Investors, Technology, Partnerships, and the Four C Approach in Business
Robert Parker, Operating Partner from Golden Section, highlights the main benefits of partnering with a software provider like Southern Code. "We want to do right to the companies we work with and provide proven value-adds to them, proven solutions," explained Parker. Learn about the four C approaches they use in business.
As software experts, in Southern Code we enjoy creating together the best solutions in the market and that's not only about code. To boost businesses we also need stringing relationships, being your partner in looking for improvements, and becoming a confident voice in tech.
Golden Section is a venture capital firm with a purpose: to journey together with B2B software founders to achieve meaningful exits through flourishing communities and commitment to balance. In 2023, Southern Code and Golden Section signed a partnership deal and, as part of our year-end review, we asked Robert Parker some interesting aspects about this synergistic work experience. Among his recommendations for other Ventures, Parker explained their method of four Cs: capability, capacity, clarity, and high character.
-What interested you the most at the beginning of this partnership with Southern Code?
For us, specifically as investors, all of our investments are in B2B software, and we come from a background of expertise there, and so we have our own product services team. And we don't have tons of capabilities, but we have some, and we have some things that we think we do well. We are an investor first and foremost, but then secondarily we can be a service provider to our companies.
What we found is there are things that we cannot provide, that we don't fill the full space of, and then also sometimes as the investor, it's not best for the relationship always for us to be a service provider as well. And so that kind of kicked off our interest, and we want to develop some relationships with groups that we really think can be phenomenal partners to our portfolio companies. And yeah, that I guess is the kind of key initial interest. As I learned more about Southern Code, spoke to people who have worked with them, just continually heard great things and just took it from there.
-What do you think are the main benefits of this kind of partnership?
We want to do right by the companies we work with and want to provide proven value-adds to them, proven solutions. And so the benefit for us or the main benefits are that it's someone who we do think is proven in a space beyond our expertise. To find a vendor, to find somebody to work with, takes a lot of time and effort to vet someone and figure out if they're up to the caliber of what you're looking for. For us, it's an opportunity to provide a pre-vetted partner to somebody, and so it really speeds up that time. There are other things beyond that, but I really think that is the big one, right? The amount of time and effort that goes into looking at a number of options and not having confidence in. If you can eliminate the time there, the risk, that's a tremendous value and a big value add to our companies. That's the reason why we engaged in a partnership like this.
-What would be your recommendation for other ventures that might be taking similar steps or that might be starting to work with technology?
We think in terms of what we call the four C's of: for any vendor or really any service provider, we're always kind of looking for these four things. Do they have capability in this specific area we're looking for? Do they have capacity to serve us, serve our portfolio companies? Is there really clarity in their offering and specifics of what's provided? And lastly, probably most importantly, are they of high character? Are they going to really do right by our companies and people we introduce? And so, that's kind of our fundamental way of thinking about things. And I think that's one I would recommend, or a framework like that in terms of trying to evaluate someone or in looking into a partnership. I think it's one that's served us well.
-Is there anything that you might think or consider to pay attention to younger ventures or smaller ventures?
There are two things that come to mind. One is that we want to be looking for alignment and points of view, right? You don't want to be partnering with someone who is going to make recommendations that are really out of step with what you are after. That's a lesson we've learned. There are some times when someone's maybe a great service provider, but not for our particular type of company, right? And so that makes it maybe not a great fit. And the other thought would be the value in being able to do things like pilots and kind of test casing things, where there's opportunity to really trial things and get a sense if the fit is really there, it can also be really valuable.
If we refer to emerging technologies and disruptive trends, Parker said they have analysts and developers working to identify them, and they also use AI tools for evaluating potential investments, including ChatGPT.
-What strategies do your firm employ to support portfolio companies in scaling their technological infrastructure or innovation capabilities?
We do quarterly tech check ups and make sure the development is on track, infrastructure is still able to handle traffic. Based on some specific needs, we will provide our expertise to help them fulfill.
To close the interview, Parker considered that a tech partner is crucial for digital transformation. "Selecting the right tech partner, having the right future tech strategy will impact on the growth of the company", he said.