Cash is cool but is it enough... ?
Discover Origins’ Value Add... our LP's
As VC investors, our job is divided into 4 key activities. Think of them as jobs within a job:
Sourcing: Finding the best companies to invest in using multiple channels and networks to scout emerging founders across industries.
Picking: Analyzing sourced opportunities to select the right companies to invest in and support.
Winning: Convincing founders to accept us as investors, leveraging the fund's reputation and the value we bring to companies as they scale.
Servicing: Supporting our portfolio companies to add the most value, ensuring their growth and success.
In this article, I would like to delve into servicing and how we at Origins support our portfolio companies.
Today, while most VC funds excel at sourcing and picking, it's a different ball game when it comes to winning and servicing.
However, at Origins, we believe that excelling at servicing is key to winning deals and building strong relationships with our founders.
In the world of venture capital, cash has now become a commodity.
Founders now seek smart money, where investors add value through knowledge, experience, access, and influence. However, VCs often fail to deliver on these promises, damaging relationships and making it harder for funds to build their brand and win deals.
“90% of VCs add no value to startups, 70% even harm them.”
-Vinod Khosla
To understand what real value add means, let's take a look at what founders are really looking for in investors.
What founders look for in investors
Surveys show a gap between what VCs think founders value and what founders actually value in investors. Founders prioritize:
Alignment of vision/purpose (36%)
Access to relevant network (28%)
Chemistry with partner (28%)
Industry or thematic expertise (22%)
Ability to participate in future rounds (19%)
Support for international expansion (16%)
VCs often overestimate the importance of their reputation, early relationship-building, and industry expertise. This misalignment stems from a lack of a founder-driven perspective and poor time allocation between investing and servicing.
The overestimation of Impact by VCs
VCs often overestimate their impact. For instance, in recruitment, 60% of VCs rated their impact as critical, but only 31% of founders agreed. In introductions and marketing, 54% of VCs saw their role as crucial, compared to 27% of founders. For growth and management, 50% of VCs believed their impact was significant, while only 24% of founders concurred. In follow-on financing, 48% of VCs rated their contribution as crucial, but just 19% of founders agreed.
This clear disparity in perceived and actual value add makes it challenging for VC funds to win competitive deals and perform well in servicing their portfolio companies.
We wanted to change the game.
Origins' winning formula of servicing
At Origins, we try to excel in sourcing, picking, winning, and servicing. Our pool of athletes and celebrity LPs, with over 160 million social media followers, offers a unique advantage to our portfolio founders. We leverage this influence-driven approach to boost startups and create impactful marketing campaigns.
By being the ‘coolest’ and most dedicated investor on the cap table, we stand out from traditional VC funds as partners, advisors, and champions for our portfolio companies.
This strategy allows us to participate in competitive deals and build trust with founders.
How we operate: We usually invest in pre-seed / seed and wait until the company has reached product-market fit and is ready to benefit from extra visibility.
We then, work on a specific marketing campaign to create brand awareness on the company.
Here are some examples and results of the marketing campaigns we’ve put together for our portfolio companies:
Use Case #1:
Company: Moka.Care - The digital-first mental health platform for corporate teams.
Situation: Moka.Care needed to produce engaging content for its mental health solution for corporate teams. The goal was to build attractive content to incentivize employees to join the platform and benefit from its mental health-focused ecosystem. To do so Moka.Care decided to explore the topic of mental health in the world of sports.
Task: Origins identified 6 legendary athlete LPs to create individual Podcast interviews of 1h45 minutes with each of them. In this podcast series, we wanted to do a deep dive on mental health - to get into the mind of champions, understand what helped them get to where they are and how they overcame difficult moments. The goal was to address a taboo subject in the world of sport, by using highly influential champions to raise awareness about the importance of mental wellbeing.
Action: Origins organized the podcasts with Blaise Matuidi, Yohan Benalouane, Antoine Dupont, Mamadou Sakho, Léo Dubois and Moussa Sissoko across the globe. Each podcast was then published on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music.
Results:
Podcast in France Apple Podcasts top 10. Featured on Apple Podcasts front page as “coup de coeur”
Over time, the Podcast Series “The Mind’s Underside” grew at a 20-50% monthly growth rate.
>20k listens per episode.
Use Case #2:
Company: Upway - the marketplace for reconditioned e-bikes
Situation: Upway aimed to promote their electric bikes by leveraging the popularity of athletes and the familiar concept of "GOAT" (Greatest of All Time). The goal was to create engaging content that would resonate with both soccer fans and cycling enthusiasts, driving awareness and increasing their following on social media.
Task: Origins collaborated with Upway to produce a campaign called “Project G.e.OAT: Greatest (e-bike) Of All Time.” The task was to have seven renowned athletes answer rapid-fire questions to determine their ideal electric bike. The objective was to mix the world of soccer with that of cycling, attracting a wide audience and boosting Upway's social media presence.
Action: Origins organized the participation of seven prominent athletes: Blaise Matuidi, Yohan Benalouane, Presnel Kimpembe, Olivier Giroud, Riccardo Pereira, Nampalys Mendy, and Kevin Gameiro. The campaign featured these athletes in engaging video content, which was shared widely across Instagram and Facebook by all parties involved. The videos captured the athletes' personalities and preferences, making the content both relatable and entertaining.
Results:
The campaign successfully achieved significant milestones by generating an 8% increase in Upway’s following within just 15 days
Reaching the followership of each athlete accounting for between 256K to 5.5M followers.
Press articles written about the campaign (example 1, example 2…)
Use Case #3:
Company: Stadium Live - The world-class sports platform for the next generation of sports & culture fans.
Situation: Stadium Live aimed to create engaging content around the FIFA World Cup 2022 to drive awareness and user engagement for their products. This was the first World Cup featured on Stadium Live, and they wanted to maximize the impact of this global event.
Task: Origins collaborated with Stadium Live to identify three athlete LPs to produce and share video content focusing on soccer and World Cup trivia. The goal was to leverage the popularity and influence of these athletes to amplify Stadium Live's presence and engage a wider audience.
Action: Origins coordinated with the athletes to create and distribute engaging trivia content. The videos were published across popular social media platforms, Instagram and TikTok, to ensure maximum reach and engagement. The content highlighted various aspects of the World Cup, aiming to attract both existing soccer fans and new users to Stadium Live's platform.
Results: The campaign was highly successful, achieving significant milestones:
Over 1.6 million views on the videos.
108% increase in Android installs.
25% increase in iOS installs.
More than 200,000 impressions.
Over 70,000 likes on the content to date.
This strategic collaboration not only boosted Stadium Live's user base but also significantly increased engagement with their platform during the World Cup.
Use Case #4:
Company: Undisclosed
Situation: The company needed to improve their B2B outreach efforts to increase response and conversion rates. Traditional outreach methods were yielding a low response rate of around 1%.
Task: Origins aimed to enhance the company B2B outreach by leveraging the influence of our legendary athlete LPs. The objective was to use the athletes' LinkedIn accounts to drive higher engagement and improve conversion rates.
Action: Origins implemented a hands-on approach by utilizing the LinkedIn accounts of our renowned athlete LPs for outreach. Together with the company, we crafted personalized messages and sent over 50 emails to potential clients.
Results: The campaign resulted in a significant improvement in response and conversion rates:
The conversion rate increased from 1% to 20% by leveraging the athletes' influence.
The outreach became 10 to 20 times more efficient compared to traditional methods.
Over 200 emails were sent, yielding remarkable response rates.
Use Case #5:
Company: Undisclosed
Situation: The company sought to connect with French celebrities and influencers to launch its new AI solution in France. The goal was to gather valuable contacts that could be used for content creation and promotion.
Task: Origins aimed to leverage Blaise Matuidi's influence by using his personal Instagram and email to introduce these celebrities and influencers to the founder. The objective was to maximize outreach and engagement through Matuidi's established reputation and following.
Action: Origins coordinated with Blaise Matuidi to send out 15 targeted emails and share 25 Instagram DMs to various local celebrities and influencers.
Results: The outreach campaign yielded significant engagement and offered unique business opportunities for the team.
Use Case #6:
Company: Upway - The marketplace for reconditioned e-bikes
Situation: Upway aimed to strengthen its brand identity by merging sports with e-mobility, using its marketplace to raise awareness and funds for charitable causes.
Task: Origins partnered with Upway to create custom e-bikes celebrating the careers of our athlete LPs: Antoine Dupont, Presnel Kimpembe, and Blaise Matuidi. Each bike, signed by the athlete, incorporated visual elements of their career and achievements. The proceeds from the sale of these bikes were to be donated to the athletes' chosen charities.
Action: Origins partnered with Upway to create custom e-bikes celebrating the careers of our athlete LPs: Antoine Dupont, Presnel Kimpembe, and Blaise Matuidi. Each bike, signed by the athlete, incorporated visual elements of their career and achievements. The proceeds from the sale of these bikes were to be donated to the athletes' chosen charities.
Results:
Over the next few months, the e-bikes were released one by one.
Antoine Dupont's bike, benefiting Les Restos du Coeur, generating significant public interest.
Social media buzz and brand engagement from athletes boosted visibility.
Origins helped Upway leverage athlete influence to raise awareness, build credibility, and amplify the campaign’s social impact.
Our founders seem to like our servicing work as well :)
In the ever-evolving landscape of venture capital, money alone is not enough. At Origins, we understand the importance of servicing our portfolio companies to truly add value and differentiate ourselves. By aligning our vision with founders, providing access to relevant networks, and leveraging our unique influence-driven approach, we have created a winning formula that benefits both our investors and the startups we support.
Let's keep building!
(This article will be continuously updated as we build more campaigns)
 | A guest post by
|