GoodCompany Ventures

NYC Launch a Success!

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Jason in 2010 Incubator

Part of promoting social entrepreneurs is getting the word out about the importance of investing in the types businesses that GoodCompany incubates. Last week we hosted an event at the TriBeCa, NY offices of Green Spaces that brought together some of the top minds in early stage and social investing. Our “panel” of speakers included Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, Jacqueline Novogratz of the Acumen Fund, Roger Ehrenberg of IA Venture Strategies and Jacob Gray from Murex Investments. Scott Edward Anderson, aka “The Green Skeptic,” facilitated a lively discussion between the panelists and those attending.

The atmosphere was loose and conversational, and important questions arose about the value (positive and negative) of the “social” label, the need for metrics to determine social return, and how to truly assess the value of an enterprise by balancing long term impact with the need to maximize returns. While Jacqueline Novogratz is known for her socially focused investments, getting “traditional” VCs like Fred and Roger talking about the potential for venture capital to meet social needs only highlighted the growing importance of GoodCompany’s work.

It was particularly encouraging to hear the audience’s enthusiastic reaction to the quick pitches of four GoodCompany graduates: Black Gold Biofuels, Couchange, CalendarFly, and PublicStuff. We asked them to shorten their standard presentations to five minutes, and showcase their companies before the panel got started.

The evening laid the foundations for new relationships in the NY area, and did a lot to promote GoodCompany as a leader in the social incubation space. It was an extremely positive first step for our 2010 launch. We hope to have video and photos of the event up soon, and Roger Ehrenberg had a follow up post on his blog which can provide a more in depth discussion of the evening’s topics

Of course an event like this could not have happened without volunteers who helped make the evening run smoothly. Tamar Haberfeld and Stephanie Grodin from the NYU Stern Social Enterprise Association, social entrepreneur Irene Tamaru, and Christopher Conway from Green T Digital provided invaluable assistance over the course of the night.

Thanks again to everyone who participated, we hope to have more events like this soon.