“Venture Capital” is a small subset of private equity surrounded in mystique and fable. In reality, the world of start-ups is filled with the highs and lows of hard work, loneliness, crushing disappointment and, sometimes, unbelievable success. The bold founders usually have a vision to disrupt the status quo and build a new world around that idea. The VC community is a unique culture that understands the founders’ motivations. It provides the resources, support and discipline to help them prove their idea, grow, survive, adapt and thrive in the face of the longest odds. They say “it takes a village.” In “Venture Capital”, the hope is that these mavericks are surrounded by an ecosystem of investors that understand the disruption they feed and have the patience to let them manifest their vision.

JULIE FREDRICKSON is the Managing Partner of CHAOTIC CAPITAL. She will help us understand what it takes to survive and thrive in this space and skewer some sacred cows along the way.

“I’m a founder with experience in retail and e-com businesses across all stages. I’ve raised from venture, PE, and crazy people. for everything from cosmetics to online advertising. A couple of my companies even exited and are still around.

My first company was Coutorture Media, a luxury affiliate publishing and e-commerce network acquired by Sugar Inc. I then founded playAPI, a developer tool kit and SaaS platform for digital brand marketers. Most recently I went physical with Stowaway Cosmetics a direct to consumer cosmetics brand, which is now part of WIN Brands Group.”

What does success of individual investment look like?
What does success of portfolio look like?

1. Underwriting Businesses: Asset-Light & Equity-Efficient: 

“We focus on ventures fitting the VC mold, prioritizing scalable, asset-light companies that require minimal equity financing. Two of our most successful seed investments raised <$50 million to achieve unicorn status while earning hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and tens of millions of dollars in profits per year.”

2. Founder’s Unique Point Of Leverage: 

“Every successful startup has a unique point of leverage that allows them to gain escape velocity going from 0 to 1. We seek startups that possess a proprietary advantage such as 

3. Resilient to Competition: “We invest in companies whose products and solutions would be painful for incumbents to replicate. We look for those that:

4. “Avoiding Over-Complexity: Great startups must maintain maniacal focus while they scale.
Acknowledging the high failure rate of startups, we steer clear of those with multiple dependencies, instead concentrating on businesses with a single, transformative opportunity for success”

DISCLAIMER: THIS PODCAST IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AND DOES NOT REPRESENT AN ENDORSEMENT OF CHAOTIC CAPITAL AS AN INVESTMENT.

CHAOTIC CAPITAL