#165 – Rafael Nadal & Venture Capital

Good morning everyone,

Hope you’re having a great week!

Here are 5 things I found interesting over the past few days.

Let’s jump in.

read online on my website

read time 3 minutes

#165 – The Rundown:

• Quote: When intelligence is overridden.

• Podcast: 15 minutes with Oscar Ledlin.

• Documentary: Rafa.

• Observation: The new venture capital model.

• X: The true test of emotional intelligence.

Quote:

{h/t James Clear}

Podcast:

15 Minutes with The Boss: Oscar Ledlin

Oscar Ledlin is just 34 years old, but last year he was ranked number 55 on the Financial Review Young Rich List with a fortune valued at $123 million.

The founder and chief executive of the Ledlin Group started the company after seeing a gap in the market for small commercial properties during the e-commerce boom.

In this episode, the former-concreter-turned-property-entrepreneur sits down with the Australian Financial Review to discuss his morning routine, where he gets his best ideas, and the advice he almost always ignores.

What struck me most about Oscar was his ability to walk through his decision-making with such clarity and thoughtfulness.

I found not only what he’s doing at his age, but the way he’s doing it, very inspiring.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

[Duration: 18 minutes]

P.S. I made a Spotify playlist with every podcast I’ve ever recommended. Hope they bring you as much value as they’ve brought me.

Documentary:

Rafa

Rafael Nadal is truly one of the most accomplished tennis players of all time.

22 grand slam victories.

A record 912 consecutive weeks in the world Top 10 – nearly 18 years.

He is the only player in tennis history to be ranked world number 1 in three different decades.

His 14 French Open titles are the most ever at a single Grand Slam, and his 112-4 record there is the greatest single-tournament win rate of all time.

This 4-episode docuseries produced sensationally by Netflix entitled Rafa, sheds a light on his remarkable career and decision to retire at the age of 38.

Although I read his autobiography a number of years ago, this documentary did an incredible job at showcasing just how much Nadal suffered both physically and mentally throughout the course of his career.

Someone who embodies high performance more than almost any other athlete in any other sport.

Highly recommend if you haven’t seen it already.

Watch now on Netflix.

Observation:

The New Venture Capital Model

Aleksandrina Ikonomova recently shared a quite brilliant post on LinkedIn breaking down how San Francisco-based venture capital firm General Catalyst is turning the sector on its head with their new financing strategy.

Here’s the headline:

David Beckham raised $1 billion without selling a single share.

Here’s the detail:

General Catalyst announced this week that its Customer Value Fund is committing $1 billion to IM8 Health, the supplement brand Beckham co-founded, owned by Prenetics. There is no equity in the deal, no board seat, and no valuation to negotiate. GC finances up to 70% of IM8's customer acquisition spend and takes a capped share of the revenue those customers generate, and once the cap is reached, every dollar after that goes back to the company.

Here’s the consequence:

The structure behind that deal is a preview of how venture funding is changing to be less exit-dependent.

Here’s the context:

Traditional VC funding is typically a 10-year bet that ends in an exit of a company whether it be via an IPO, sale of the business, or in some cases, a sale of its stake to another firm.

And that was all well and good when those exit points actually occurred.

However, venture-backed companies are now tending to stay private for far longer than the investment model ever really assumed, which is problematic when the clock or lifetime of the fund keeps running while the finish line keeps moving.

So now, General Catalyst has successfully run this new financing structure across more than 40 companies whereby they underwrite the revenue, cap the return, and effectively skip the exit.

Here’s how things might change moving forward:

We may very well be watching venture capital quietly split into two products.

The traditional model in which equity waits for an exit that may take more than 10 years to arrive, and financing that pays investors back from the cash flows of the business.

And the latter is becoming increasingly attractive in a climate that favours distributions.

Check out the post here.

{h/t Charlie Selth}

X:

The True Test Of Emotional Intelligence

Thanks for reading! Grateful for your support.

In case you missed it, last week’s edition covered the art of enjoying imperfect days, how Americans are more likely to place a bet than read a book & more.

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See you in the next one,

Dimi

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