Perspectives

Insights

Notes from the partnership on how we think — about instruments, diligence, alignment, and the patience required to compound capital responsibly. Articles below are drafts pending review and attribution.

Sample Draft A
Draft

WHY WE STRUCTURE WITH
CONVERTIBLE NOTES

Most early growth rounds stall on a single question: what is the company worth today? It is often the hardest number to agree and the easiest to get wrong.

The convertible note sidesteps that standoff. It lets capital move now and defers the valuation to the moment there is more information — the next priced round. For the founder, that means speed and fewer terms to litigate. For us, it means a defined path to equity with protection on the way there.

The instrument is not a loophole; it is a recognition that, at the right stage, the most honest valuation is the one the next round will set.

Sample Draft B
Draft

THE DILIGENCE QUESTIONS
WE ASK FIRST

Before market size or projections, we ask three questions.

First: what would have to be true for this to fail — and how likely is it? Second: why this team, and why now? Third: where is the moat, and who would struggle to copy it?

Good founders welcome these questions, because they are the same ones they ask themselves at 2 a.m. Diligence done well is not an obstacle course; it is the start of a partnership built on candour.

FORTHCOMING TOPICS

  • Why we structure with convertible notes (and when we don't)
  • What "alignment" actually means: a plain-language look at 2 and 20
  • The diligence questions we ask before we wire a franc
  • Reading an AI company's moat: data, distribution, or neither
  • Why patient capital outperforms in deep tech