Inovia’s first Discovery Fund backs the next generation of VC funds in their mission to identify and nurture high-potential startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. We sat down with these emerging managers to discuss their vision, their approach, and what they look for in a pitch.
Today, we’re happy to introduce you to Alex Barrett and Matt Stein, Founders of Boon.
Alex and Matt share similar backgrounds that have shaped their views as venture capitalists. Both have experience working as operators in large Canadian tech startups, closely observing how investor relations evolve in both good and challenging times. Now, as they each focus on building their own company alongside running Boon, they are dedicated to approaching founders from a peer’s perspective.
The pair originally met through Clearco. Matt, who’d joined the financial platform in its early days, was often in contact with Alex, who was then assessing the company as an investor for Inovia. When Alex joined construction tech startup RenoRun as Chief of Staff in 2021, they remained in touch and eventually came together with a shared goal: to establish an operator-led fund.
Combining Matt’s relationship building skills with Alex’s organizational strength, they launched Boon in 2022, with the goal to be “the first check and the first friend” of startups in their very early stages. To date, the duo has made 20 investments, offering entrepreneurs its support and insight on their journey to fundraising.
Boon is looking for ambitious founders with unbounded appetite for risk, who have built businesses before or held key roles at notable Canadian tech companies.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON THE EARLY STAGES OF INVESTMENT?
It’s at the intersection of our experience and where we can add the most value. That’s also what we enjoy. We are people-centric. The later you get, the less it is about people and the more it is about data.
TELL US ONE OR TWO THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR FUND UNIQUE
When we get on calls to do deals, we’re not reaching out as investors or fund managers; we’re reaching out as other founders. And that is the most valuable thing that most other funds don’t have. We’re also willing to get in earlier than most. We’ve got six or seven entrepreneurs in our portfolio that we backed before they even had an idea. As operators, we recognize that a business model will shift many times over the life of a company. You can really only bet on a person. Spending time building relationships with people and getting to know them is the best form of diligence.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THROUGH FAILURES OR TRIALS AND ERRORS?
Matt: We’ve been caught in the hype cycle at times, with the fear of losing out on a deal. But we did our best work and created the most value when we returned to our thesis of focusing on people and didn’t get distracted.
Alex: Based on my experience at RenoRun, I’m much more steadfast about cutting through the noise and getting at how founders intend to operate the business. What are their routines? How do they set goals and priorities? How do they measure what success looks like?
WHAT GETS YOUR ATTENTION IN A PITCH?
Matt: I really put a lot of time into figuring out who I’m dealing with. Is this someone I’d want to work alongside for the next ten years? Can they inspire and lead? Are they able to set a clear vision and rally people around it?
Alex: I don’t like the term “pitch” because it inserts a power dynamic between founders and investors. My job is to quickly break that down and talk to a founder as a peer, turn off the sales mode and brainstorm about things that matter to them.
WHAT IS THE ADVICE YOU MOST OFTEN GIVE TO FOUNDERS?
Matt: A lot of founders tend to focus on what’s hot or trendy. Instead, they should really be thinking about what they, given their experience, are the absolute best person in the world to do.
Alex: We encourage founders to spend a lot of time on ideation. We’ve seen many companies fail too quickly, spend money too fast, or lose control of those early, crucial moments in a business where there’s freedom to experiment. We champion that experimentation phase; it’s not something that scares us.
Visit our website to learn more about the mission and leaders of other exceptional emerging managers in our portfolio: Defined, FounderFuel, Front Row Ventures, Garage Capital, Luge, Maple, Mighty Capital, N49P, Northside Ventures, Roar Ventures, The51, and Two Small Fish Ventures.