Our investment approach is based on a new model: Generational Venture Capital, or GVC for short. This model is derived from two audacious questions.

Many of the greatest challenges and opportunities facing humanity and the planet are not well addressed by our current political and financial infrastructure.

1. Can we build strategies, organisations, and a funding model to make a transformational difference to some of our most pressing issues?

Protecting and growing value in the very long-term is also not well addressed by current investment models and the scope of risks is too narrow.

2. Can we create the ideal vehicle for ultra-long-term investment, after all risks and fees are taken into account?

The investment approach is a transformative philosophy to select important themes and issues and build a strategy to address them. It includes the ability to build effective execution capability and innovative financial models to sustain these strategies. It is likely to benefit us in the short run, but the true benefits come to our successors.

At the core of the approach is the concept of working back from the greatest threats and opportunities for the planet, humanity, and life in general. We screen for attack points on these substantial issues. These are the gaps where we can get massive leverage, but that are typically not addressed by current public or private sectors.

We then screen for the other side of the equation: is this a mission that can lead to transformational value creation? To expand, here are some of the other criteria we use:

• Is it very likely to have a transformational impact on one (or more) of the world’s most pressing problems and is it set up for long-term, break-out success in an opportunity area?
• Are there identifiable reasons why others are not doing it and why it really is contrarian or lateral thinking, not just a bad idea?
• Is there clear and tangible action we can take in timescales that are strategically relevant to the challenge?
• Does the mission align to our skillsets and capabilities. Is it an incredible challenge, but not fundamentally impossible?
• Are there credible opportunities for very high financial value creation?
• Does the mission put us into an area that is IP-dense and likely to lead to a myriad of other secondary benefits?
• Can we mitigate downside risks reasonably, given the audacious nature of the challenge?