• Overview
• Goals
• Investment Criteria
• Value-Added Operations

Value-Added Operations –
The Fund intends to act as a trusted early/growth stage partner and assist management with developing strategic growth and financing plans. Meriwether Capital Partners will make it a condition of investment that one of the Principals, Value-added Industry Partners (“VIPs”) or affiliates thereof shall represent the Fund on each of the portfolio company boards. The board representatives will provide general advice on all areas of strategy, marketing and operations. The Principals and VIPs will make their industry contacts available to portfolio companies. The Principals and VIPs will also work with portfolio company management teams to determine appropriate exit alternatives for the Fund.

Clear Competitive Advantages – 
The Principals believe the Fund may enjoy a competitive advantage over other investment firms. The Fund will focus on early/growth stage consumer product and service companies using an approach modeled upon the Principals’ previously successful investment strategies. This strategy creates ideal investment dynamics, through the Principals’ proprietary opportunity flow, which may include new enterprises started by serial entrepreneurs known to the Principals, as well as special situations the Fund may become aware of through the Principals’ active involvement with other companies in the Athletic, Outdoor, Wellness, Active Lifestyle, Healthy Living markets. Further, the Fund anticipates seeing minimal competition from other capital sources and being regarded as the entrepreneurs’ preferred source of capital. Meriwether Capital Partners offers advantages over active, one-off private investing in the Athletic, Outdoor, Wellness, Active Lifestyle, Healthy Living markets by providing investors with the risk mitigation benefits of a larger portfolio of investments or “portfolio effect”. Meriwether Capital Partners also offers active private investors with an organized, structured and thorough process for managing the due diligence effort as well as post-funding monitoring and reporting, and exiting.

Advisory Board –
The Fund intends to augment the Investment Team with an Advisory Board comprised of: (i) VIPs from the focus markets; and (ii) seasoned investment and business professionals. Members of the Advisory Board will also be significant investors in the Fund. The Principals believe the Advisory Board may provide a significant competitive advantage to the Fund. The Advisory Board will review the General Partner’s quarterly valuations of the Fund’s investments, approve the annual selection of auditors for the Fund, and help the General Partner resolve conflicts of interest, if any. The Advisory Board will also advise the General Partner on Investment Team operational issues, if any. While the Advisory Board will not have investment decision making authority for the Fund, it will provide active counsel on investment issues that may arise.

The Principals will also draw upon the expertise of the VIPs to provide input regarding management of new opportunities and portfolio companies. The VIPs, together with the Principals, comprise a trusted network of industry insiders who will provide portfolio companies with strategic advice, operational and marketing guidance and critical industry contacts. The VIPs may represent the Fund on portfolio company boards and assist in guiding management teams to successful exits for their investors.

Meriwether Capital Partners’ investment strategy seeks to leverage the strengths of the Principals and the VIPs. The Fund’s strategy and tactics represent a combination of the best practices of the Investment Team’s prior investments and successful business ventures. The Principals believe their approach may enhance the Fund’s rate of return by reducing risks that can be associated with early/growth stage investing.

Trusted Early Stage Partners –
One of the biggest challenges to investing in our focus markets is establishing trust with entrepreneurs. The Principals believe the Fund will be one of only a few firms, if any, with a commitment to early/growth stage consumers in our target market opportunities and a track record of effectively teaming with entrepreneurs. The Principals also believe that the Fund’s significant industry insider representation will help establish trust-based business partnerships with portfolio companies. To the extent future opportunities managed by serial entrepreneurs materialize, the Principals believe their established relationships in the industry will place the Fund in a favorable position to be considered as an early/growth stage investor.

Strategic Growth and Financing Plan –
The Principals intend to help each portfolio company develop a strategic financing plan that details the commercial milestones required for success and the corresponding working capital needs, all with the goal of achieving valuation increases over subsequent rounds of financing. With this strategic financing plan in place, the Fund intends to help portfolio companies syndicate later rounds of financing with outside investors, many of whom are managing significant amounts of uninvested capital. It is the Principals’ belief that generalist/opportunistic private equity firms will readily invest capital in growing private companies with quality leadership and evidence of solid execution, thus reducing the financing risk of the Fund.

Value-Added Extended Network –
The Fund intends to add value to its portfolio companies through a combination of the Principals’ early/growth stage investing, strategic and operational expertise, and the Fund’s extended VIPs. The Principals are skilled in many aspects of early/growth stage financing, including strategic and financial planning, sales and marketing, operations, management recruitment, distribution, partnering and exiting. Through the Principals’ extended network, Meriwether Capital Partners anticipates being in a position to consider special situations which could present compelling investment opportunities, such as later stage companies, mergers and acquisitions candidates and discounted insider illiquidity positions.