Mission
Our mission is to build world-class companies by providing early-stage investment and operational guidance to distinctive entrepreneurs.
The Anthem Difference
All venture funds endeavor to provide more than just money, and the notion of a "value added" investor has become cliché. We have the deep networks, as do most other established funds. We have the experience and can provide the senior guidance, just like most other established venture capitalists can.
Anthem is different because we're willing to get our hands dirtier. We'll do real work (and work hard) when our entrepreneurs need us — especially in seed or Series A investments when a company needs help getting off the ground. We'll fight for our companies when times are tough and will leave it all on the field to achieve a good outcome. We also know that sometimes the best way we can add value is to simply stay out of the way.
We also try to be real people. It is easy to stumble into false arrogance on the buy-side of any transaction. We built Anthem with a commitment to respect the spirit of the entrepreneur (in fact, our name is tied to this idea in a way you might not recognize). We try to be accessible and responsive, and we are very proud of the enduring relationships we have built with the entrepreneurs and other friends we have made while growing our firm.
Investment Profile
We like to get involved early. We are usually the first institutional investor in a company, and our typical initial investment is from $500,000 to $4,000,000. We prefer to take a lead or co-lead position where we can have influence on the Board of Directors as well as outside this formal channel through direct ties to the leadership team.
Our strategy depends on finding and backing distinctive entrepreneurs — we often say that we back the jockey more than the horse. That said, we look for capital efficient business models and have a preference for slightly "under the radar" opportunities in sectors unlikely to be plagued by overfunding. Because of our hands-on investing model, we strongly favor investment opportunities in California where we can have frequent face-to-face interactions.
Most of our investments can be classified broadly as information technology investments. We have a strong track record doing "hard technology" commercialization projects from our local universities and will continue to look to these institutions for innovative business ideas. We have been involved with numerous internet and new media companies and will continue to look for stand-out opportunities in these areas. Looking forward, we anticipate building on our proven areas of expertise while staying open to new emerging fields.
