3 ms·

Calm Company Fund: Five Years In

73 points by sebg 3y ago

erlend_sh 3y ago
I believe this fund is highly aligned with commercial open source software companies that want to solve real problems instead of chasing hype. Very happy to see an update from them. After a year of radio silence I was beginning to imagine the worst, and I didn’t feel confident referring founders to them.
- x0x0 3y ago
  you probably shouldn't refer founders An acquaintance (serious person, real company, great career, etc) just got completely ignored by Calm. Like didn't even respond to the submission. Dunno what they're doing, but it ain't being serious.
  - EchoChamberMan 3y ago
    Does that logic apply to companies who give workers applying for jobs no response?
  - LikeAnElephant 3y ago
    Sorry for your friend, but this is what you call anecdotal evidence.
  - AlchemistCamp 3y ago
    The post speaks of a bottleneck. When a post goes viral and a flood of applications comes in, the number of Tylers remains at one. The queue just gets unmanageably long. It's definitely not ideal, but your acquaintance shouldn't take it personally.
    - Atotalnoob 3y ago
      That doesn’t mean you should ignore the applicants. Provide a queue, say “we are working on it”, etc.
    - x0x0 3y ago
      YC manages 1000x the volume and manages to respond. It's a lack of professionalism or a lack of competence, pick your poison.
  - yumraj 3y ago
    That’s how investors work, nothing new. Ghosting can happen at any stage, even after what may feel like a good pitch. On the other hand if they actually get back and provide feedback, in case of a no, make a note of that investor as they are probably one of the nicer one.
AlchemistCamp 3y ago
I'm glad I had the chance to invest in Calm, thanks to the crowdfunding round. I'm big believer in both the vision and what Tyler and team have been getting done. I've heard nothing but good things from bootstrappers who decided to and were then able to raise from them.
ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
What is the rate of return?
AndrewKemendo 3y ago
I just don’t buy it anymore I’ve seen it all: * Impact funds * ESG funds * “Founder Friendly” funds * Benefit Corp funds * Veteran Funds * Non-Profit fund * OpenSource Funds Guess what? They are all the same as “Only profit matters” funds Why? Because it’s the same limited partners funding these funds, and it’s the same set of 2000 people who have all the money and the absolute last thing they want to do is have less of it. Anything that’s not a down the line Gordon Gekko/Axe cap fund is at best diversification, and at worst a tax buffer or slush fund. There is no way to both play in the world of capitalism and also benefit the people who are actually building it, because the act itself takes away the ownership from the actual employees who are creating the value in the first place. It is literally zero sum because there’s an equity pool at the founding that is - at every funding round - made less and less relevant as owners. Note, I said owners, not how much their “equity” is worth in their Schwab account. I genuinely believe the fund founders think they are doing a good thing. I know some of these fund founders and they genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing but “the practicalities of the market” are such that fucking people out of ownership “they have no choice. They have to return something to their LPs.” By nature, there is no other possible action investment capital can take but literally theft from the employees creating value via “dilution.” We just had this conversation the other day about liquidation preferences etc…nobody is fooled at this point at what is going on
- troydavis 3y ago
  I’m an LP in all of Calm’s funds. At the time I invested (and still today), I didn’t care about returns as long as they made progress towards the goal - namely, helping more people start successful businesses who wouldn’t otherwise be able to. Thar said, the funds are performing well. As an LP, I’m happy with the returns even independent of the goal. I didn’t know Tyler until I read https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18338665 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18338665 on HN. At the time, Calm was called Earnest Capital. I emailed him and ended up investing (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19154082 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19154082).
  - AndrewKemendo 3y ago
    So if they did that and you returned less than the NSDQ you’re going to throw in for the next capital call? And this is your primary holdings as an LP? Everyone’s friendly when there’s good times
1oooqooq 3y ago
on one point they say they are returning faster than the predicted 5yrs, but they exist for five years .. so what's what?

73 points by sebg 3y ago

I believe this fund is highly aligned with commercial open source software companies that want to solve real problems instead of chasing hype. Very happy to see an update from them. After a year of radio silence I was beginning to imagine the worst, and I didn’t feel confident referring founders to them.

x0x0 3y ago
you probably shouldn't refer founders An acquaintance (serious person, real company, great career, etc) just got completely ignored by Calm. Like didn't even respond to the submission. Dunno what they're doing, but it ain't being serious.
- EchoChamberMan 3y ago
  Does that logic apply to companies who give workers applying for jobs no response?
- LikeAnElephant 3y ago
  Sorry for your friend, but this is what you call anecdotal evidence.
- AlchemistCamp 3y ago
  The post speaks of a bottleneck. When a post goes viral and a flood of applications comes in, the number of Tylers remains at one. The queue just gets unmanageably long. It's definitely not ideal, but your acquaintance shouldn't take it personally.
  - Atotalnoob 3y ago
    That doesn’t mean you should ignore the applicants. Provide a queue, say “we are working on it”, etc.
  - x0x0 3y ago
    YC manages 1000x the volume and manages to respond. It's a lack of professionalism or a lack of competence, pick your poison.
- yumraj 3y ago
  That’s how investors work, nothing new. Ghosting can happen at any stage, even after what may feel like a good pitch. On the other hand if they actually get back and provide feedback, in case of a no, make a note of that investor as they are probably one of the nicer one.

AlchemistCamp 3y ago

I'm glad I had the chance to invest in Calm, thanks to the crowdfunding round. I'm big believer in both the vision and what Tyler and team have been getting done. I've heard nothing but good things from bootstrappers who decided to and were then able to raise from them.

ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago

What is the rate of return?

AndrewKemendo 3y ago

I just don’t buy it anymore I’ve seen it all: * Impact funds * ESG funds * “Founder Friendly” funds * Benefit Corp funds * Veteran Funds * Non-Profit fund * OpenSource Funds Guess what? They are all the same as “Only profit matters” funds Why? Because it’s the same limited partners funding these funds, and it’s the same set of 2000 people who have all the money and the absolute last thing they want to do is have less of it. Anything that’s not a down the line Gordon Gekko/Axe cap fund is at best diversification, and at worst a tax buffer or slush fund. There is no way to both play in the world of capitalism and also benefit the people who are actually building it, because the act itself takes away the ownership from the actual employees who are creating the value in the first place. It is literally zero sum because there’s an equity pool at the founding that is - at every funding round - made less and less relevant as owners. Note, I said owners, not how much their “equity” is worth in their Schwab account. I genuinely believe the fund founders think they are doing a good thing. I know some of these fund founders and they genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing but “the practicalities of the market” are such that fucking people out of ownership “they have no choice. They have to return something to their LPs.” By nature, there is no other possible action investment capital can take but literally theft from the employees creating value via “dilution.” We just had this conversation the other day about liquidation preferences etc…nobody is fooled at this point at what is going on

troydavis 3y ago
I’m an LP in all of Calm’s funds. At the time I invested (and still today), I didn’t care about returns as long as they made progress towards the goal - namely, helping more people start successful businesses who wouldn’t otherwise be able to. Thar said, the funds are performing well. As an LP, I’m happy with the returns even independent of the goal. I didn’t know Tyler until I read https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18338665 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18338665 on HN. At the time, Calm was called Earnest Capital. I emailed him and ended up investing (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19154082 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19154082).
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  So if they did that and you returned less than the NSDQ you’re going to throw in for the next capital call? And this is your primary holdings as an LP? Everyone’s friendly when there’s good times

1oooqooq 3y ago

on one point they say they are returning faster than the predicted 5yrs, but they exist for five years .. so what's what?