For venture capitalists, good investing is all about assessing risk versus potential.
MissionOG, a Berwyn-based investment firm, has found a smarter way: Identify the opportunity and then join the team.
The "OG" stands for "Operating Group," an ode to the team's background and company model. Previous to founding MissionOG, all four members were high-level operations managers (three worked together at Ecount). Since launching in September 2012, they've helped fast-track three of Philly's rapidly growing business-to-business companies:
Cloudmine,
Cloudamize and
PeopleLinx.
"Our roots are in executing in early-stage companies and helping build them from the ground up," says Drew Kese, managing partner at MissionOG. "We wanted to take that to the venture community."
As the software revolution continues to build -- and produce cheaper and cheaper backend web solutions -- the cost of starting a company has steadily dropped. This presents a new challenge: How do you maximize know-how in a market that's rapidly changing? MissionOG works directly with clients. They help manage the logistical side, allowing companies to spend 80 percent of their time "pointing at the market," or probing the market problem as it evolves.
"It's almost too easy from the money side," says Kese. "We're trying to inject some expertise so the money people raise goes further."
The firm is closely connected to
DreamIt Ventures. Three of four partners are mentors at the incubator, and two of the three initial companies are DreamIt grads. As they grow, MissionOG hopes to serve three or four companies at a time.
"The time we invest is a differentiator," Says Kese. "The only way to understand the market problem is to roll your sleeves up and understand it intimately."
Source: Drew Kese, MissionOG
Writer: Dana Henry