8 min
34 - Maybe A Thesis - V4 XO Capital's Fund Stuff
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- Imprenditorialità
In today's episode, Andrew from XO Capital dives deep into the ever-evolving investment thesis of the fund, giving listeners an insider's view on how the team approaches deal flow and capital allocation. Andrew starts off with the challenges of traditional venture-backed company building, emphasizing the power law distribution where a very few winners give outsized returns.
The crux of the episode? XO Capital targets what the VC world might deem as 'failures'—companies that couldn't secure the next round of funding but are far from being bad businesses. Andrew argues that these companies often have viable products and reasonable growth rates, making them hidden gems.
Key Takeaways:
Opportunistic Strategy: XO doesn't box itself into a rigid thesis, offering flexibility to spot unconventional winners.
Power Law Reality: Understanding that in the VC game, only a handful of investments bring in big returns.
Relative Failure: What venture capital sees as failure could be an opportunity, especially if the business shows some growth and revenue.
Quality Over Quantity: XO aims to buy the best products in a category, moving away from settling for second or third best.
Operational Realities: Businesses bought must be 'complete'—ready to sell today without requiring significant engineering work.
Channel & Growth: Acquisitions should come with a promising customer acquisition channel and a nominal growth rate.
Initial Customers: Preferably a hundred or more, with no single customer making up more than 20% of the business.
The episode closes with the cheeky remark that founders should meet Paul Graham at the start of their journey and XO Capital at the end. Tune in to get a full grasp of XO Capital's unique angle on investment.
In today's episode, Andrew from XO Capital dives deep into the ever-evolving investment thesis of the fund, giving listeners an insider's view on how the team approaches deal flow and capital allocation. Andrew starts off with the challenges of traditional venture-backed company building, emphasizing the power law distribution where a very few winners give outsized returns.
The crux of the episode? XO Capital targets what the VC world might deem as 'failures'—companies that couldn't secure the next round of funding but are far from being bad businesses. Andrew argues that these companies often have viable products and reasonable growth rates, making them hidden gems.
Key Takeaways:
Opportunistic Strategy: XO doesn't box itself into a rigid thesis, offering flexibility to spot unconventional winners.
Power Law Reality: Understanding that in the VC game, only a handful of investments bring in big returns.
Relative Failure: What venture capital sees as failure could be an opportunity, especially if the business shows some growth and revenue.
Quality Over Quantity: XO aims to buy the best products in a category, moving away from settling for second or third best.
Operational Realities: Businesses bought must be 'complete'—ready to sell today without requiring significant engineering work.
Channel & Growth: Acquisitions should come with a promising customer acquisition channel and a nominal growth rate.
Initial Customers: Preferably a hundred or more, with no single customer making up more than 20% of the business.
The episode closes with the cheeky remark that founders should meet Paul Graham at the start of their journey and XO Capital at the end. Tune in to get a full grasp of XO Capital's unique angle on investment.
8 min