The 81 Collection

We are two years in at The 81 Collection, and we are having a blast! We've discovered a white space that we feel uniquely qualified to pursue, and we are lucky to be surrounded by 80 fellow founders who have created $60 billion in value and 100,000 jobs. That's why we are growing our investment and portfolio teams, with our first opening here. We exist to lighten the load for the next generation of builders in the 81, so let us know if you'd like to play a role! Trillions of dollars of value are locked up in serious, unsolved problems across the 81% of GDP. Join us in choosing the harder path, supporting the right kind of businesses, and improving America.

Thank you to Sandra Guy and the Chicago Sun-Times for sharing how Pinch is creating incredible career opportunities for Nurse Practitioners like Theresa. "Alex Thiersch CEO of the American Med Spa Association said Pinch’s business model is viable, innovative and even disruptive." “People are thinking of [medical spa services] as preventative, and they’re talking about it, including on social media, rather than thinking of it as something to keep secret,” said Haley Kwait Zollo, partner at Starting Line. Link to full story in the comments.

Excited to announce our funding led by a16z and official launch to help employers and employees save money on healthcare costs https://lnkd.in/ekYHt9v7

Over the last 18 months, mature companies faced headwinds that cracked the infrastructure of the economy. Those crevices serve as great opportunities for entrepreneurs to build. This happens every recession, and thanks to Crain's for highlighting our optimism for this era. It's a great time to tackle some serious, unsolved problems (eg, labor shortages, onshoring of manufacturing, fixing the ROI on education). They represent trillions of dollars of locked up value.

Today, I'm heading to Rick Zullo's exciting Emerging Manager Summit (https://www.emcsummit.com/) to meet some of the best up-and-coming managers. And I keep thinking about this graph. An industry that started with founders helping founders has transformed into asset gathering. Funders & Founders have been quietly drifting apart. You only need $3M to start a company and generate cash flow, but $300B of dry powder needs a home. Assuming there are 100 meaningful companies each year, that is a 100x gap in supply and demand! Capital is officially a commodity. What isn't a commodity is purposeful, specialized capital. That's why I'm personally an LP in 35 emerging managers and will continue to back the asset class. The odds of successful creation have never been higher, and the headwinds that mature companies face today are tailwinds for entrepreneurs. I know times feel dark, but mark my words -- Great companies will be built this year and next year. If you're a founder, find your tribe and your emerging manager. Find a manager who deeply cares about you and knows your space. A new era is emerging! * These numbers are all approximate, but the points stand!

Last weekend, I turned 37. I’m now closer to 50 than 20. And with each passing year, I’m noticing that I’m getting more comfortable in my body, my mind, and in my own ways. But that conflicts with growth. In fact, I’ve grown the most in life when I was in new, uncomfortable environments (eg, starting college, new jobs).   As I reflected on my 37th year, it hit me that I grew a lot last year for the first time in a long time. I grew in 3 unexpected ways, and thought I’d share those reflections here.   Marriage: I had 10 grey hairs up until 34. Now, I have 1,000. What changed? Having two kids under 2 during a pandemic. My wife & I had a crazy last three years, and we are just now getting a breath of fresh air. We started taking an hour during lunch to talk to each other. Whether you call it therapy or a marriage meeting, I could not recommend it more. If we don’t prioritize each other, we drown in meal times, logistics, tantrums, & work. This hour during working hours ensures we don't relegate our marriage to the bottom of the to-do list.    2nd mountain > 1st mountain: I spent my 27-36th years on my first mountain, where I was just trying to make it. I was not passionate about laundry, but I saw an opportunity and wanted to create change. But by focusing on one thing for a decade, I found a hidden passion: job mobilization. Teammates who started at $20 per hour now make $100K with benefits. I went to our employee’s weddings, saw them buy homes, and saw how our business moved families into the middle class (during a time when the middle class evaporated). My 2nd act is trying to rebuild the middle class, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I would even do this job for free because I finally feel uniquely qualified to do this job. The 81 Collection uniquely combines my three passions: investing, entrepreneurship, & job mobilization. I never thought a job could wholly consume me.   Shame into pride: Until last year, I carried a healthy amount of self-doubt & shame. I never carried my boot-strapping story with much pride. We did not have a massive exit, we never made any TechCrunch headlines, and it was not fun to see our bank account swing from $400K to -$300K every other Wednesday when payroll came due. It was shameful that we were unable to pay our team market wages, and it was shameful to work 7 days a week and miss friends' birthdays. But now, I finally look back with pride at how far we got with so little we had. We maximized every $1 of the $120,000 we put in. In my new shoes, I have to wrap my head around companies ‘burning’ $20M to get only $5M in revenue. Only now do I see that we were great stewards of capital & ruthlessly focused.  With this contrast & appreciation of my journey, my shame has finally turned into pride. I want to grow in my 38th & 77th year just as much as the 37th. With every passing year, a year is always a greater % of what is left. We are always either growing or dying, so I now want to grow until my dying day.