In the dynamic landscape of early-stage venture capital, Ascend Venture Capital has emerged as a success story born of discipline, innovation, and foresight. Since its inception in 2015, Ascend has not merely participated in the industry; it has sought to redefine the mission of venture capital through thematic investments and a principled approach to entrepreneurship and innovation. Here’s how it all started.
An Inside Look at Starting a Venture Capital Firm
The genesis of Ascend Venture Capital was an amalgamation of passion and grit. After garnering experience in the offshore energy sector and honing my skills in business school, I realized I wanted to have an impact on the channeling of resources toward technologies, people, and companies. However, I was confronted with the vexing catch-22 of venture capital: the difficulty of entering the field without an early-stage investing track record and the challenge of building one without an entry point into VC.
Unwilling to accept this impasse, I aimed to validate my hypothesis — that I possessed the acumen not only to enter the VC industry, but also to excel in it. This process entailed a rigorous self-education in financial modeling and valuation, the CFA charter, industry research, and volumetric deal review, laying the groundwork for what would become Ascend Venture Capital. It was in this process that I realized the capacity for ideas on a page to take shape and take flight, which became the basis for the Ascend origami avatar that graces our logo.
Once I was ready, I started making hypothetical investment decisions in startups I encountered, keeping track of their trajectories in a hypothetical “Fund 0.0.” Then, I began making actual investments in real startups, which would comprise Fund 1.0, Ascend’s first flagship fund, in 2015. As the first string of investments began to show promise, I became more and more satisfied in the burgeoning proof of my talent as a manager and raised Fund 2.0 in 2018, continuing to prove the hypothesis driving Ascend’s successful foray into venture capital.
Setting a New Mission for Venture Capital
At the heart of Ascend’s identity are our mission, vision, and values. Our mission — to deliver superior returns to our investors — is matched by a vision to excel as a premier early-stage venture capital firm. This is achieved through thematic, pre-Series A investments in tech companies poised to power industries as they undergo paradigm shifts. Further, our commitment to ethical venture capital practices is both a hallmark of our identity and a beacon for the industry, setting standards for integrity, professionalism, and market stewardship that drive long-term value creation.
As such, one of our goals is to establish standard principles through a voluntary code of conduct. The tenets of the code provide a guide to help decide what is and isn’t acceptable conduct. The core tenets of the code are to act ethically and with integrity, to prioritize investors’ interests over personal interests, to administer job obligations, to act professionally and encourage professional behavior in others, to fortify the integrity of capital markets, and to follow the rules that govern them, and to sustain and develop professional knowledge.
At Ascend, our team is united by this shared ethos and drive. We are characterized by our passion for technology, the thrill of navigating risk, the joy of discovering unexpected opportunities, and the privilege of collaborating with visionary entrepreneurs. Our culture is one of continuous learning, curiosity, future-oriented thinking, and mutual respect, reflecting our collective commitment to excellence and innovation.
Together, the Ascend team achieves a vision that is bigger than our individual job descriptions. As such, a shared set of core principles aligns each of us, comprising and reinforcing our competitive advantage. Every Ascend team member:
Is a forever learner.
Explores curiosity.
Ponders the future.
Has a voice and uses it.
Is of high character and integrity.
Does extraordinary, unexpected things for each other.
In Ascend’s pursuit of superior returns and widespread, positive impact, these principles play a prominent role in our everyday work. Questions, deep study, convictions, and new ideas are infused into our work, helping us find new opportunities and help businesses realize their potential.
Looking Back and Ahead on Venture Capital Performance
Ascend’s success stories, including extraordinary investments in companies like FreightWaves, Arbol, and OXIO, underscore our effective strategy of thesis creation, industry research, optimized selection, and strong founder relationships. Those three investments have generated outsize cash returns and multiples on invested capital to date. Of course, like any firm, we’ve made mistakes. The successes and the failures are lessons in the power of conviction and the importance of being open to learning from every venture, including those we choose not to pursue.
These lessons along the way have been legion. For instance, early in my career, I was hesitant about a company that worked with Chinese restaurants to standardize and aggregate their orders. After a colleague lectured me about his views on the Asian restaurant market, I decided to pass on the investment opportunity. That startup was Chowbus, a Series A company that serves millions of customers and has raised over $68 million from some of the industry’s top investors. It turns out, no one has a monopoly on being right.
Building on the momentum of our early funds’ successes, which have propelled Ascend to the top ranks of early-stage venture performance, Ascend is poised for continued growth and innovation. Our current chapter is centered on institutionalizing our investment decision-making processes and deepening our startup knowledge to maintain and enhance our industry leadership. This evolution involves not only scaling our operations, but also deepening the values and strategies that have underpinned our success thus far.
As we embark on raising the newest fund in our top-ranked flagship fund family (Fund 4.0), with a target of $50 million, we invite investors to join us at the forefront of the future of venture capital. This is an opportunity to be part of a journey that transcends traditional investment paradigms, offering outsize financial returns and the chance to shape the future of technology and innovation.
To those who envision a role in this transformative journey, we extend an invitation to explore the possibilities with Ascend Venture Capital. Connect with us to learn more about securing your place alongside a leader in early-stage venture capital before we open the fund to our broader network. Let’s ascend together.