Growth Warrior Capital

I'm thrilled to share that ForceMetrics, led by the remarkable Andre McGregor, has secured $22M in funding ?? Andre, a former FBI cyber special agent and Navy veteran, has transformed from founder to visionary CEO since our first investment in 2021. His dedication to leveraging AI for public safety is truly inspiring. Under Andre's leadership, ForceMetrics is now in 11 states, managing 63M+ records, and helping 30 police departments maximize their resources. Proud to be part of this journey towards safer communities along with lead investor Costanoa Ventures, and Hobson Lucas Family Foundation (founded by?Mellody Hobson?and George Lucas),?Govtech Fund,?Flybridge, and?Stand Together Ventures Lab. Congrats, Andre and team!???

Dear Startup Founder, We’re entering peak fundraising season. The last days of summer are upon us and it’s time to do what needs to be done! Closing a Pre-seed, Seed or Series A round can feel like a confusing labyrinth — and a challenging one at that, as there is no A+B=C solution. Knowing your dream is in one place but your cash reserves are somewhere totally different can only add to the frustration. We’ve been founders. We’ve backed founders. We get it. A solid pitch can feel like the key to unlock this process and even boost your confidence. But getting there — what to share, what not to disclose, how to think about sizing your TAM, SAM, SOM, whether you should include your product roadmap in the pitch... These are all good questions. As investors, we have the honor of seeing thousands of new companies each year. To evaluate what makes sense for us, we ask a series of specific questions around founding team, North Star, market size, product, revenue traction and fundraise expectations. A well-designed and visually appealing slide is nice but one with factual and clear information is priceless. With all this in mind, we built Elevo, an AI-driven pitch engine that allows early stage founders to leverage what investors want with content derived from a trove of successfully funded companies. It’s easy. Free to founders. Try it out at the link below, and when you’re ready to pitch with purpose, reach out to us. https://www.elevo.app/

Welcome to our newest portfolio company, Softdrive! Leonard Ivey started Softdrive with the mission "to unlock the potential of supercomputing for anyone, anywhere on any device." We look forward to working with them, alongside John Frankel of ff Venture Capital, in their journey of making supercomputing accessible to individuals and businesses alike.

Dangerous Founders have moved past their "setbacks," propelled forward by their sheer grit and tenacity. Every day, we're witnessing the VC landscape change as newer entrants break the traditional mold. Diverse founders and diverse investors alike are seeing themselves in their partners and it's making for a more dynamic and energized field. If you consider yourself a Dangerous Founder, check out our resources: https://lnkd.in/gWF7EZmV #DangerousFounders #BeDangerous #FounderToCEO #VentureCapital #VC #Investing

I tend to open Growth Warrior Capital LP meetings with music representative of the times. Our first, almost exactly a year was Humble by Kendrick Lamar… the market was finalizing a pretty serious correction, and the financial markets were tight and tightening.?Some of our LP’s got introduced to Kendrick that day and I’ve since texted with a few of them about the recent rap battle. I digress. Yesterday, June 19th, I was doing what I have done every year on this date – celebrating the beginning of Freedom, and expressing gratitude to my Caribbean, Venezuelan, and eventually Texan roots. I was catching up on work, emails, and a few document reviews and a friend turned me onto Kendrick Lamar’s concert on Amazon Prime. Ok, wow ... a live-streamed concert from the LA Forum. A concert featuring some of Kendrick’s best song and more historic features. IYKYK. Then … he performed “They Not Like Us”six or eight times … IN A ROW. No accompaniment, no backup dancers, no track that I could decipher — it was just him, glasses, a massive chain, a mic, and a red hoodie. Wow! For hours he held the room of thousands. Non-stop. Forceful, convicted and without support ... Unless you consider Russell Westbrook and Dr. Dre helpers. Another digression. It got me thinking — he has done that song and others hundreds of times. With discipline, with tenacity, with consistency, he got the reps. You don’t become Kendrick with the short-cut or cheat code. You do the work, over and over and over again. That muscle memory and resilience only comes from the trenches. I’m no longer a Founder or CEO, but my advice is to find a way to love the reps. Go deep. Get the resilience that comes from it. Whether it’s pitching your company to investors, talking to customers, interviewing VP’s of sales, telling your story to prospects and channel partners, looking at those pipeline analytics over and over … It’s easy to want to escape the loop or to perceive the reps as a sign of loss, non-ideal outcomes. Instead ask the ballroom dancer, the jiu jitsu fighter, ask the Zlatans of the world (c’mon, we talk about Messi enough.) The reps are not the sign of a loser, they are the power fundamentals of a winner. Don’t fear the reps. Reps increase precision, reps transform stamina, reps override exhaustion or fear. Whatever it is, do it over and over again.

Do you love surprises or inconsistencies? Neither are favored by investors like myself. Keep this in mind and know your track record will precede you. Watch the full length video here: https://lnkd.in/gHm8ewcT #CEOmindset #FounderToCEO #Operator101 #GrowthWarrior #PromisePhelon #Entrepreneur

Do you identify as a growth warrior? ?? #GrowthWarrior

Promise Phelon's background as a Silicon Valley, VC-backed CEO meant that she would not only look different, but had a background that was unlike her peers. Talent may be equal, but opportunity isn't. That does NOT mean incredible success is impossible to have, it just means you will need to be a warrior to achieve it. #PromisePhelon #GrowthWarrior #finance #money #venturecapital #vc #investing #investment #business #entrepreneur

The data is clear: There’s a massive gap in who gets venture capital funding—and who doesn’t. As Erin Harkless Moore, CFA recently wrote for PitchBook, “Venture capital still has a diversity and equity problem, and my fear is that we aren’t being bold enough about addressing it.” But, she says, there’s another, more important way to tell that story, which is to highlight women of color who are pushing the VC industry forward, like Miriam Rivera of Ulu Ventures and Promise Phelon of Growth Warrior Capital. Read more about their efforts to invest in overlooked founders: https://lnkd.in/gmWKanbv

Early-stage founders shouldn't wait to think about exit paths. It's never too early to get smart on your options, create relationships with the buy side, and fortify a high-performing business. Read our overview on today's exit landscape here: https://lnkd.in/gwMFNpSb