The Next Step for Investors: Revenue-based Financing

It seems crazy and presumptuous to say that the multi-hundred billion dollar startup investing industry does business all wrong, but it is nonetheless true. Not that the idea of investing is startups is crazy, as history has clearly shown there is value in that effort for both entrepreneurs and investors. Rather, it is crazy in the manner of the emperor parading around town wearing an invisible suit, with his nobles and all the press touting how wonderful and splendid his clothing.If you are an Angel investor or operating a small venture capital fund, you are likely blindly following the models set by the emperors. Meanwhile, you don’t notice that it is you and not them who are naked.THE NEXT STEP for INVESTORS: Revenue-based investing explains an alternative style of investing, one that doesn’t need the exceedingly rare 10x return to make money for investors, introducing a set of structures for investing in revenues rather than exits.Structures that span debt, equity, and forms in-between. Structures that benefit both entrepreneurs and investors alike. Structures that don’t follow the historic norms, but which work for entrepreneurs and investors alike.

Luni Libes is a twenty-plus-year serial entrepreneur, most recently founding Fledge, the conscious company accelerator. Fledge helps entrepreneurs who aim to do good for the world while simultaneously doing good business. fledge.co @FledgeLLC Luni is an Entrepreneur in Residence and Entrepreneurship Instructor at Presidio Graduate School, advisor to The Impact Hub Seattle, and to a dozen startup companies. He is also an Entrepreneur in Residence Emeritus for the University of Washington's CoMotion center for impact and innovation. presidio.edu, comotion.uw.edu, thehubseattle.com This book, the whole Next Step series of book, Luni's online classes, and other writing can be found at lunarmobiscuit.com. @Lunarmobiscuit.