CONSILIENCE VENTURES RESOURCES & NEWSROOMS

CV is membership platform for tech start-ups/early stage entities, experts and investors.

Start-ups can swap a percentage of their equity for tokens issued by CV (known as CVDS), which they can then spend on expert services provided by other members of the platform.  

Experts are more willing to work for ‘sweat equity’, as CVDS gives them exposure to the entire CV start-up portfolio, rather than just equity in the start-up they work for. Therefore, working for CVDS is less risky.  Experts can sell their CVDS within the platform, so they do not have to rely on the relevant start-up having an ‘exit’ event (IPO/trade sale etc.). 

Investors can buy CVDS from start-ups (who may have excess CVDS not yet spent with experts) or from experts themselves.  In the early stages, investor members can also acquire CVDS from the UK operating company (PK2M Limited, FCA authorised) which is itself a start-up on the platform. The company has swapped 10% of its equity for CVDS and acquired additional CVDS in return for services provided to CV (development of the blockchain and other infrastructure, marketing of the platform etc.).

IMPORTANT: Consilience Ventures is NOT a for-profit BUSINESS; its ONLY GOAL is to generate high returns for members and CVDS holders.

CV has invested in 4 start-ups as of June 2020, including the parent company PK2M Ltd. This means that all CVDS holders have a financial interest in the company behind Consilience Ventures.

In the start-up world, timing and time-to-market separates the winners from the losers. Start-up founders spend more time raising capital than growing their businesses – and they cannot focus. Additionally, every actor (start-ups, investors, service providers) in the start-up economy has a different, incompatible agenda. The CV model resolves these issues

Start-ups benefit from a curated network of experts with a vested interest in their long-term success. It’s easier and more efficient to pay with CVDS than raising capital. In the past, start-up CEOs were focused on raising capital before accessing talent and expertise. Today, CV helps them to focus on growing their business and winning market share.

Experts work for CVDS, which appreciates with the performance of the portfolio, providing significant upside if the companies perform, with very little downside risk. CVDS is the ultimate response to address the lack of liquidity in the private market. Experts benefit from larger upsides and a bigger return on time invested. Plus, they can forget about late payments and running after their money.

Investors can leverage a network of curated experts to select and accelerate companies for free. They can sell CVDS without distracting the portfolio companies and without expensive legal fees. If the investor prefers to be sector specific, he/she can invest directly in companies whenever they wish.

The premise of the CV model is to enable angels/investors to:

• Invest in more high-growth companies faster, at lower risk and cost
• Monetize your time when adding value to CV in areas such as:
  • participating in start-up DD (CVDS from above)
  • working for the portfolio companies (CVDS from the companies)
• Benefit from a larger pool of experts to work with your portfolio companies

We are a community. The health and success of this community is dependent on the depth of your involvement, interaction, and contribution. We all need help to grow and get smarter.

The benefit to you? Spending time with other top professionals, helping to grow CV (increasing the value of your investment) and learning by working with exciting new start-ups.

CV network operates on the CV platform, which is built to:
• reinforce the integrity of the network
• improve efficiency of dealing with large and multi-stage deal flow
• enable safe CVDS transfers
• unlock a unique data-set that serves the whole network
• pick better companies to invest in
• better support their growth

It means a few things:
• Access to diversified risk (skin in the game, but with less risk)
• Access to what we forecast are industry beating returns.

But, it also means working for an asset that is illiquid at the moment and will be for the next 3-5 years while we build (the same as start-up sweat equity). As a rule, we ask you to keep to a maximum split of 70:30 CVDS to cash for your work. Just like sweat equity, your time is an investment – it carries risk, but also potential reward.

We are developing a ticket system for start-ups to access Experts. Until this is ready, CV will assign experts manually.

The start-up will detail the work they need on their ticket:
• Deliverables
• Timelines
• Working conditions
• Budget

The objective will match a deliverable defined in their Sprint Roadmap. Once completed, tickets are matched to Experts with the appropriate skillset, who can bid on the ticket with a proposal.

Typically, Experts and Start-ups will meet to assess fit and refine plans during this process. Ticket compensation in CVDS is held in escrow during the ticket delivery process, guaranteeing that compensation to the Expert will always be available on successful delivery.

Expert rates vary depending on experience, sector, skillset and type of engagement. An Expert must state his/her rate during the ticket bidding process.

Tickets have deliverables and milestones built in – at these times, the start-up and Expert check in with members of the Start-up’s Review Committee to assess progress, and raise any issues. The will avoid surprises at the end of the ticket.

Secondly, start-ups may include “Insurance” on their ticket. For a cost of 10% of the ticket cost, the start-up will be assigned an “Insurer” who will work with it every step of the way to provide Quality Assurance.
• Making sure the ticket is defined well
• Providing feedback on the initial selection of the Expert
• Giving feedback during milestones
• Undertaking a thorough quality assurance of the final deliverable

If, at any of these points, an issue occurs, there is a defined Dispute Resolution process to work through. We also highly recommend that Start-ups and Experts use contracts that include the requirement to resolve any disputes through mediation.

• Areas of specialisation
• Seniority and experience required by Start-ups
• Application and acceptance process

The most typical route an Expert joins the network is via recommendation of another Expert. This, combined with our Mutual Assessment process, helps to ensure that the quality and trustworthiness of our Experts remains high. Experts typically have at least 20 years’ experience, and we normally look for experience in working with start-ups as well.

Experts cover the whole range of skillsets and capabilities a start-up would need – for example, we have experts in
• Marketing
• Finance
• Operations
• People Management
• Fundraising
• Pricing
• Supply Chain
• Industry-specific experts

We also have technical experts including:
• Developers
• DevOps
• Penetration testers
• UI/UX experts
• Architects
• CTOs

A potential Expert would be invited to the network, link his/her LinkedIn profile to the platform, and complete a short application. The application is reviewed, and the potential Expert is invited to a Mutual Assessment, normally conducted by two existing Experts in related fields.

The Mutual Assessment enables CV to learn more about the potential Expert, and the potential Expert to learn more about us. The Mutual Assessment scores are tallied, along with some qualitative information about the potential Expert, and the candidate is presented to be voted into the network.

On acceptance, the candidate receives a Welcome Pack and onboards into CV. They can then work on any opportunities on the network. 

There are two types of work in Consilience Ventures:

• Working for CV start-ups – When negotiating with Start-ups, Experts can negotiate a blend of cash and CVDS. However, they should respect the recommended split of 70% in CVDS and 30% in cash. A 10% transaction fee may apply depending on the amount of cash asked by the expert. For example, if an Expert charges £1000 for the work and asks for a 50:50 split, the expert will receive the number of CVDS to match £500 at the time of transaction and £450 in cash. The delta (10% of £500 = £50) will go to PK2M Ltd the parent company of CV – to create a compelling incentive to accept CVDS instead of asking for cash.

• Work for Consilience Ventures – be part of CV’s drive to maximize return on investment for CVDS holders while scaling globally. Roles include:

• Industry Committee
• Review Committee
• Investment Strategy Committee
• Entrepreneur in Residence
• Start-up Partner

All work for VC is paid in CVDS with no cash option. Certain roles are limited to investors only. These CVDS are managed by PK2M on behalf of CV to execute the PK2M and CV Software Development Maintenance and Support Agreement.

CVDS equals portfolio. CVDS are only invested in start-ups and used to pay experts. CVDS received by experts are considered to be an investment-in-time vs cash.

Experts get to decide which start-ups to work with, but they will always receive CVDS which reflect an interest in the WHOLE portfolio. They get the benefit of reducing their risk and the time to do a due-diligence before engaging a new customer.

The CVDS is not a cryptocurrency and is only issued against equity from a newly-made investment. CVDS is equity backed and it is not traded on an exchange, only with the growing community of investors. The CV marketplace brings together buyers and sellers.
There are 3 ways to release the CVDS value:
• Receive the proceeds of a start-up exit
• Sell CVDS when there is a buyer (like other members)
• Purchase the services of a curated service provider (legal, marketing, IP etc.)

The investment period should be 3 years from now. But, the more successful investments CV makes, the greater the opportunity to decrease this investment period.