FAQ.
FullCircle invests in a better future workforce where working caregivers are supported, small businesses have an edge and enterprises have a thriving diverse talent base.
FullCircle is not a typical “future of work” fund. In fact, we don’t invest in “categories”. Instead, we have an outcome-driven thesis focusing on who works (rather than how) with the goal of creating a more sustainable and equitable workforce.
At this time, FullCircle only invests in US-based companies. We don’t lead rounds and do not typically follow on. We write checks between $100k (for truly pre-seed companies) and up to $250k in larger rounds of companies who might be a bit further ahead. Our plan is to make 8 to 10 investments each year. One of the benefits of FullCircle’s permanent fund structure is our long-term focus. We don’t push a specific exit timetable onto founders or let our own fundraising cycles affect our strategy.
FullCircle’s investing thesis is to improve access to opportunity. I thrive to promptly respond to every message, whether it comes through Twitter, LinkedIn, email or our founder outreach form.
I welcome cold outreach. I have invested in founders who thoughtfully reached out to me without any prior connection to FullCircle (ask Claire McTaggart at SquarePeg!).
I’ve made an effort to clearly lay out my investing criteria and areas of interest so the best outreach will almost always demonstrate an understanding of what they are and why FullCircle might be a good partner.
I am the sole manager of FullCircle and the only decision-maker. My goal is to build a close relationship with the founders FullCircle earns the privilege to back. I use the diligence process to get to know entrepreneurs and determine whether FullCircle can truly be a valuable partner to the company. I take the process of getting to know a founder and what they’re building very seriously. I prepare ahead of meetings and read the materials that are shared with me. I also care about founders having the ability to get to know me and decide whether I’ve earned a spot on their cap table. I often help founders well before deciding whether to invest to give both sides a chance to see whether we’d work well together.
I do not run a mindblowly fast investment process. I pride myself on being responsive and I do my best to clearly communicate next steps and the questions I am still considering throughout the process. Founders know where they stand at all times. To date, the median time from first chat with the team to wire is 25 days so you can expect the process to take approximately 3 to 4 weeks.
Perhaps due to my French upbringing, I tend to be direct, candid and transparent. If I connect with founders synchronously at least once, I am committed to closing the loop on the conversation and providing context for my decision as well as any potentially useful feedback on the pitch and the business itself.
Generally, the steps in FullCircle’s investment process are as follows:
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First call prep: I prefer to review a memo or investor deck, if available, in advance of a first conversation in order to get right into it. This also enables me to keep it conversational which I much prefer to a pitch.
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First call/zoom: Typically we’ll cover the company’s origin story and founder <> market/problem fit, the product/solution, the expected business model, existing team composition, fundraising history and current round dynamics.
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Follow-up questions and materials review: If there is a dataroom available, great. If not, I will at minimum request access to the product or a recorded demo, the company’s cap table and 2 to 3-year cashflow model or financial projections. Drafts or works in progress are totally fine!
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Second call/zoom: To answer any questions that couldn’t be covered asynchronously, sometimes meet the rest of the team, and go through the financial model, assumptions and use of funds.
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Final set of questions, clarifications, additional market research and, if appropriate, some reference calls with industry experts, other investors and early users or customers. I am typically happy to leverage the diligence notes of the lead investor in order to not burden the company’s customers.
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Decision: Communicated either on or right after a third call/zoom, if needed. I am a huge believer in direct and actionable feedback. Most of the time, founders appreciate it. On my end, it helps me gauge whether the team responds well to different viewpoints and what their expectations are from the investors on their cap table.
One of FullCircle’s key operating principles is quality over quantity. FullCircle only invests in 8 to 10 companies per year in order to develop deep relationships with founders and existing or prospective co-investors.
We don’t pretend to be all things to all people and thrive to do one thing extraordinarily well: get founders to their next round of financing by assisting them at every step of the fundraising process (company’s journey/narrative, investor deck/memo, dataroom prep, budget/use of funds, intros, term sheet negotiations and round syndication).
These case studies speak for themselves, demonstrating FullCircle’s ability to deliver on this simple value proposition. In short, we helped Wethos raise more than half its seed round (with only 5 intros!), assisted SquarePeg in securing a co-investor, and introduced Groove to their lead investor at the seed stage (as well as several other participants in the round).
I prefer to keep my relationship with founders as informal as possible. Instead of scheduling recurring calls or asking founders to join yet another Slack channel, I most commonly encourage them to reach out when they need. I am happy to be as “hands on” as a founder wants me to be.
Post investment, I share a brief onboarding form with founders to capture their communication preferences and confirm their expectations around FullCircle’s involvement. In some cases, most communications take place via email and text/whatsapp. Others prefer a regularly-scheduled call, while some founders like to meet in person from time to time. I am flexible and adjust to what the founder wants. I am comfortable tailoring the way I work with a team to their particular needs, dialing up or down my level of involvement as and when required.
In any event, I am committed to being available to FullCircle founders whenever they want to talk. I save daily calendar slots in order to accommodate timely support requests.
I encourage founders to send monthly investor updates. The most important characteristic of a useful update is consistency. Always include an ask section after providing background and a good understanding of where things stand. It will help me help you!
I send my own monthly newsletter out to FullCircle founders with a section dedicated to asks & offers. I find that ad hoc introductions on a targeted topic work best to create leverage among all of the companies in FullCircle’s portfolio.
I also create a custom form to capture a handful of relevant business metrics from each company on a quarterly basis. This helps me keep track of the company’s progress. It also creates another touch point and an opportunity for founders to ask for help or for me to jump in if I notice a worrying trend.
I am not yet convinced of the utility in providing a forum for FullCircle founders to connect. That might change as the portfolio grows. At this time, I am happy to make one-off connections when it becomes clear that one founder (or one of FullCircle’s investors) can help another.
I am regularly going through my own fundraising process. If you’d like to know where that stands, who my LPs are etc. please just ask. If any of my investors has expertise in an area that can be helpful to any of FullCircle’s founders, I will make that connection happily.
One of the reasons I created FullCircle with a unique aligned fund model is because I wanted to run it more like a startup than a fund. It’s only fair for founders to be able to ask the questions they need answered to complete their own diligence on FullCircle. It’s certainly always fine to reach out to any of FullCircle’s founders, with or without an introduction from me.