That’s why we handpicked 35 key founders from our network to invest with us. Entrepreneurs that we look up to, whose startups went fast and got far. They changed the game back then and they’re doing it again by making Shilling a fund that takes the idea of a community seriously, and takes it a lot further than you’re probably used to.
Sure, they’re putting in their money in our fund.
But they’ll be investing much more than that.
They will be dedicating office hours and mentorship to our portfolio startups and their founders. Because they have the experience, the expertise, and the connections that many younger founders want or need. Either to get traction, dodge obstacles or just make their startups as successful as can be.
Depending on how well you know the world of VCs and investment funds, you might have heard the term LP before.
If you haven’t, it stands for Limited Partners: investors who put their money into a fund without necessarily having a seat at the table to take big executive decisions, and who don’t usually participate in the day-to-day running of the business.
Because we’re a VC that believes in every generation of founders investing in the next. So it made sense to us that even our investors should be previous founders literally investing in their successors.
We’re not just putting our money where our mouth is - we challenged them to do it too.
These are inspirational people who have led by example and were always ahead of the pack. So they really represent a lot more than just a check.
We’ve mentioned that they will be mentoring our portfolio founders, especially those in the pre-seed stage who tend to need that help the most.
Each of these LP investors has a proven track record building, launching and scaling ventures. And the huge range of specialties that each of them represent, and markets that each of them know, means that our portfolio founders will always have someone to turn to who knows what they’re going through and, hopefully, how to get over it.
Plus, whatever markets they operate (or operated) in, you can track their success back to a simple starting point: a deep understanding of the way customers think and of the way customers act. And that kind of knowledge can be applied to any market, by any startup, at any time. Whether it’s an SaaS or a D2C brand; in hospitality or transportation. It’s not limited, or grounded. And it’s here for our founders
LP founders will also have the chance to help out with Platform, taking turns listening to founders in our wider community. (Platform is another part of Shilling that we engineered to give maximum support to our portfolio founders and benefit the whole ecosystem - you can learn more about it here!).
They also bring in a level of tech-savviness and skills at product development. That will really mean we’re not just another fund with more money than sense: we’ll always have the best minds to call on if we need help assessing potential startups to invest in.
Then there’s the question of their network.
Shilling already has a wide, multi-national network that covers CEOs of multinationals, founders of small startups, serial entrepreneurs, tech experts, and even your. Our global network is our most valuable asset.
But when we add so many, super well-connected, successful founders to our team, that network is boosted. It increases radically and exponentially.
The end-result is an unparalleled network that can be leveraged at a moment’s notice.
To close partnerships, find talent, consult experts, close clients or even negotiate the next round of fundraising.
It means we’re practicing what we preach. That we’re really trying to build a community of founders and pave the way for one generation to lift up the next.
It means our Founder LPs will help Shilling become a better fund. A fund that makes better investments, in the sense that we’ll have access to better deals through a wider network, and the brainpower to predict which ones will go further.
But it also means that we’re a fund that makes better investment in another sense.
The investment itself will give access to so much more: a larger network, more specific mentorship, and a wider range of experts. That’s so much more than it was before. And it’s a lot more than most other funds, too.
