We recently connected with Seth Levine and have shared our conversation below.

Seth, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

I’ve always believed in the idea of giving back and subscribed to the notion that companies are created in part as the result of the communities in which they operate. In 2014, I helped to found a non-profit based on these principles, Pledge 1%. My venture firm, Foundry, has been a member since its inception (and before that donated a portion of profits to charity through another organization). Pledge 1% helps companies of every size and stage leverage their unique assets by pledging 1% of equity, product, profit, and/or employee time to their communities.

Since our founding, Pledge has signed up nearly 20,000 companies and has been the catalyst for more than $2 billion in gifts to local non-profits. I couldn’t have imagined this level of impact when we started the organization ten years ago, but we’re just getting started (and the embedded equity value that has already been pledged through the org but has not yet resulted in cash back to the community non-profits is massive).

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We launched Foundry in 2007 with an aim to help prove that venture capital could thrive outside the two coasts of the U.S., where it had a long-standing stronghold. We also wanted to create a different type of venture firm – one with a smaller, more nimble team and one where the partners were immersed in the day-to-day work of research and portfolio management. We committed ourselves to a #givefirst mentality and have always seen ourselves as part of a larger mission to grow Boulder’s startup ecosystem. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to achieve and for the role we’ve played in advancing the venture ecosystem and Colorado as a startup community over the past nearly 20 years.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

All of the partners at Foundry have had an important role in fostering the goals I mentioned above. Many of us are avid writers, having published books and posting frequently on our blogs. One of the main themes of our writing has been demystifying venture capital and investing by delving into the inner workings of both. Many would-be entrepreneurs and investors are intimated, and one of our objectives as a firm has always been to support people in their goals rather than throwing a veil over what we do, as many venture and investment firms have done in the past. It’s not an unusual perspective in venture today but when we started out, we were one of the first firms to approach our work in this way. We’ve gotten a lot of feedback over the years about how helpful this has been for entrepreneurs and investors who were just starting out. I like to think that we were instrumental in pushing the narrative of how venture capital operates in new direction – one that is more beneficial to all of its stakeholders.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Too many to list – I read a lot! Below are a handful that readers might find worthwhile:

Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital by Carlota Perez
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less by Leidy Klotz
The New Builders: Face to Face with the True Future of Business by Seth Levine (me!) and Elizabeth McBride

Look for my new book about the evolution of capitalism, coming out next year!

Contact Info:

• Website: ​​https://www.sethlevine.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethjlevine/
• Twitter: @sether
• Other: https://foundry.vc/
  https://thenewbuilders.com/

Image Credits

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