It's a tremendous honor to be the first investor in a company. Inevitably, we are backing founders that plenty of other investors have passed on. As an investor looking at being the first money in, one has to come to terms with the fact that they have to be a leader; believe in people that others have overlooked. That's our attitude at Scout. We're here to lead.
Brad Harrison has been a leader and supporter of entrepreneurs since day one of Scout Ventures.
Great to hear some thoughts capturing this spirit from Brian Litvack!
------
Every founder remembers their first time...
That first investment check. 💸💸💸
That first time someone believes in you and your team by putting their money where their mouth is. It's exhilarating. 🙌 🙌
For us, it was Bradley C. Harrison.
We had been working hard to turn Sportsvite into LeagueApps and now had to go raise some money to get it off the ground. But we were broke. Our cap table was already icky from a pivot.
Jeremy Goldberg and I hit the road. Him with a steady dose of irrational confidence. Me with some sort of reserved ignorant uncertainty (that isn't all that effective for fundraising).
And then the “No's” starting coming and coming. After every meeting, Jeremy was convinced it would turn into a deal. I was convinced we had no shot.
We met Brad and he was interested in LeagueApps/Sportsvite. More importantly, he was interested in us. We met him a few more times. Then he said he was in. He didn't look to his left or to his right. He didn't ask who else was in. He just said "I'm in".
He actually wired us the money before the docs were even final. He sensed we needed it quickly. He said I know we're good and sent it. Just like that. Wow. (But, um, you can li kind of do that when you have Army Ranger photos and swords and weapons all over your office).
He then connected us to everyone in his network. He pitched LeagueApps with such confidence that I remember wanting to sound as good as he did talking about my own company.
That was 11 years ago. Brad has supported LeagueApps, and more importantly us, the entire time. Through continued investment, introductions, biz dev, advice, fancy Tribeca parties, guidance, and being there for us.
During Covid our business was down 95%. You could imagine those investor conversations. Not fun. But Brad made it feel like he was in the trenches (more than a few war analogies with Brad) with us trying to help us figure it out. He was the call where It felt like we'd somehow figure it out even though most of the time was him cursing how crappy the situation was at the moment. Again, he gave me confidence.
We don't speak to Brad as much these days. But when we do it is a treat. He offers his support and then tells us how proud he is of us. It pleasantly startles me each time.
Thank you Brad. I'm proud that you're proud.
