October 30, 2018
Defining Tough Tech Investment Paths
Our second provocation focused on three questions core to defining investment paths for Tough Tech companies.
- How do we increase asset class participation and capital over a Tough Tech company’s lifetime?
- How do we reduce risk and increase valuation over a Tough Tech company’s lifetime?
- How do we increase the value of and the potential for lucrative exits for Tough Tech companies and investors?
Attendance included 34 guests that represented stakeholders from across the investment landscape, as well as Tough Tech founders.
Outcome: Tough Tech founders must attract and engage with multiple funding sources, both private and public. It is essential that these investors understand and engage with Tough Tech companies throughout their journey to commercialization. It is also important that all the financial players understand how the others operate—a VC should know how a mutual fund or private equity firm makes decisions, etc… Provocation participants left the day with new understanding of the importance of Tough Tech as well as strategies and connections designed to help streamline the path to market for founders.
The provocation also kicked off a three-year project focused on the Tough Tech capital stack.