The Transition from Operator to Investor

Over the past 15+ years, we’ve had the privilege of working with amazing people to build and scale multiple enterprise software companies.In analyzing the rapid growth of these companies, it became clear that at each inflection point, there were key actions, decisions and necessary outcomes required, to position ourselves for continued success. Over time, many of the same patterns emerged, and acted as guideposts for what to do next.As we reminisced about the past and planned for the future, we took a big step:We decided our next venture wouldn’t be a software startup like Rypple, Workbrain or Ariba…instead, it would be a venture capital firm, called Leaders Fund.We would channel our experiences and offer them to the next wave of software entrepreneurs.In forming Leaders Fund, we asked ourselves the following questions:

• What attributes, strategy, and outlook will make us an ideal investment partner?
• What areas of enterprise software will deliver the greatest opportunities in the future?
• What markets can disproportionality benefit from a local presence?
• First and foremost, Leaders Fund is setup to maximize the benefits to our customer…the entrepreneur.

Leaders Fund Founding Principles:

1. A team that can offer deep operational experience to our portfolio companies.
2. A focus on go-to-market support to enable faster, more profitable and predictable growth.
3. A flexible investment approach that works for entrepreneurs and co-investors.
4. A willingness to roll up our sleeves and support our portfolio companies, as requested.
5. A North American investment focus, with a local presence in underserved, high potential markets.

Investment thesis:We believe great opportunities exist for companies that are providing compelling, enterprise SaaS solutions that take advantage of cloud, mobile and machine learning.In addition to investment opportunities in vibrant tech markets across North America, we believe that great businesses are also being built in Toronto and Atlanta. These markets and their entrepreneurs are underserved today, and can benefit from investment partners who’ve been where they want to go. Using our local presence in these markets, we will provide growing companies with the capital, experience and relationships to help these them go faster and reach their potential.Investment structure:We’ve set up a $100M evergreen fund, with flexibility in ownership percentage, terms and investment stage. We are backed by patient money, and we believe that doing the right thing in support of the entrepreneur, we will ultimately yield the best returns.We look forward to this journey and the opportunity to work with inspiring entrepreneurs who are changing the world with their vision, tenacity, and can-do spirit.