The potential worth a celeb investor can carry to a client firm, past simply writing a verify, is clear: advertising and marketing and promotion. However that worth is much less clear in terms of backing B2B startups. Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, also referred to as the Chainsmokers, assume their VC fund Mantis VC can carry a price add conventional VCs can’t.
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 alongside one in all their founders, Dan Lorenc, the co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup Chainguard, Pall stated that the group initially obtained into B2B investing as a result of they obtained uninterested in feeling just like the QVC of startups working with client corporations that simply wished to work with them for promotion.
The duo turned more and more concerned with B2B because of the sturdy market alternatives in that house regardless of not having a lot expertise with these sorts of companies.
“It felt like a market alternative to type of stand out and possibly present, you understand, a distinct perspective or completely different kind of worth again to these sorts of corporations,” Pall stated. “Our technique and the best way we mannequin our fund is to type of be this like Robin to everybody’s Batman, and type of present a distinct stage of help and perspective and connectivity that possibly the normal fund isn’t so targeted on.”
Taggart added that they aren’t seeking to be the following Sequoia both, as a result of that agency already exists and comes with a sure stage of worth.
“Our objective at Mantis was to only get into these offers, outwork each different individual on the cap desk, work out no matter scrappy means we might add worth, after which within the hopes that our founders would flip round and type of assist us construct our model inside that neighborhood,” Taggart stated.
One space the place they assume they may also help corporations is thru their community. Pall stated that the Chainsmokers have performed non-public exhibits for just about each Fortune 500 firm. And whereas they didn’t consider it as constructing a community for investing on the time, they’ve since been capable of join their portfolio founders to those corporations.
“It labored out rather well for us, as a result of these are, you understand, some actually highly effective decision-makers or leaders of their respective areas,” Pall added.
Lorenc backed up these statements, too. He added that they’ve not solely been useful in making introductions for him to potential clients however they’ve additionally been useful on the hiring entrance, too.
Lorenc’s firm as soon as wasn’t positive they had been going to land a potential worker attributable to a compensation disagreement. However they had been capable of get this candidate over the road after he acquired a five-minute Cameo video of Pall on why he ought to be part of.
“You don’t wish to be Sequoia,” Lorenc stated. “There’s already Sequoia. You invested in us on the identical time Sequoia did. Sequoia is nice. They’ve an incredible platform, group, wonderful community, all of that. However when you have got sufficient of these buyers, it begins to overlap, and also you type of get diminishing returns. It’s the identical community, and the best way I describe you is a very completely different one.”
The Chainsmokers hope that these early B2B investments that they’ve made assist them get taken extra significantly within the house to allow them to proceed to construct out that portfolio.
