Business is fun.
Investors are boring.
KEEN Strategies is an early stage investment fund. After running a successful SaaS business for over a decade, we built the fund we wish was around when we started.
Starting a business is fun. We've been building ours for 10 years, so we know from experience that it's one of the most fun things you can do. Hard, but fun.
When you start a business, you're working on problems that you find important, and you get to surround yourself with great people to solve those problems. It's about making a difference with the best people you can find. What could be better?
So, if you've reached the stage where you are looking for some money to grow, why would you want a bunch of investment nerds telling you what to do?
Because we aren't professional investors, we aren't interested in a "diverse portfolio". Instead, we want to work with businesses where we can truly help. Our expertise is in B2B SaaS, and in Ruby on Rails. If you're in that space, we can help you with a lot more than just dumb money.
How we back businesses
We offer early-stage investments alongside technical and operational experience with the following in mind;
Deal size
We write checks up to $100k.
First investors
We like to invest exceptionally early. We want to be the first people to back you.
Extremely long term horizon
We invest for the very long run. If you are thinking about building a business over three generations, that's fine. We prefer to make money off dividends, not exits.
No B.S.
Environmental Social Governance? Balanced Scorecard? Wokeness? These are all the wrong things for a startup founder to be worrying about. We'll never make you waste time on things you don't want to work on.
Ruby on Rails & B2B SaaS
We invest in the areas we know best: B2B SaaS and Ruby on Rails. We have over a decade of experience building businesses in these areas. We offer practical advice and tell real war stories.
Work with your friends
Most VCs will tell you to keep friendships and work separate. We started a global business with tens of millions in revenue while living together at university. We look for mates first, business partners second.
We believe you should plan to build a great business, not plan to exit.
We've got the experience to show it - we started Tanda and Workforce.com in 2012 and they're going stronger than ever. Every year, we've focused on building a great business with consistently growing revenue. We make money through dividends, not exits.
If you're looking to build something to last, let's talk.
Jake, Tas, Alex & Josh
Let's talk about where you're at and how we can help
Also down to talk about The Simpsons.