{"id":3375,"date":"2015-10-20T18:53:40","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T01:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/?p=3375"},"modified":"2016-01-12T13:39:19","modified_gmt":"2016-01-12T21:39:19","slug":"evergreen-investment-capital-gains-more-traction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/evergreen-investment-capital-gains-more-traction\/","title":{"rendered":"Evergreen Investment Capital Gains More Traction"},"content":{"rendered":"

This idea should be\u00a0obvious: \u00a0Most companies will not do their best work if forced to grow artificially fast (think growth hormones).\u00a0\"venture_capital_industrial_farming\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you aim everything toward fattening up for an exit time; if you force-feed unnatural energy like corn\u00a0or 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.<\/p>\n

Evergreen doesn’t flip out at 4 years<\/h3>\n

Traditional venture capital is this force-fed, binge-eating, industrial-farm version of artificially growing companies.<\/p>\n

That may not be fair — it is not all bad. \u00a0It works well for a small subset of companies. \u00a0It makes no sense for the rest of us to emulate that model when it isn’t appropriate for the vast majority of companies.<\/p>\n

Evergreen Capital for Evergreen Companies<\/h3>\n

My fund, Greybull Stewardship, is built to be an alternative. \u00a0Our capital and structure are evergreen. \u00a0We do not force companies to grow artificially or to\u00a0exit on a specific timeframe. \u00a0We are free to do what is best for the business over time.<\/p>\n

Inc. Magazine this month included a good article, written by Bo Burlingham, on the growing movement of founders to finance their company<\/a>\u00a0in a manner so they do not have to sell. \u00a0Evergreen models for their company and their financing are particularly attractive to\u00a0people who have played the venture capital game a few times and realize there is a more modern, better way to build a company. \u00a0The Inc Magazine article also includes an infographic that makes the case for not selling. \u00a0It is worth reading.<\/p>\n

Posts Related to Evergreen Investments:<\/h4>\n