Today's Date
We begin from the premise that our country is facing enormous challenges.
Our healthcare system is broken. Our population is aging. The climate is changing. Our energy systems are outmoded. The global balance of power is shifting.
We believe that the entrepreneurs who succeed in addressing these challenges will, in so doing, build the companies that define our generation.
We believe that the entrepreneurs who succeed in addressing these challenges will, in so doing, build the companies that define our generation.
And we believe that the entrepreneurs who are able to work constructively with government will enjoy asymmetric advantages in their efforts to win.
This view of government is in sharp contrast to the status quo. When most venture capitalists think about government, they envision the frustrating red tape, the endless forms, the complex compliance requirements. But where other investors see government as an obstacle to be overcome, we see an opportunity to be seized.
It is a striking feature of contemporary American politics that important parts of the two major political parties no longer fight about whether to intervene in markets, but about how to intervene.
Over the past twenty years—across Democratic and Republican Administrations—the federal government has reshaped energy, health, finance, trade, and manufacturing. Many entrepreneurs believe that this deepening role of government in the US economy will slow down—if not undermine—our country’s ability to solve these problems. While we do not dismiss certain legitimate concerns about the impact government can have on markets, we also believe that, if handled properly, government’s engagement presents an enormous opportunity.
For entrepreneurs who are building companies that matter for America, government can lend a helping hand.
In-Q-Tel was a key early funder of Palantir. Tesla used an early loan from the Department of Energy to scale. SpaceX’s business is built around NASA contracts. In fact, Commonweal’s study of every venture-backed unicorn of the past twenty years found that 24% of venture-backed unicorns were jumpstarted via some form of government support.
Governments make for powerful partners.
They have access to proprietary data; they determine market standards; they confer legitimacy on partners; they have the sole power to tax, police, and regulate; they can have a high tolerance for financial risk; they invest in fundamental research; they have unique institutions, like the military, intelligence agencies, and national laboratories; and they have differentiated scale, stability, and outlook.
The right business models can tap into these unique qualities of governments to establish brand credibility, accelerate growth, capture large and stable revenue streams, and build powerful and defensible networks.
In some cases, that means selling into government. In other cases, it means taking advantage of shifts in public policy that reshape markets, securing public funding, solving complex regulatory challenges for enterprise customers, or using partnership with government as a wedge into highly regulated markets.
The key for entrepreneurs is understanding how to partner effectively with government in support of their ventures.
Governments have their own priorities. They represent the general good—the commonweal.
Successful partnerships with government depend on aligning values and mission.
Through decades of experience and our national team of former high-ranking public officials, Commonweal helps our founders harness the strengths of government to build category-winning companies.
Successful partnerships with government depend on aligning values and mission.
Through decades of experience and our national team of former high-ranking public officials, Commonweal helps our founders harness the strengths of government to build category-winning companies.
