VC platforms began appearing on the investment scene around the year 2013, but not all VC firms were on board. Over the years, platforms have become more widespread among VC firms, and today, they are essential for both VC investors and founders.
At Golden Section, we’ve evolved past the traditional VC platform. Whereas some venture capital firms offer platforms, we offer Guide Services.
Guide Services can be a valuable asset to you if:
● You’re tired of spending hours researching “how to…”
● You want to maximize your time in revenue driving functions
● You want to utilize the wisdom of those who have exit-ed before
● You don’t want to go on this journey alone
Intrigued? Read on to learn more!
What is a VC Platform?
Platforms are a way for VC firms to offer a little (or a lot) extra to their portfolio companies. VC platforms vary by firm, but the general idea is that they provide ongoing support and services to founders post-investment.
Every VC firm that offers a platform has its own unique twist on the matter. Ongoing support and services can include, but are not limited to finding talent, business development, operations, marcom, community, and events.
What Do We Bring to the Table?
As for us, we’ve identified several key areas that our Guide Services team adds proven value to:
- Founder Strategic Assistance: Dedicated and ongoing strategic & tactical support by one of our Founder Success Analysts.
- Founder Pool: Opportunity to vest into profit sharing interest of entire Golden Section Portfolio.
- Founder Strategic Travel: 3+ offsites for founders to engage in strategic planning & learning
- Golden Section Partner Network: Connections to vetted expert advisors, service providers & solutions through our curated network of Venture & Strategic Partners
- Workforce Planning & Recruiting: Org Chart Strategy & Recruiting Execution (up to 4 placements per year)
- Golden Section Resources: Access to documentation of 200+ proprietary best practices, mistakes to avoid, case studies
- Benchmarking: Access to analysis of company-specific performance within the Golden Section Portfolio and as noted by broader SaaS Surveying Tools.
For some investments, Guide Services is required to help our founders focus on what truly matters: revenue. For others, it’s an optional (and recommended) value add-on that can maximize capital efficiency and value creation leading to your meaningful exit.
Why Go with Golden Section?
At Golden Section, we pride ourselves on bringing out the human side of VC. We understand that founders are people who are often lacking in certain areas: money, guidance, community, a support team, and more. We get to know each founder and what they need so that we can fill whatever lack they have.
Toward this end, our Guide Services amount to so much more than a VC platform—it’s our version of the partnership we wish we had on our first journeys building B2B SaaS companies towards their exits. Luckily for you, we learned some hard lessons that helped us identify what not to do, what to focus on, and when, throughout the founder’s journey.
But don’t take our word for it.
Many VC firms use marketing language to attract customers and make promises, but at Golden Section, we don’t ask that you jump in with blind faith. Below is a testimonial from one of our partners.
“Since joining Golden Section Studios, our development work has rapidly ramped up and the team, which spans the US, Europe, China and Mexico, have been super organized and efficient, and great fun to work with!
The Studios team have also facilitated amazing introductions into US healthcare systems in Texas Medical Center, including Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist. The team have held an extremely helpful session around strategic development, with focus on the weight and priority of key development areas, which helped us hone our focus.
We absolutely love our Founder Success Manager, Taylor, too – she’s really diligent, extremely thoughtful, hard-working and has made insightful introductions to fellow portfolio founders too. We’re really excited to kick-off in the Studios now and for the path ahead journeying together.”
–Dr Rachael Grimaldi, Co-Founder & CEO | CardMedic®
Growing Together
Seeking support in the post-investment stage may once have been unheard of, but today it’s common practice to choose VC firms based on their value-add services. Submit our due diligence form here to find out how we provide custom-tailored post-investment support to the founders we invest in.
