Interview with Abbie Strabala at TrueWealth Ventures
July 25, 2024
Meet Abbie Strabala
Abbie Strabala became an Associate at True Wealth Ventures in mid-2022 and helps with every aspect of running True Wealth Ventures. Abbie previously served as an Investment Analyst at RH Capital and Finance & Operations Manager at Rhia Ventures, driving innovation, access, and equity across the reproductive and maternal health landscape.
What industries or sectors does TrueWealth Ventures currently focus on?
Women-led (meaning at least 1 woman in the c-suite) healthcare and climate focused start-ups at the early (mostly seed) stage. As a firm, we prefer to lead the seed with checks up to $1M and look across hardware, software, CPG, etc. If that sounds like a fit, submit via our website for investment: https://truewealthvc.com/share-your-big-idea/
What are the primary criteria TrueWealth Ventures looks for when evaluating a startup for investment?
Companies that at their core are improving human and or environmental health. As part of that, we need to see demonstrated outcomes proving that the specific product/service/solution is able to improve these metrics over time.
Team, timing, and TAM are typically what we look at initially to determine if it makes sense to learn more.
- Team: Is this the right team to solve this problem?
- Timing: Is now the right time to solve this problem?
- TAM: Is the opportunity big enough to support a scalable business? And even if a business can only capture a small % of the market, is that enough?
How important is the founding team’s background and experience in your investment decisions?
At the seed stage, the founding team is everything. So much of the business is going to, and probably should, change from business model to target customers. You need to ensure the team is the right one to be able to pivot, adjust to the environment and have the grit to stick it out in challenging environments like what we’re facing right now.
Given our investment strategy, we also get really involved in the business and so ensuring personalities and work styles are aligned is also foundational to a good working relationship.
Besides funding, what other types of support does TrueWealth Ventures provide to its portfolio companies?
We often take a board seat for our investments so that comes with a much more engaged role with the company over time. As often the first institutional check, we become the sounding board for our founders in strategic direction, future financings, sometimes taking on more day to day responsibilities when needed.
We don’t have a standard approach since each portfolio has different needs, but being a resource they know they can call when they need to is true across the board.
What advice would you give to entrepreneurs who are seeking investment from TrueWealth Ventures?
Do your research on the firm before you talk to them. Poke around their website, their existing portfolio and tailor your pitch to what you’ve inferred they’re looking for or realize it’s likely not a mutual fit with the business you’re trying to build. Being a founder is actually a lot like being an investor, we’re both allocating time and capital, so don’t waste yours.
For example, at TWV we’re looking for start-ups where the founders see an acquisition exit opportunity within 3-5 years at a valuation of $100 million or more and it’s clearly written on our website’s page. If a founder comes in to pitch and wants to grow a business to IPO that needs to raise $50M+ in VC dollars to get there, well we’re misaligned and aren’t the right partners for that start-up.
What mistakes should startups avoid when pitching to TrueWealth Ventures?
Know what you’re looking for in a partner and what gaps you have in your own skill set and experience that would be valuable from investors. Investors are on your cap table for 10+ years, it might be one of your longest relationships and I don’t feel as an investor, founders are spending enough time making sure it’s the right fit for them.
Also, never read from a written script! Trust me, we can tell, and you lose a lot of credibility when you can’t confidently present your business. Practice on friends, your dog, other founders, alone in the shower. It’s so much better to miss something and come back to it in Q&A than read a pre-written script that you probably should have just emailed me in advance so I could come to the meeting with questions.
Are there any emerging trends or technologies that you are particularly excited about?
I’m always looking across the women’s health segment since that’s where I started my career and see some of the biggest white space in terms of competition for deals and return potential. Women are the ultimate recurring subscription, from menstruation to menopause, and there’s still a ton of untapped opportunity.
I’m also excited about segments where the early adopters have paved the way for more lean and profitable companies to grow big business without the CAPEX intensity. Things like alternative proteins, textiles, renewable infrastructure, clinical healthcare delivery. With technology and a more engaged capital stack to support these innovations, we’re seeing a lot of creativity in how the entirety of the finance industry can come together to support these businesses vs. just venture capital dollars.
What is TrueWealth Ventures’ vision for the future, and how do you see the venture capital landscape evolving?
Our vision is that founders building companies solving problems that matter receive the appropriate capital to address the opportunity, regardless of their gender. When my GPs Sara and Kerry started the fund back in 2015, they weren’t sure they’d need the same investment strategy around explicitly supporting women-led start-ups because everyone else would have realized the missed opportunity back then. As the stats show, that’s clearly not the case yet and we still have a long way to go in terms of diversifying the perspective of check writers.
I hope to see the industry evolving with more women in check writing positions at larger institutional firms.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers about TrueWealth Ventures or the investment landscape?
Now’s an amazing time to start a company and I think we’ll see some of the best companies of the 2020s emerge from this time period. They’ll be scrappy, profitable, and hyper focused. Unlike a lot of the companies that have been funded during the low interest era that were doing everything at once, spending recklessly, and ultimately not really solving problems that mattered. I’m excited about the energy around building, the advancements in technology, and backing incredible founders building the companies of our generation.
