"They say Devil was an Angel too" -Parallel Entrepreneurs
#01 Ecosystem Builders
Parallel entrepreneurs are ecosystem builders by making new small companies and businesses next to their existing businesses or companies for their capital growth and interests. They make symbiotic relationships between their companies to complete their internal supply chain managment as well. By making new micro-entities they are in fact building new microeconomies while they indeed, directly or indirectly, boost the economy of the country or countries.
#02 Silent Investors
Parallel entrepreneurs might invest in companies silently either as angel investors or silent partners. They might not tell the public for years or hide their assets or force cofounders to be silent strategically for stealth mode operations. Some parallel entrepreneurs may use their reputation and financial power to exert control over the company founders, sometimes even going as far as forcing them to keep quiet about their involvement.
Parallel entrepreneurs (PEs) are supportive, transparent, and respectful of the companies they invest in. It's important for PEs to do their due diligence when seeking investors and to choose those trusted investors who align with their values and goals for the company.
#03 Higher Risk Takers
Thanks to their gray entrepreneurial vision, they are higher risk takers in giving a shot to new ideas or concepts. This is because parallel entrepreneurs are starting a new business or venture next to their other matured ventures and are often putting their own personal finances, resources and reputation on the line. Angel investors, on the other hand, are typically investing money into an existing business or venture and have a more passive role in the company. Some angel or super angel investors might be also parallel entrepeneurs or buyer entrepeneurs. (Saatchi, 2023)
#04 Deeper Experiences
Parallel entrepreneurs are interacting with different companies, different direct managment executives and investment experiences since they are using their own capital unlike VC firms are responsible to LP partners and VC allocated budgets. They are individuals with a team who are able to simultaneously manage multiple businesses or ventures at once. They are often considered to have deep knowledge and expertise in multiple industries or fields.
Compared to early-stage investors, angel investors typically have deep knowledge and expertise in one specific industry or field as well, but their knowledge is more focused on identifying and evaluating investment opportunities rather than managing and growing a business.
#05 Devil-Eyes With Evil Hears
Due to their different experiences and being on both sides of business managment either with an entrepreneurial hat or an investor hat. They are getting updated consistently from both sides for their market intelligence being sharpen for rising new opportunities.
As entrepreneurs, they are also in a unique position to understand the challenges and needs of other not parallel entrepreneurs and startups, which can help them make more informed investment decisions. By constantly being updated on market intelligence, parallel entrepreneurs can make better decisions that are based on the latest trends and opportunities, and they can anticipate changes in the market. This can give them a competitive edge over other entrepreneurs and investors who may not have access to the same level of information by their Devil eyes looking constantly for new opportunities and hearing the news with evil hears of their netowrk people and network in the market, government, and regulations.
#06 Risk Minimizers by Diversifying
PEs don't put all their eggs in one basket just like many stock brokers and other investors. But they are risk minimizers strategists by nature. When they invest in different new business, they will see what the other partnered young entrepreneur needs financially and non-financially for mutual success. For example, they can help the young entrepreneur or young founder to get a network for their supply chain managment, recruiting, free office (no renting), venture lease, and venture credits of parallel entrepreneurs.
#07 Community Strategic Architectures
If you want to connect to customers, investors, scientists, founders, other entrepreneurs, bank associates for credit, and even politicians as a person with different backgrounds, never underestimate the power of PEs. They have more than one company at least and usually, they make their networks with foreign customers at their other businesses or deals. If you think deeply, for their companies, they meet more investors or even more scientists if it's a tech company needing a university laboratory to reduce costs strategically without spending toon much capital.
PEs sometimes interact with politicians at some level when their companies become bigger or more influential in terms of technology and economics like Elon Musk. Owing to financial, and technology-building capacity they can decide where they are interested in. Their lobby power is more diverse than VC firms because unlike VC firms mentorship and focus on tech startups, they are experienced captains and key players in startups or SMEs, or tech companies. PEs change leaderships and coaches until see KPI improvment in company and financial profitability.
#08 Multiple Reputation Gain
Each company or business deal or investment they gain will gain a different reputation in their resume. Their reputation can be a social, angelic, financial, successful business, or as cofounder several times. This reputation can take many forms, including a reputation for being socially responsible, having a strong track record of successful investments, or being a co-founder of multiple successful companies. Additionally, entrepreneurs with good reputations for financial acumen and business acumen will be more attractive to investors.
The reputation of an entrepreneur can be a valuable asset, as it can help them to secure funding and partnerships, attract top talent, and build credibility with customers and clients. However, a poor reputation can have the opposite effect and make it more difficult for an entrepreneur to be successful. So Parallel entrepreneurs are basically diversifying their reputations in different industries to reduce their risk of failure.
#09 Do VCs hate Parallel Entrepreneurs?
Yes and no. The majority of VC firms and accelerators are interested in serial entrepreneurship and well-focused on junky young founders. Junky founders are those without discipline with high business intelligence getting easily bored after while ine one company and want to exit; that's why VCs are looking for them. If you are not the one, and you are with discipline and routine want to make a one big company, VCs probably don't like you; but you are the great triple AAA founder indeed. PEs are so disciplinized indeed and not junky founders. That's why it is important to understand your self-acutual entrepreneurial type. Both junky founders and disciplinized founders can be rich and successful if they understand their own patterns to flourish themselves. (Saatchi, 2023).
Ironically, Smarter, larger, and experienced VCs are interested in communicating with parallel entrepreneurs because they are risk minimizers and are like experienced captains and leaders to them understanding the value of money and time since they are investors too. While smaller, and inexperienced VCs or accelerators are not mature yet to understand PE's power, influence and complexity of them, they mainly considered them as a rival and are not open-minded enough. Sometimes they misundertand the power of PE with delusional founder. If it happens to you, it means your small accelerator or micro VCs is not well experienced. As explained above, PEs are entrepreneurs, and investors and they are part of the investment cycle and financial partners as well. Some parallel entrepreneurs are tycoons and business magnates like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Cornelius Vanderbilt (Buckley, 2018), etc.
Do PEs communicate with VC/CVC?
Of course! buisness is business. They communicate reciprocally. it depends both side are interested in working together or not. Generally, parallel entrepreneurs are fewer than serial entrepreneurs exposed to VC/CVCs firms. Indeed, parallel entrepreneurs have angel investment and LP arm power. Sometimes, they got too old or too busy to invest directly and they want to diversify their investment more. In some scenarios, they might have less capital or want to risk less for the new heavy-cost company or venture they want to build as an entrepreneur which forces them to see VCs or other LPs. In brief, they have a symbiotic relationship with VC/CVC firms either as an entrepreneur, angel investors, or LPs. Sometimes they are the LPs or angels to VC or CVCs. Don't also confused Private Equity (PE) investment firms with parallel entrepreneurs (PEs).
Bibliography:
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