The Supercritical Stage
We founded Renegade to invest specifically in companies at what we call the Supercritical Stage, a term that distinctly captures the challenges companies must meet during that stage and the importance of managing that stage with skill.
Defining the Supercritical Stage
A supercritical fluid is at a phase where distinct gas and liquid don't exist. It has some properties of a gas and some properties of a liquid, but it is neither and both at the same time. We think about companies going through a similar phase, where they are not quite early-stage companies but they’re not yet growth companies readying for an IPO. Like a supercritical fluid, they are neither and both at the same time.
Supercritical Stage companies have raised institutional financing, have a product in market, and the budding signs of customer love. They are early, young organizations who are still writing their stories. Typically, these companies are raising Series A, Bs, or Cs, but this stage is more of a phase of life than a round of capital.
Unique challenges of the Supercritical Stage
During the Supercritical Stage, companies are grappling with a set of challenges that may include repeatable go-to-market tactics; commercialization of past R&D; hiring a new wave of leaders across the org; communicating across a larger and more complex employee base; and fostering an inclusive culture.
Companies don’t want to just survive this stage; they want to thrive in such a way that they are building their foundation for the future. They are harnessing what originally captured the attention of those first few customers and making that broadly available in the market at prices that make sense for both buyer and seller. They are channeling the energy with which the first wave of employees built the beginnings of the company to bring more to the team and achieve their goals.
Managing this stage well means building on the existing momentum, and refining it for scale, growth, and excellence.
Partnering through the Supercritical Stage
In our years of investing and operating, we saw that the decisions, processes, and infrastructure built at this Supercritical phase of a company’s life could either create massive leverage or, alternatively, could drag a company down.
Life is different for entrepreneurs today. The game is bigger. The size and impact companies can ultimately achieve hinges on doing the right things at this pivotal moment of inflection. The risks are also commensurately larger. Excellent product-market fit and company momentum can be undone with poor employment practices or shoddy decision making.
We have the skills, experiences and networks to partner with companies to help them succeed during this stage. We started Renegade because we know our laser-focus on stage will help the companies we invest in reach massive scale alongside excellent employment outcomes for their teams.