Philosophy
Thompson Clive’s investment philosophy is a combination of four factors: international perspective, being selective and focused, partnering with the entrepreneur and adding value to the portfolio companies.
More companies must face international expansion much earlier than before. Thompson Clive’s international perspective with offices in London, San Francisco and the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs who desire to expand their business overseas. The Thompson Clive partners have extensive international experience, which has proven to be very beneficial to our entrepreneurs.
Thompson Clive has always taken the approach of keeping our funds at a manageable size so as to not create the potentially harmful pressure to invest for the sake of investing. This allows us to make fewer investments and, consequently, to be able to spend more time with our entrepreneurs. We also maintain a strict focus on our investment criteria. This focus allows the partners to build a domain expertise that can be leveraged by our entrepreneurs.
Partnering with the Entrepreneur
The Thompson Clive partners spend a significant portion of their time helping their portfolio companies grow. To the partners of Thompson Clive, the entrepreneur is the driving force of creating and building a company and it is our job to help them accomplish that goal. We strive to work closely with our entrepreneurs and to develop strong, honest relationships that can help the portfolio company grow even during difficult times. These relationships are the means by which we add value to the company.
Adding Value to the Portfolio Companies
Through this active partnership, the entrepreneur can access and leverage our extensive operational and international experience to facilitate growth. The partners have many years of operational experience in sales, marketing, operations and finance. Having helped build numerous successful companies, the partners have the knowledge and experience to complement and augment the entrepreneur. In addition to the partners’ expertise, the firm has a network of industry contacts that help the portfolio company in recruiting, partnering and refining a business strategy, just to name a few. Our goal is to contribute more than money to the entrepreneur.