I caught up with Lightspeed Scout and Founder and GP of RareBreed Partners, Mac Conwell, about his journey to VC and advice for aspiring investors. This is a continuation of Lightspeed’s new “Scout Spotlight” series showcasing our amazing Scouts, what they care about, and some lessons learned along the path to venture.
Me: Let’s start with who you are! What’s your story?
Mac: My name is McKeever Edward Conwell II, and I’m from Baltimore. Most people call me Mac. I went to Morgan State HBCU and studied computer science. My sophomore year, I got an internship with the Department of Defense. My junior year, I dropped out of school because Northrop Grumman offered me a bunch of money. I went on to be a government contractor, later a two time startup founder. One exit. One not so much. Eventually I got a job working for the investment arm of the state of Maryland, at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation. There, I started doing seed investments, and eventually ended up starting a pre-seed fund specifically for underrepresented founders. I started the pilot in 2017 and in 2019 the governor and state legislators put a million dollars in the annual budget to make it a long term fund in the state. It is the first and only state-backed pre-seed fund for women and minority-led startups in the country. And last September, I left that job to start RareBreed, a pre-seed and seed venture fund.
Me: What led you to become a Lightspeed Scout?
Mac: You! Having learned about you, a little bit about your journey, having spoken to you and gotten encouragement about the program, and also seeing your tweets about it. And then also meeting Merci Victoria Grace. I met her a week or two before the deadline of the program and she encouraged me to apply, so I did. What’s funny is that I also decided to apply like weeks before I decided to raise my fund, which has been pretty cool.
Me: What’s your investment focus? Any companies / new investments you want to highlight for readers?
Mac: My investment focus is really on companies outside of the major tech hubs. So, outside of Silicon Valley, New York, and Massachusetts. But I’m industry agnostic. I love to invest in just about anything. Companies I’d like to highlight…I’m really excited about Rebundle and Divaneering Lab(in stealth)…two companies that I think are going to transform the way we think of and view the Black haircare space. Both from just a product space in general but also from a venture perspective — I want to debunk the idea that it’s hard to get a venture type return. I’m putting stock into these two companies.
Me: What advice do you have for other aspiring VCs out there?
Mac: Network. Network. Network. Grow your network. VC is a network industry. And when you grow your network, you need to grow your network of VCs, you need to grow your network of operators, and you need to grow your network of startups. The reason all three are important is because from a VC perspective, you want to know VCs who are a stage before you, the same stage as you, or a stage after you. Why? Because you want to get dealflow from the ones before you, co-invest with ones who are focused on the same stage, and know the investors who could do follow-ons for your companies. As for operators, you want to have those relationships so you can help foster intros and connections to help your portfolio companies scale. And you need to network with startups because you’re going to need deal flow, you’re going to need to figure out how to find the startups that you like and want to invest in or that fit the thesis of your fund. And so yeah, I would tell any aspiring VC out there to network, network, network.
Me: What advice do you have for founders out there looking to raise?
Mac: Don’t focus on fundraising because fundraising isn’t the goal. Focus on being really good at customer acquisition, experience, and retention. If you can show me you know how to find customers, and you can get them to buy your product, and they continue to come back, you probably have a chance to be a really good company. Now, once you get past that point, make sure you’re in a large enough market. VCs are typically looking for companies to have the potential to have a billion dollar outcome. And make sure you have a good team with complementary skill sets. But, if you could figure out your customer acquisition, experience, and retention, you got a shot to do something real. So focus on those things, more so than the fundraising. Fundraising is just a way to gain money as a tool to grow faster, but you still fundamentally have to have a good company to make this all work.
Me: Lastly, where can others learn more about you and connect with you?
Mac: The easiest way to connect with me is on Twitter. My handle is @MacConwell and I go by Mac the VC on Twitter. My DMs are always open and I’m always engaging with folks. Hit me up.
Authors
