Fred Wilson’s blog post on Dave McClure’s investment thesis a few weeks ago reminded me that I needed to do a better job on spelling out my own. I had done some preliminary work when I started W Media Ventures almost 3 years ago but it was very high-level only addressing the sector (consumer Internet), the investment size ($50K-$250K) and the geography (Pacific Northwest / Western Canada). As I have learned a thing or two since then, I now have a much better understanding what kind of entrepreneurs and ideas I want to invest into. So here is what I am looking for:

• Early-stage consumer internet / SaaS companies located in the Pacific Northwest / Western Canada. Geography is a must for leading a deal but I do co-investments outside of that area.
• Large addressable and capital efficient market: company addresses a large market (hundreds of $ millions +) and does not require more than $1-$3 million in funding to become a $25-$50 million (exit value) company
• Strong founder team with a visionary and passionate (yet coachable) CEO at the helm. Team must include at least one technical person who can actually build stuff.
• Differentiated product: no “me too’s” and strong technical focus
• Easy-to-understand business model that does not depend on scale and can generate revenues within 9-12 months from launch
• Initial traction with – at the minimum – an existing prototype/alpha version that is currently being challenged by users

In reality, no investor will ever only make deals that fit 100% with their investment thesis but it is important to have a consistent set of criteria against which investment opportunities can be benchmarked against. So here is mine, looking forward to feed-back!

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