Vault Capital - Investment Focus

Vault Capital finances and supports exceptional entrepreneurial teams with the vision and energy to build great companies in rapidly growing markets that will return significant multiples to our investors.

Strategy

Early in the life of the fund, our goal is to uncover uniquely driven teams working on fundamental advances in technology that solve a deep customer need in a large rapidly growing market. Vault Capital will also proactively seed break-through innovations or nascent ideas if we strongly believe they are this decade's market-making opportunities.

As steadfast investors, we can work "with" the fluctuations of a company's perceived value and time follow-on financing(s) so as to assist the evolution of the startup the most, as well as create the greatest returns on capital. Our investments cross multiple industries and disciplines, creating a protective hedge against shifting public markets, sector favoritism, unseen barriers to industry adoption, and the cyclical nature of supply and demand.

The mature work of the fund is to stay close to the portfolio, apply enormous resources, create crystal clear goals, focus as well as structure, when necessary, to surmount the challenges of scaling, adoption, defensibility and customer drift. We only invest in our backyard...the Pacific Northwest. Vault Capital believes that companies consistently creating "more from less" will deliver long term value for customers, and shareholders alike, building prosperity in our financial markets as well as for our fund's investors.

Vault Capital is currently looking at local companies working with new materials, ubiquitous computing solutions, wise chips, information visualization, embedded intelligence solutions, reflective monitoring, consumer and enterprise wireless applications and entertainment, communications, wireless operating systems and applications, bio-tech, predictive technologies, analog technologies, informatica, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, gnomic research, polemics, lasers, fluidics, energy storage, adaptive sensors, diagnostics. We do want to hear about innovation as well as conventional low-tech opportunities "solving problems well." What we will need to see is a committed team, evidence of a rapidly expanding market and a tight business model.

LECTURE EXCERPTS

"Seeking out advancing technologies, innovative platforms and economically disruptive solutions that are proprietary and defendable has become "part and parcel" of early stage Venture Capital strategies. The only thing to add," said Managing Director, Petra Franklin. "Is that nothing can replace the power of a fiercely driven, focused and funded entrepreneurial team."

"Even a great company's perceived value fluctuates. It may start an upward ride during its youth as a newly formed private company. It is that exuberant stage, where the founders can, act fast while in the first value peak, and enlist the highest quality management team and investors."

"Then, quite often, there is a slippery dip in "perceived" value. It occurs while the company is working through the gritty beta trials, missing deadlines, business model drifting, or multitudes of other challenges."

"Then, hopefully, there is the unexpected arrival of a tremendous hockey stick zenith when the company matures into a profitable, hardy, publicly owned company ready to face the ocean of market forces and a hungry customer base. ...I'm probably dreaming."

"Why is discussing these fluctuations valuable? Partly to respond to the "bad DNA" phrase circulating. (Sort of a "blame the victim rather than cure the cold" approach.) It says don't do the follow-on round, pass on the old golden goose...go for "virgin start-ups". There is a need for mercy deaths, and these mercy mergers that look like two drunks leaning on each other to stand up, are not optimal.. but the number of lessons learned through perseverance far outlast any lucky successes, and great teams mature into our next decade's winners during grueling trials, such as these."

"One CEO said that he felt like Odysseus....when Odysseus had nearly reached home the first time and was just about to step onto the dock, suddenly his comrades opened the box of the four winds causing a hurricane to come up. The storm blew them way out to sea, ....for another 9 years. Downsizing, refocusing, squeezing another drop from the dollar, loss of customers, internal strife, all make these challenging times. Even the most successful companies are suffering from huge fluctuations in perceived value. Rather than echo the laments coming from the other shareholders, it is our task as venture shareholders, to do the "this too will pass," and help our companies make payroll, find customers and stay on their feet."