Strategies / 03
Early capital, held long enough to matter.
Minority positions in early-stage private companies, underwritten on the founder and the market rather than a model, and held through the periods when the outcome is still uncertain.
- Market
- Private, early stage
- Horizon
- 7–10 years
- Construction
- Minority, concentrated
Our approach
03.101
The founder is the thesis
At this stage the model is a hypothesis. What compounds is the judgement, rate of learning and integrity of the people running the business.
02
Concentration over coverage
A smaller number of positions we can actually support, rather than index-style exposure to a stage.
03
Capital with a long clock
Early companies do not resolve on a reporting schedule. The capital is structured so we are not forced to decide before the business has.
Process
03.201
Sourcing
Founder and operator networks rather than intermediated processes. Most of what we see arrives through people we have worked with.
02
Founder diligence
Extended time with the founding team — how they think, how they have handled being wrong, and how they treat the people around them.
03
Market work
Whether the market is genuinely large, and whether timing is the reason this has not worked before.
04
Terms and alignment
Structures we would accept from the other side of the table. Alignment is a term-sheet question, not a values statement.
05
Post-investment
Hiring, customer introductions and the next round. Support is specific and requested, not scheduled.
Risk
03.3Risk is managed where it originates.
Loss rates in early-stage investing are high by construction and the portfolio is built expecting that. The controllable risks are entry price, ownership discipline, reserve policy for follow-on rounds, and the governance terms agreed at entry. Illiquidity is the defining feature of the asset class, not a risk to be hedged.
Other strategies
Investor access
For qualified investors.
Learn more about venture capital at Antiphase, our process and access opportunities.