DVx Ventures has a new approach to venture investing
The firm also has a co-build program that provides an opportunity to work directly with the DVx team to launch a company.
“It’s time for a new era of VC (venture capital), one in which the primary way that the VC makes money is delivering compounding value to its investors,” writes Jon McNeill, Co-Founder and Partner in a brand new investment firm named DVx Ventures. He’s a former President of Tesla and Chief Operation Officer at Lyft and has founded and scaled six companies.
McNeill continues, “We need a more evergreen, sustainable way of investing that incentivizes value creation in the form of compounding versus managing fee income or placing fragile bets. We need to refocus portfolio companies on profitability, place more value on customer experience and prioritize product-market-fit.”
The firm describes the five-step process it uses as follows:
- Idea generation, defined as solving real customer problems that have a significant impact on the world;
- 360o evaluation where every idea is thoroughly researched and deeply vetted;
- Product market fit is determined through what DVx Ventures characterizes as a quantitative approach;
- Experienced operators onboard, both in leadership roles and on the team; and
- Finally, being “hatched” in ways that create sustainable value for stakeholders and attract external investment.
In addition to growing its own start-ups, DVx Ventures also has a co-build program that provides an opportunity to work directly with the DVx team to launch a company. As part of the program, those accepted will be surrounded by world-class company builders and scalers that have built some of today’s biggest brands. Participants will receive access to time and resources that are often scarce within accelerators or other venture funds, and select companies will receive an initial cash investment with the same terms as our own DVx-generated companies.
