Debt 2.0 + Equity Funding Grows Up to Become Risk Capital The traditional debt and equity structures of Funding 1.0 are sound options for locality businesses and whaling expeditions. Every day, one of these types of businesses gets started with the help of a traditional debt or equity funder. This…

When GCVF was conceived in 2017, we seemed a bit crazy. Thankfully, a top-tier group of advisors, investors, and community champions came together to assure us that we were the good kind of crazy. With their support, we embarked on a venture capital model for rural America, which we affectionately…

Think of a company that sells its products on the internet. What brands come to mind? Annoyingly, it takes real mental effort to think beyond the likes of Apple, Casper, and Peloton. These are all enormous public companies that depict an extreme form of ecommerce. For example, Casper’s groundbreaking IPO…

Plus: Better Markets; Transaction Costs Are Dead In the last post, we established two basic business models and the two basic financing options. Locality businesses sell to the customers geographically surrounding them. Their straightforward sales models and tangible assets often make them a good fit for a simple loan with…

A Crude History of the Debt-Equity Paradigm I still remember the “Intro to Business” class where I learned the two ways to fund a company–debt and equity. This seemed really rudimentary to me–insultingly “intro” level. Those can’t be the only ways? That is so lazy! Having now invested in over 50 companies (yes, with mostly equity), I…

Any company located in rural Colorado and serving customers well beyond its locality has until June 18th to apply for over $1,300,000 in available investment through the Greater Colorado Pitch Series. In 2020, the inaugural event drew in nearly one hundred applicants from 24 different Colorado communities for a chance…

Written in collaboration with Liz Giorgi, Co-Founder + CEO @ soona (@lizgiorgi) Over the 2020 summer, Kokopelli Capital surveyed our portfolio, asking our founders how they felt about their company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). While we’re proud of the diversity amongst our portfolio, this survey showed that we, like…

As a founder, you will meet hundreds of people who want to see you succeed. They can come from your friends, family, random coffee meetings (when there is not a pandemic), fortuitous email intros, ‘get to know you’ zoom meetings, conferences, and everything in between. These are allies to you…

>> Download the full report here. GCVF operates like a startup. 2020 marked our first major ‘product release’ – the Greater Colorado Pitch Series. As is our goalsetting dogma, we had one ‘primary goal’ —source at least one incredible founder team to invest in. …