businesses. Adding value, sharing meaningful experience, providing access to network, bringing reason to chaos, supporting on good and hard times, create a boardroom where the discussion elevates the number and quality of solutions. Building “business engineering” (not “financial engineering” nor “statistical engineering”) solutions that should help businesses, its shareholders and its stakeholders become successful in their endeavours.
Finally but not the least, we also feel the weight of promoting healthier and more sustainable businesses and business models. After all, why bother with short term development and success if there is no long term to enjoy it?