Before we started Bowery Capital in 2013, we spent a lot of time thinking hard about what it would be like to build a venture capital firm that was focused, intentional, and aligned. We asked a lot of questions. Should a VC firm really have a set of values? What is really our mission as an asset manager? What is the overall vision for our company? We worked hard to develop a consistent message after long reflection and discussion internally. We sought insight from founders and many of our advisors. The output of this was a single document: The Bowery Manifesto.
By aligning our efforts around The Bowery Manifesto we feel that we can remain steady on our course. It is a filter through which we weigh decisions. We refer to it for inspiration time after time. While we've had the document for many years, we wanted to share it publicly for everyone to see.
Our Mission.
Our mission is to modernize business through technology investing. What do we stand for? This is short and sweet. We feel like this mission serves as a succinct and clear focus for the entire firm. At the end of the day we are a technology investor and our mission is really to modernize business through that investing lens.
Our Values.
Walk their journey. We have a sense of urgency, timeliness and accountability. We show empathy and put ourselves in the entrepreneurs shoes. Fundraising is hard. We have done it. Our job is to understand that, be empathetic, and react quickly in order to make the process as fluid and simple as possible for entrepreneurs.
Forget the deck. We force ourselves to come prepared. We dig in immediately and make decisions quickly. How annoying is the 30 minute meeting where 20 minutes is silence and the entrepreneur flips through the deck? We try to do the inverse here. We review everything in advance (and hope you do the same) and show up ready to have a focused conversation on the business.
Do one thing really, really well. We are a focused business software investor. We think early customer traction matters most and add outsized value in that regard. While there is a duality to this relative to the business units here (Investment Team and Acceleration Team) the fact remains that we have a value centered around doing one thing really, really well. We stay focused on what we know works and where we have had success.
Win as a team and have no ego. We collaborate and work as a team. We know how to have fun and don't take ourselves too seriously. There is a tremendous amount of collaboration between the Investment Team and Acceleration Team here. We value each other's opinions, ask each other to contribute to the work product, and build together as a single unit.
Help one entrepreneur every day. Be in the business of helping people. The lifeblood of this industry is the entrepreneur so spend time adding value to their day-to-day. Frank Sonnenberg said "karma is like a boomerang. I hope you have many happy returns." We subscribe to this each and every day.
Our Ambition.
We succeed when the entrepreneurs we invest in change the way businesses operate for the better. The firm ambition remains bold and exciting, and we consider every investment and action with this lens.
If you liked “Our Mission. Our Values. Our Ambition.” and want to read more content from the Bowery Capital Team, check out other relevant posts from the Bowery Capital Blog.
