Adam Shaw (President), Elijah Kim (Partner) | Structure
With brands like the NFL network, Universal Music Group, Fox, MTV, Spot Runner, and CAA on their resumes, Adam Shaw and Elijah Kim comprise Structure, an advisory and venture investment company in Los Angeles that specializes in growing startups, by “providing guidance to entrepreneur-led companies focused on tech, media, and real estate via experienced executives with subject matter expertise” in addition to controlling a fund to invest astride affiliated startups.
[ibimage==27754==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-left]Focused on media-centric segments like digital video, music, advertising, and sports, the pair can draw on their past professional experience to hone in on companies they want to work with, and say that “the ideal candidate is a company that has raised an angel round, but has not developed far enough to be a strong candidate for an institutional A Round.” Though Structure is approached by companies and their advocates, the duo is also actively seeking investment opportunities, and have a serious advantage in the game: “Because of our deep industry relationships we often have access to innovative start ups that are not yet on the radars of high profile VC's and angels.”
These relationships have been built in both big corporate settings, and in startups, which they say “helps give enormous perspective.” And they aim to help young entrepreneurs benefit from this perspective, and from past challenges. “More than anything, the many failures we have experienced along the way as operators allow us to help young entrepreneurs by guiding them to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes we made.”
And in light of these growth opportunities, and in the day-to-day challenges, such as “CEOs whose perspectives are compromised by their passion,” Structure is optimistic. “From a growth perspective Structure will benefit from the continuing trend of an uptick in seed rounds, without a correlating increase in A Rounds. This creates the need for young companies to further distinguish themselves.” And when they do, Structure provides results: “We re-focused the product strategy for one of our portfolio companies. They implemented our guidance and these several small adjustments resulted in the revenue potential for the next 12 months tripling.”
Not too shabby...and how do they do it? “Its like Simon and Garfunkel,” they say. “While talented individually, thru collaboration we reach our full potential.”
To connect with Structure, contact them here in the BILA community, or visit their website. Structure will also have a demo day in the fall. They'd like to hear from other incubators, accelerators, adn LA-based VCs and talk about collaboration.
