collaborative fund

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A publication examining the evolution of mission driven businesses and impact investing funded by the leading source of venture capital for entrepreneurs pushing the world forward.

I, alongside my friends Zach Frechette and Atley Kasky, were hired by Collaborative Fund to create a new publication. Collaborative Fund is a venture capital firm with a simple investment thesis:

Mission driven businesses that can effectively align their business model with long term social impact will drive the greatest financial returns over the next decade and beyond. This macro economic shift is driven by younger consumers who are spending money on products and services that more closely align with their values.

Ten years ago, when collaborative was founded, this thesis was radical — doing good was seen as sacrificial to growth and returns. Today, pursuing a social mission plays a big role when attracting both customers and employees, and there are a number of mission driven funds. This evolution and maturation in the space of impact investing led Collaborative to want to create a publication to examine how far we have come and how far we have yet to go in re-imagining how progress meets profits. The publication is a collection of interviews with, and essays written by a wide spectrum of individuals from politicians, to founders, to investors. Some notable contributors include XXXX founder of B corp, SSSS mayor of Stockton, DDDDD manager of XYZ fund.

For those of you who don't get the opportunity to read Shared Future, let me summarize the key takeaway from my perspective — we need to reimagine how we measure success. Today we measure success by measuring profits, but it doesn't tell the whole picture. If you are generating profits in a way that is unsustainable for the environment, the community or the people who work in the company, eventually there is going to be a reckoning. In the publication we spend a lot of time discussing ESG, in short this is all about measuring and disclosing ones Environmental, Social and Governance impact. And a funny thing happens when you measure and disclose something — each time you disclose, you want to do a little better than you did last time, definitely not worse. So by pushing to standardize ESG and impact related disclosures the byproduct will be people becoming shy about their dirty operations and being forced to come clean all due to the power of transparency. Beyond just being better for the world, its better for you as well as a founder, investor, manager. You will reap the benefits of having a deeper understanding of your business — you wouldn't want to drive a car with just a speedometer... ideally you have a few more gauges that tell you how much gas you have in the tank, how hot you're running, etc. You get the point!

If you'd like a copy shoot me an email → marcelo@arturo.video

Enjoy some images of the publication below — I'm proud of it.