Master of Science in Law alum Terrance Orr (MSL ’20) recently sat down with Northwestern University’s incubator, The Garage, to discuss his post-graduation career as an investor at Republic. Check out the interview below to learn more about Terrance and how the MSL program prepared him for a career in venture capital.
The Garage: How did Northwestern prepare you for a career in investing at Republic and incubation with SAP.io?
TO: Northwestern’s Master of Science in Law program helped me prepare for venture and incubation in many ways. First, becoming involved with The Garage/Sardine Bar gave me insight and access to student founders and the Chicago startup ecosystem. Second, having access to the ecosystem gave me more exposure to investors and founders from Northwestern, and that led to my role at Techstars Chicago. My experience with Techstars was pivotal because it was crash course on accelerating, building, and mentoring companies. Lastly, the Master of Science in Law courses prepared me to approach the industry from a legal perspective while leveraging my knowledge in business and technology. I graduated from the MSL program with a focus on venture capital and entrepreneurship, and having the ability to communicate across disciplines seamlessly is a unique skill. All of these things prepared me for a career in venture capital and company building.
The Garage: Tell us about Republic? How did you become involved?
TO: Republic is an investment crowdfunding platform that allows users to easily invest in private companies. The platform spun out of AngelList in 2016 to address the democratization of startup equity crowdfunding with accredited and non-accredited investors. Since that time, tons of early-stage companies (Fleeting, PopCom, etc.) have raised capital to fund their seed round and get access to future investors. I’m passionate about democratizing access to capital for underestimated founders, and that’s exactly what Republic is doing. That passion led to conversing with the team, and eventually becoming a part of the Venture Partner community.
The Garage: What do you look for in a potential investment?
TO: SAP.iO consists of three parts: the venture fund, foundry, and studio. My role at SAP.iO is solely focused on product incubation within the venture studio. SAP.iO is responsible for future-proofing the company, so my mandate is to explore opportunities to incubate in supply chain and logistics. As it relates to Republic, I am really looking for companies that are Republic Ready, and that consist of a few things: does the company have at least 3 months of runway? Is the company post-product and post-revenue (average $100k ARR)? If pre-revenue, they need to have one of the following: notable VC backing, serial exited founder, or large community. I like seeing companies in areas I know best, so Enterprise/B2B SaaS and Supply Chain-Logistics. Personally, I like eSports/Gaming and LegalTech companies as well.
The Garage: What is an unintuitive or unobvious lesson that you’ve learned in your time as a venture investor?
TO: Feedback loops are really long, you have no clue who the winners will be, and great founders get to pick the investor and not the other way around.
The Garage: Do you have any fundraising advice for early-stage founders? Especially with what you experienced during your time at The Garage.
TO: First, always be genuine about what you don’t know. It’s completely fine to not have all the answers, but never try to make-up one. It’s hard to teach integrity, so always be upfront and be willing to come back with the answer. Second, do not underestimate the value of storytelling during fundraising. Data is king, but powerful stories linger long after you leave the room.
