Stealthmode operates in mysterious ways: we don’t get paid for a lot of the stuff we do, we don’t take (much) money and/or equity from the companies in our portfolio, and we largely appear to be cruising around enjoying ourselves without appearing to work. Even my best friends don’t know what I “do.”
I define myself mainly as an angel investor, and from time to time I invest real money in companies. But more often I invest time and talent. In other words, I don’t have the money to invest in all the companies I see that I wish would be successful, so I invest in some and counsel some. Ed does something similar. Sometimes we are involved in the same companies, sometimes not.
We have been partners for nine years under this arrangement without being able to articulate it beyond aspiring to be in the middle of the activity in the entrepreneurial community and helping to build an interconnected ecosystem for Arizona startups. Yeah, people say when I tell them that, “but how do you make money?”
Today I saw a post by Stowe Boyd that expresses pretty clearly the model by which we (or, at least, I) operate. It’s called How I Roll, and it explains how he chooses companies to be involved with, why he takes (or does not take) equity, and why he doesn’t look like he works many hours.
Basically, we are in R&D mode more than half the time we are working during any given month. And that R&D, or expertise, is passed on to the companies we advise. Stowe calls his work advisory capital, as do we.
So great to see someone who knows what we do! It’s about time we knew it ourselves:-)
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Hi Francine,
I am highly envious of your position, congrats on getting to a level where you can work like this. It sounds like you have a ton of fun.
For someone who is still in the early stages of consulting with businesses about their Online Marketing strategies how do you suggest approaching new clients?
Roger