Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
I was at an event recently where a founder told me he was raising a quick round over just a couple of weeks to match a TACFI. He asked if we could move at that pace. I explained that if he wanted to work with us, we’d likely be a better fit for his?next?round—because for someone we’re just meeting, our diligence is thorough and, quite?frankly, slow. He was surprised and thanked me for the honesty.
A VC friend next to us mentioned that?they?move quickly, so she and the founder went off to discuss his TACFI, leaving me in the hallway with my luke warm?coffee ?? .
I used to know the stats by heart (maybe from Pitchbook??Keegan Kylstra) but VC firms used to take, on average, 90 days?from first meeting, before making an investment commitment. that shrank to something less than 30 days in 2021. Not sure where it is today.
30 days or less seems insane to me. VC <> Founder relationships (7-10 years from investment to exit) outlast the average American marriage (~8 years). Like marriages these relationships often exist in the context of great stress, and are hard to end. Going into them with eyes wide open is critical.
Taking a different angle, the average seed round in deep tech is probably $3M - $5M. The median American can expect to make $1.7M over their lifetime. How responsible is it for us to be rushing to meet artificial deadlines?
The most recent stats I saw were that graduation rates for early stage startups had fallen below 10%. (This metric tracks?the portion of startups that successfully grow from seed to series A or from Series A to series B, etc.). At Marque we're at ~66%. Should we be indexing on how quickly we can deploy capital, or how successfully we deploy it? Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Over the last 3 years I've only made 12 investments and that is with 2 partners. Do the math, it is less than 2 per year per partner.
Those investments however include: Hadrian,?Galvanick,?Varda Space Industries,?Extropic,?Mach Industries ,?Firestorm,?Vatn Systems,?Rangeview, FlightWave Aerospace ($Redcat) and some exciting ones that are totally under the radar. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Speed can be a competitive advantage but so is thoughtfulness and careful planning. We have a diligence?plan for every company, that plan takes time to execute right.?If you don't know where you are going, does it matter how quickly you get there?
When venture capital was new, it was known for high-conviction, high-risk, high-impact bets with deep, hands-on support. Sometimes I wonder if anyone looking at the first 40 years of VC—would even VC today. Venture isn't Pokemon, the goal isn't to "Collect them all".
So take your time. Enjoy your weekend. Read something inspiring. Think about your mission. If you’re looking for an investment partner who wants to understand you, your vision, and your team?before?writing a check, we’ll be here.
Because in venture and in life,?slow is smooth—and smooth is fast.
