Vision Ventures invests in early stage new media and software businesses. The firm was founded in 2007 and is based in New York City. It is the brainchild of David Honig, an experienced digital media operator and investor.

David founded Vision with these basic tenets:

• Proactively uncover tenacious, audacious, potentially market-shaping companies
• Partner with entrepreneurs who don’t spend loads of time talking with VC’s. They spend their time managing a business that is growing faster than they thought
• Determine investment size based on what a company needs, not on what a fund size requires
• Back the entrepreneur like a venturepreneur - jump into the trench alongside the company to realize succes

 

<Investment Strategy>

Vision looks for companies that have:

Product-oriented Founder DNA: True product insight is irreplaceable. You know what your customer needs…you yourself are probably the target customer. Maybe you left your job at a big company because it was obvious to you what they were doing wrong. Perhaps you discovered a pain point in your daily life and took matters into your own hands to solve it. Whatever the cause, the result is that Vision looks for entrepreneurs who know what their customer needs, and have the creativity to devise a clever product that addresses it.

Some Initial Validation: A few trees can already be heard falling in your forest. The business has some traction to (proudly) point to. VC’s hold many theories as to why some start-ups gain momentum and why others don’t. Execution. Timing. Workflow. Business Model. Who knows. In the end, it’s all theory. To this day, we still don’t really know why consumers behave the way they do. We do know that consumption patterns change and evolve, yielding dislocation and opportunity. Vision prefers to back companies that have generated at least dollar one and user one. We can then talk about the strategy for repeating making a dollar many (many) times over.

Lean and Mean Operations: It’s a thrill watching a business grow right out of a basement. Humble offices. Scrappy disposition. It is not that expensive to run your business. A little capital goes a long way.

Not Just a Cool App, But a Business: The two are not the same. At times, one is confused for the other. We select for innovation + a sensible business model.

A Real Shot at Changing a Market: Big players have blind spots. Some market incumbents rest on their laurels. Maybe a new market is just bubbling up now and you have an unfair competitive advantage up your sleeve. Whatever it is, your business has the potential to shake up the apple cart with creative construction. You have the kind of business that will inevitably be flattered by cheap imitators.

 

<Venturepreneurship>

If we become partners, if you choose to have Vision as part of your team, it means I am with you, shoulder to shoulder. I am down with your mission, and I pour my full wherewithal into seeing your business succeed. I want to. I have to.

Why? Because I am a venture capitalist and an entrepreneur. A venturepreneur. Just like you, I too am building a business – Vision Ventures. I know your pain and I know your joy that comes with growing a company. You are plowing your personal sweat and equity capital into your company as I am into mine. If you succeed, I succeed.

Having helped companies recruit talent, prioritize new initiatives, craft presentations, access new customers, build an advisory board, create user acquisition algorithms, arrange strategic introductions, and coach entrepreneurs on exits, your team gains the guidance of experience, operational support, and an aggressive, persistent champion of your cause.

No elaborate VC dog and pony show. Just alignment and genuine commitment.

Find out what Vision’s own CEO’s and founders have to say.