Why the FFF?

WE believe that FFF investments, when done correctly, generates the highest impact and best ROI investment.

The FFF is the most critical investment round for a company's future success. Done right, it can set founders on a very promising trajectory, but done wrong, it will certainly kill their dream.

The old version of FFF stands for Family, Friends and Fools. It's the little money founders can use to pay for services, hire an intern or two, and get them going for a while. It's very important because it empowers founders to dedicate themselves to their vision, and the fact that it's small money provides a resource constraint that forces them to be creative and optimize for scarcity.

The problem comes when amazing people with great ideas don't have access to a family member who has some high risk capital, nor friends from their network and social enviroment and they can't reach out to fools - WE don't really like the fools analogy because WE like to honour anyone who supports someone's vision and dream. But to be honest, if you do not come from a family with financial resources, there is a good chance that you do not have an FFF.

Even when founders come from wealthy families, they may raise money from people who will bring zero to negative value to the company, and they may also raise this capital on bad terms, meaning a large piece of the business.

What are WE looking for?

WE are looking for amazing people with a real obsession to make a difference and make an impact in their field of work.

There are values that WE live by and WE won't compromise on: WE believe in people. WE believe in hard work. WE believe in teamwork. WE believe in having fun. WE believe in personal development and never-ending learning. WE believe in reading books and exploring our curiosity. WE believe in people doing good for others. WE believe in a global marketplace. WE believe in the underdog. WE believe in discipline and consistency. WE believe in physical and mental health. WE believe in empathy and compassion. WE believe in sharing knowledge and learning from others.

WE believe that WE can be part of change for the better.

In terms of skills and experience, WE like people to have their own knowledge of the industry and sector they want to go into, but WE also know that a fresh pair of eyes can see things differently. WE admire people who can communicate well and efficiently - by well WE mean body language, tone of voice, crisp thinking, and easily explaining complex ideas.

WE like hustlers. People who can do a lot with little. WE like fast learners - founders who can absorb and process new information quickly. WE think a growth mindset is essential to survive and win in this space.

WE believe that technical people have an advantage in today's world. AI is moving at full speed and WE believe that people who understand the fundamentals of AI will be better able to respond to change.

WE think experience is a plus. WE think fluency in English is mandatory.

WE like second time founders but WE want to explore what they have learnt along the way and how they would do things differently.

WE think that two or three founders are better able to survive the ups and downs of the journey than a solo founder, but WE know that some people can thrive on their own.

What is the process?

WE aim to keep it simple and fast.

WE aim to complete the investment within 30 days of our first meeting. During those 30 days, we'll have several meetings with the founding team and explore what they have in mind, what the big problem is and what the small challenges are. WE spend a few sessions getting to know them on a social basis - who are they? What is their background? How do they see the world today and in the future? What's motivating them to start this business.

If WE decide to go ahead and make the investment, WE will invest $25,000 and work with their team until WE successfully raise the pre-seed round.

WE have extensive relationships with pre-seed and early stage VCs and WE will make some warm introductions and assist with the funding process.

How do we support founders?

WE don't see ourselves as investors. WE act as co-founders. That's a very distinctive part of how WE do things.

Yes, WE will invest $25,000 in the business, but WE will work tirelessly with the founders to ensure that WE achieve all the important milestones before moving on to the next stage of the business.

WE rely on our network of friends and experts to provide support and add value to our collaboration.

During our relationship, founders will have several mentoring and workshop sessions with some of the best people in the world in their field. WE estimate that during this first cycle, founders will have over 100 hours of mentoring sessions.

WE have a global network of collaborators and that's why fluency in English is mandatory.

Do I need to have a business up and running to apply?

No, not really, but it's an advantage. If you already have an early version of a product, that gives us more to work with, but it's not necessary.

WE are happy to work with entrepreneurs as they refine their thesis and explore the early version of the discovery.

WE believe that the early version of any product - the MVP - can be super simple and trashed and rebuilt according to how successful our experiments go. It's critical that founders work hard to test and fail fast so they can accelerate their learning process.

If you have further questions don’t hesitate to reach out and chat with us: daniel@weheartimpact.com