Will you invest in my company?
We actively manage and maintain governance control over our portfolio companies in the initial years of operations. If you already have a company, then you are too late for us. When we say we come in early, we mean it.
Do you provide consulting services?
We are not consultants. We solely co-found companies and actively manage them. We’re a friendly group, though. If you are in the Baltimore region, you shouldn’t hesitate to call us or stop in for some free advice.
How much will you invest?
We provide our portfolio companies with a line of credit that is matched to the needs of the company and its ability to repay. Since we are generally the super majority owners of the company, the LoC is a more appropriate financing instrument
How do you manage so many companies?
We have fewer businesses under management than many Fortune 500 companies have business units. Like the Fortune 500 C-suite, our senior management sets strategy, allocates resources, provides mentorship, builds partnerships, and presents to the public. Then our associates act like business unit managers, but all on a smaller, much easier to manage, scale.
Doesn't a startup need 100% time commitment?
There’s this storyline of the lone entrepreneur that mortgages the house, borrows from friends and family, fights against all the odds, and occasionally (but rarely) prevails. When it works, it makes great headlines and builds the myth that doing it that way is a good idea. When it fails, it’s hidden from sight and people just write off the entrepreneur as a failure. We know that model is dumb. Having a highly skilled team with established processes and institutional knowledge gained through building businesses over and over enables us to get a company up, running, and funded in a fraction of the time and with almost no risk.
What is your exit strategy?
We’re all about building sustainable businesses. We don’t consider who is going to buy us out or how we are going to IPO for the first three years of operations. We choose the right path based on the character of a business. In some cases, this means restructuring the business to accept venture capital. In other cases, it means creating a strategic partnership with a potential acquirer. And in many cases, it means putting in place a long-term, full-time management team to generate revenue and profits.
I'm the inventor - why should I give you a majority of my business?
We deeply appreciate the sense of ownership our inventor partners have in their inventions. They are, in most cases, products of their life’s work. So, it’s not always easy to understand that the invention itself has almost no economic value, even though it has tremendous intellectual value. To transform the invention into economic value requires many millions of dollars, lots of iterations with customers that often result in a totally different invention, and many other efforts.
It's my invention- why don't I just run the business myself?
Simply put, you can do everything we can do. It will take you a lot longer and you’ll make a lot of mistakes. But if you want to run a business, then you should. If you’re excited about learning how to engage with customers, raise funding, keep the books, meet state employment regulations, negotiate intellectual property agreements, comply with federal procurement laws, and a lot more, then you should absolutely go for it. We all did the same at one time or another. You could, of course, not bother to learn those skills and instead hire people to do them after you raise a big bucket of cash first. We strongly recommend against this approach, but give it a try if you want. Doing is the best way to learn!
Will you invest in my company?
We actively manage and maintain governance control over our portfolio companies in the initial years of operations. If you already have a company, then you are too late for us. When we say we come in early, we mean it.
Do you provide consulting services?
We are not consultants. We solely co-found companies and actively manage them. We’re a friendly group, though. If you are in the Baltimore region, you shouldn’t hesitate to call us or stop in for some free advice.
How much do you invest?
Almost all our investing happens within Early Charm, not within our portfolio companies. This allows us to optimize dozens of field experts across our portfolio. With everyone employed through us, we are able to work “assembly–line” fast.
How do you manage so many companies?
We have fewer businesses under management than many Fortune 500 companies have business units. Like the Fortune 500 C-suite, our senior management sets strategy, allocates resources, provides mentorship, builds partnerships, and presents to the public. Then our associates act like business unit managers, but all on a smaller, much easier to manage, scale.
Doesn't a startup need 100% time commitment?
There’s this storyline of the lone entrepreneur that mortgages the house, borrows from friends and family, fights against all the odds, and occasionally (but rarely) prevails. When it works, it makes great headlines and builds the myth that doing it that way is a good idea. When it fails, it’s hidden from sight and people just write off the entrepreneur as a failure. We know that model is dumb. Having a highly skilled team with established processes and institutional knowledge gained through building businesses over and over enables us to get a company up, running, and funded in a fraction of the time and with almost no risk.
What is your exit strategy?
We’re all about building sustainable businesses. We don’t consider who is going to buy us out or how we are going to IPO for the first three years of operations. We choose the right path based on the character of a business. In some cases, this means restructuring the business to accept venture capital. In other cases, it means creating a strategic partnership with a potential acquirer. And in many cases, it means putting in place a long-term, full-time management team to generate revenue and profits.
I am the inventor- why should I give you the majority of my business?
We deeply appreciate the sense of ownership our inventor partners have in their inventions. They are, in most cases, products of their life’s work. So, it’s not always easy to understand that the invention itself has almost no economic value, even though it has tremendous intellectual value. To transform the invention into economic value requires many millions of dollars, lots of iterations with customers that often result in a totally different invention, and many other efforts.
I am the inventor- why don't I run the business myself?
Simply put, you can do everything we can do. It will take you a lot longer and you’ll make a lot of mistakes. But if you want to run a business, then you should. If you’re excited about learning how to engage with customers, raise funding, keep the books, meet state employment regulations, negotiate intellectual property agreements, comply with federal procurement laws, and a lot more, then you should absolutely go for it. We all did the same at one time or another. You could, of course, not bother to learn those skills and instead hire people to do them after you raise a big bucket of cash first. We strongly recommend against this approach, but give it a try if you want. Doing is the best way to learn!
