The Result of Adventure Capital

Venture Capital and venture capital fundable businesses. Oh the twists and turns of life and how we begin a journey and where we depart, travel, and arrive. How in the hell did I get to this place. I am an Architect and I do not really care about the intricacies of software and the impacts they create. I am in real estate development and do not really care about those same aspects as long as I can somehow get those dang numbers to work. Life’s path is nudged along as it has for millennia. That path is pushed and pulled by the advancement of technology and how we access and apply them to daily living.

An individual may see something, become inspired, learn through books or the experiences of others, then, go off on an adventure of your own. Along today’s path we have all the wonderful resources in addition to books that are captured within the World Wide Web.

The crafty algorithms of the on-demand video platforms made the initial introductions. I investigated, read more, and found ways for application and opportunity. The history of (ad)venture capital is astounding. I won’t go into that here, but every one of us uses products that are produced by venture capital backed companies.

The companies that tap into these veins of funding are state-of-the-art, and push the boundaries of human capabilities and civilization. Their applications and endeavors teach us, make things convenient, connect us, and show alternate ways into the future. These products dazzle us, inform, unlock creativity, and sometimes drive us to negative feelings and fear.

One thing I realized was the multitude of venture businesses and how many of them find new ways to do a task. That is the spirit of innovation and there are bundles and bundles of funding just to create the conversations that get us to another level. In this realm, even the failures are critically important as they provide the courses to navigate to things that function properly.

As I furthered my research into venture capital and asked how I could utilize my knowledge into that world, I saw the other companies that are in the real estate, design, and construction space and the solutions they propose. The other companies operating in the same industry space is another critical aspect of venture capital. The marketplace begins with many and dwindles to a few that incorporate the ideas, technology, and techniques of the many as they push toward market domination.

I did more research, worked on a viable solution, did more research, and worked on a viable solution. I watched the various start-up presentations and most wore the extravagance of a game changer. That is apart of the game; who wants to invest capital into the mediocre?

I did more research and worked on a viable solution. I came to great point which paralleled things that other companies were already doing. Now I would not consider that copying, or borrowing, or sharing, but it was more of just doing something similar, and yes, we can do it much better, much much better in fact!

I did more research and worked on a viable solution. Then, realizing that this was not going to work out right now, I pivoted - I changed the idea to put the company into a better space to position for success. That change was also into something that someone else was already doing. Again, yes, we can do it much, much better! How much revenue do we have? Let me tell you the story about a company called <insert unicorn company name here> and how they went from nothing, to even more of nothing, to highly successful.

I did more research and worked on a viable solution. Venture Capital allocators (VCs), the good folks that write the checks so you can go out there and get ‘er done, want to place their bet, that’s right, a gamble that you will be the one company that is able to break through and make up the losses from the other invested failure companies, in exciting start-up teams that inspire and have potential to solve real problems. The VCs will even write big checks to companies that are solving problems that people don’t even know they have yet. Those are the wonderful bets that either crash in a spectacular explosion of last capital dust, or achieve massive success and change the world.

I did more research and worked on a viable solution. I watched the videos and read the books. I looked at my project and looked at it again. I envisioned giving a awe-inspiring presentation that would make Steve Jobs put his two fingers to his chin and contemplate. I envisioned this thing working and believe that it can work.

More research, more work, more thinking. I was pushing to make this thing exciting and advanced. It wasn’t even pushing the square peg into the circle hole; it was a completely different puzzle, one that might not actually be interesting. Well damn! Imagine that: a venture capital funded business that was actually pretty boring. That is the place that I arrived and it was a bit dire I must admit.

I kept thinking and thinking. I first questioned whether a VC backed business needed to be exciting. It did need to solve a large problem and have a real demand. What I realized, and not a realization to delude myself to make an unfitting project fit, is that the product and the results can be viewed separately. Start-up companies are multifaceted and can be viewed by the company, the team, the product, the market, and potential. Each one of these can have their own level of excitement and be focused to generate the viability within the VC world.

A great team can take an average product and sell it to the ends of the earth. A great product with a huge demand can be managed by an OK team. A market that might be new and unexplored with great potential can be exciting; that is the adventure. Obviously, to get the type of massive funding a start-up needs to be successful requires on a company to have some of those boxes checked with the ability to check more off as capital becomes available.

Solving the problem of the shortfall of housing supply is not exactly exciting. A company can brew excitement if they have an innovative product that promises to trim significant time from the design or construction process or utilizes new techniques and materials.

I looked at the All-City project and although it didn’t really look too exciting, I realized the massive result was the thing that was exciting. The odds and ends of daily real estate property procurement and leasing is boring. The result of getting this thing to a huge scale it the energizing element.

I have come to realize that there are multiple points that generates the story of the company. For a company like Apple, it was a superior product. For Google and Amazon, it is the domination of markets. For, Richard Branson, it is the personal life journey with an way of being that can be superimposed onto any company or product. For AirBnb, it was the team and their crazy idea.

For All-City, there is really nothing to much to celebrate, but that is what I find exciting; Under the Radar, Fully Exposed. Housing is an interesting environment. It is so vast that it is difficult to gauge. For a 45 Trillion Dollar market, capturing a fraction of a percent is a huge success. These are numbers that only an economist could appreciate. Forget about the general public, a fraction of a percent is an irrelevant portion of a penny.

That contrast of huge and minute is exciting to me. We just have to get out there and put things together and find ways to put them together fast. How often do you see a company like Black Stone in the news? Not very often. That is one thing that makes them so powerful - I would assume that they are not concerned about their media relevancy. Their focus is generating strong and consistent returns for their shareholders. I see us having that same mentality.

I cannot honestly say that this new insight will make for a successful pitch, but it is a start. One thing I learned in architecture school was the process. This process is very much like the power law with the difference being that venture capital has financial consequences that span beyond time. The act of working on a project does not always lead one to the solution. The project may only generate the question or expose some challenge that will eventually lead to the product that needs to be created or the means to communicate your intent.

That was part of the struggle for me: I was attempting to take this static thing and transform it into this exciting thing that people could get behind. In reality, this company and the product is pretty boring and uneventful, that is until we can obtain the funding needed to acquire 1000 modest dwelling units, turn that 1000 into 1500 at a savings and generate pretty decent, HUGE ASS FUCKING YEARLY REVENUE BY ONLY CAPTURING A MINUSCULE PERCENTAGE THE VAST HOUSING MARKET.

I guess that is what I mean when I attempt to convey the result of the company is more exciting than the actual idea.