Our Thesis
A venture studio that inspires the curious to overcome the impossible.
THE NARRATIVE 〜
There’s an idea that if you want to build a great technology company, you better head to Silicon Valley. In California, so the myth goes, there’s better access to ideas, talent, capital and sunshine. While this philosophy may have once been true, with the advent of remote work, distributed talent has proved that incredible things can happen everywhere, including right here in the Midwest.
THE WAVE 〜
Our hypothesis is that the next wave of economic growth will be driven by entrepreneurial innovation. A new set of skills, ideas, and talents, predicated on design, storytelling and taste, will be required to successfully compete in this new landscape. While the infrastructure exists to support the emergence of this creative class in the Midwest, the thread between academics, capital, entrepreneurs, industry and venture remains to be fully threaded.
THE MIDWEST 〜
The Midwest is a remarkable place to start a company, a perfect place to raise a family, and contains the seeds needed to instigate transformation. The main industries in the region — agriculture, healthcare, and finance — are well established organizations that are increasingly faced with opportunities to innovate. As institutions, they could take advantage of an entrepreneurial spirit, which includes best practices, resources, and a growth mindset; and, at the same time, there exists a diverse talent pool which can be empowered and inspired to jumpstart new ventures.
THE TALENT 〜
Building and cultivating talent with a diverse set of skills affords the community occasions to create. What defines the character of the people of the Midwest is a set of traits roughly comprised of kindness, resilience, and a general wherewithal to get things done. Talent continues to diversify and expand amidst these core tenets. With humility, heartiness, humor, and an undeniable work ethic, a sense of community takes shape around a vast geographical landscape that demands perseverance, determination, and a sense of possibility.
LOCAL COMMUNITY 〜
There is a vibrant and increasingly healthy early-stage entrepreneurial ecosystem, a well-established late stage business infrastructure, and a traditional venture capital and private equity presence in the community. However, among these different spaces, there is a recognizable opportunity to create a venture studio that partners with entrepreneurs to accelerate product market fit and build their business, community, and product.
VENTURE STUDIO 〜
A venture studio offers a place to inspire ideas, accelerate growth, cultivate talent, create a culture of innovation, offer best practices, build an archive of resources, a network of connections, offer key investments, and, at the end of the day, make direct and measurable impact that directly aligns with the community. In many ways, our community is only limited by its imagination and, everything else can be overcome.
Our role is to inspire the curious to overcome the impossible.
