The General Partnership: Power for the builder
We are a VC firm of engineers, recruiters, designers, sales leaders, writers and product thinkers that deploy into the companies we partner with.
At The General Partnership, we invest both capital and sweat. Our sweat equity model embeds tenured builders into your company for months (or years) at a time. Because in the best partnerships, both sides do the work.
What is ‘sweat equity’ and how does it work at TheGP?
While we invest capital just like other firms, we also offer founders months of hands-on support from our deep bench of leaders who led talent, go-to-market, and product at companies like Stripe, YouTube, Square and more. When our team delivers work, we earn equity grants (‘sweat equity’).
Do founders always need to work with TheGP’s team?
No. Every partnership we enter with a founder is customized. Founders can choose to only use us for capital, and add a Talent/GTM/PDE “service agreement” as they see fit. To date, over 70% of our founders have engaged with services.
Do we ever deploy our team without taking capital?
Yes. A number of companies in our portfolio have taken us up on sweat equity to build the relationship prior to taking on capital.
How do sweat equity agreements work?
Whenever we enter a sweat equity agreement, we collaborate with the founder to design a written statement of work that clearly defines deliverables over a specific time frame.
Is there a limit to sweat equity agreements?
No.
How much time does TheGP typically spend inside portfolio companies?
On average, members of our team spend nine months dedicated to the companies we partner with.
What stage companies does TheGP invest in?
Our model works best with formation and breakout companies.
We define formation companies as pre-seed and seed stage, from pre-product market fit ideas to businesses that have an early indication of traction in the market. Our typical capital investment at this stage is between $1-$5 million, and we support founders with what they need across some combination of recruiting, product and engineering, and go-to-market. We also reserve capital to support the company as it grows. We also reserve capital to support the company as it scales.
We define breakout businesses as companies that have achieved product-market fit and are poised for substantial growth. These companies are typically not constrained by capital but require specific senior talent, technical expertise, or go-to-market optimization to win their market. As capital becomes a constraint down the line, we can expand our partnership to support further scale with investments ranging from $5-$15 million or more.