Clear Eyes , Full Heart

Time to set the record straight

End of 2020, while running Kima Ventures, I co-founded New Wave, an early stage fund to back ambitious founders. 

Earlier this year, I was removed from my position by my partner, against my will. 

I feel a responsibility towards our entrepreneurs, investors, stakeholders and therefore I don’t intend to let this happen.

Time to set the record straight.

When you launch a fund, you commit to build a functioning partnership. Sometimes, along the way, one might realize that it’s unfortunately not working. It happens. It is not useful to dig into the reasons that pushed me to express my concerns about our partnership, but as we were on the verge of launching a new fund, timing was of essence in order to do the right things by all our stakeholders.

We still had a couple of deals to execute with our first fund and responsibilities towards our investors and entrepreneurs. We had managed to work together for the past three to four years, I didn’t see any reasons why we couldn’t handle an amicable separation while preserving what we had built. My full commitment was intact.  

Therefore, I thought that the most elegant way to do this was to leave the control to my co-founder, reduce my fees significantly, commit 100% to our entrepreneurs obviously and let our investors know about it and act upon their will regarding our second fund. That’s what I proposed, very simply.

It looks like I had underestimated our difference of opinion about what was the right and moral thing to do in this situation. 

A few days later, I was asked by my partner who would be my lawyer. I was surprised. A lawyer? What for? I’m giving away the vast majority of the economics after having contributed beyond expectations. We just have to let people know and act professionally thereafter.

I realized that I had been fooled when a few weeks later I was asked to jump on a quick call…

“ Jean, either you help me close a second fund for which you will remain active on paper, or I will fire you for cause because you’ve let Xavier know about the situation. I know this because I have collected your personal emails in our company CRM. ” 

Seriously ?

“ Pia, I don’t see how I could morally do this. ”

I will spare you all the crispy details because at this point, it’s just about explaining in plain words what concretely happened. The rest is just blood for vampires and the communications and public affairs firm hired by my former business partner is already doing an amazing job at fuelling imaginary fallacies out there.

I have always done the right thing by our entrepreneurs and investors. The right thing was to deploy our first fund in the best possible conditions. We managed to do so but it was impossible to go beyond this milestone. It felt right to take the responsibility. I thought we would simply let our investors know and that we would act upon their will, candidly. 

That didn’t happen and I regret that.

Back in 2020, I gave away 60% of the management company because I didn’t know how much I would contribute to the success of New Wave. Imposteur syndrome they call it… It’s now playing against me and consequently our other stakeholders.

In retrospect, we could have had that discussion sooner, around Q4 2023, not that the outcome would have been any different. Before that, I didn’t want to put my former partner in a stressful situation.

I wish all our investors had been informed about the situation. Most weren’t even told I was fired. Legally, I wasn’t in a position to do so unfortunately but whether we talk about our entrepreneurs or investors, I hope they don’t have a single doubt that I intend to always do the right thing by them. 

Now what ?

No need to convince anyone about my commitment to entrepreneurs. I share as much as I can, as honestly and efficiently as I can.

Every week is a learning expedition, it’s extraordinarily rewarding and exciting, I’m like a kid in a theme park, I keep doing that same rollercoaster over and over again, and every single time it’s a thrill. It’s been 10 years!

We lose more than we win. Everything takes time. Our hopes get shattered in thousands pieces, but we remain eternally optimistic and excited, we rise to try again cause it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. 

I share this journey with people full of dedication and good energy. We share the same ambition, the same values, the same love for what we’re doing.

Don’t get me wrong, the current situation is time consuming and sometimes painful.

I like when things happen organically, that’s how I got to land my dream job, through the fortunate combination of many small pieces. A couple of days ago, I received a notification from one of our founders, Steeve… He just tweeted a ❤️.

Before I could even realise it, I was receiving tons of support, sometimes from founders I had worked with years ago or investors I had collaborated with a long time ago. I am immensely grateful for all that support.

My eyes are clear, My heart is full.