Popular Equity
mission statement
mission statement
Mission
Democratize equity markets by simplifying the traditional VC process, and by expanding the measures of success to include "good." Open a new capital market that includes artists/authors/creators, nonprofits, in addition to the more traditional businesses focused on future profits. Use the sustainable wealth generation of equity markets to align more ventures with the things people value.
Values
Build it for sustainable long-term growth, build it for your friends.
Why do this, now?
Equity markets are relatively new: only a few hundred years old. Venture funding is even younger, maybe only 50 years old. Together they provide access to wealth generation, they enable incredible progress, and they give investors opportunities to influence what work actually happens. With Popular Equity, subtle extensions streamline the VC process and extend this paradigm to ventures that generate value in the form of goodwill.Â
We're at a crossroads politically, environmentally, technically, and socially. Solutions and improvements to some of the most pressing problems around environment, disinformation, politics, healthcare, and homelessness and hunger are valuable to a huge array of investors, even though those solutions might not generate immediate profits. As a planet, we need to unleash the power of capital markets to help solve the most pressing problems, that aren't being solved efficiently by governments, nor by profit-based corporations.
Similarly, as society becomes increasingly automated, more people need to transition their work into doing things that help others, and that don't necessarily consume more resources, or even generate revenue. More of us need to be artists, musicians, and writers, and we need a new capital market to support and foster the kinds of creativity that many of us value.
Why this team?
This team includes successful entrepreneurs and tech researchers. As investors we understand the influence of capital markets on what work actually gets done, and as tech researchers we have expertise automating planet-scale systems that interact statistically with large populations. We've internalized the non-zero-sum thinking that's made each of us successful, and we understand the potential benefits of disruptive changes.
As entrepreneurs we understand the frictions and inefficiencies in the current seed capital process. As people and artists and volunteers, we understand how undercapitalized arts and nonprofits are. The best way to help everyone might be to get the funding fixed first.
Comments: mission@popularequity.com