This idea should be obvious: Most companies will not do their best work if forced to grow artificially fast (think growth hormones).
If you aim everything toward fattening up for an exit time; if you force-feed unnatural energy like corn or capital, binge on antibiotics, and then hope the market remains alive for that highly processed output, you will not thereby be green, nor in charge in five years.
Evergreen doesn’t flip out at 4 years
Traditional venture capital is this force-fed, binge-eating, industrial-farm version of artificially growing companies.
That may not be fair — it is not all bad. It works well for a small subset of companies. It makes no sense for the rest of us to emulate that model when it isn’t appropriate for the vast majority of companies.
Evergreen Capital for Evergreen Companies
My fund, Greybull Stewardship, is built to be an alternative. Our capital and structure are evergreen. We do not force companies to grow artificially or to exit on a specific timeframe. We are free to do what is best for the business over time.
Inc. Magazine this month included a good article, written by Bo Burlingham, on the growing movement of founders to finance their company in a manner so they do not have to sell. Evergreen models for their company and their financing are particularly attractive to people who have played the venture capital game a few times and realize there is a more modern, better way to build a company. The Inc Magazine article also includes an infographic that makes the case for not selling. It is worth reading.