Jonathan Greechan
Contributor
Jonathan Greechan is CEO and co-founder of the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator, Founder Institute.
More posts by this contributor
Do you fit the mold for the next generation of values-driven VCs?
These best practices maximize the value of your online events
Earlier this year, a report from the EU showed that 42% of companies exaggerate their level of sustainability. This “greenwashing” is now so prevalent that one organization has launched a platform to calculate businesses’ true environmental impact and avoid misleading marketing.
Today’s global impact investment market is valued at $715 billion and growing. But as VCs, angels and celebrities rush to put their dollars in businesses that do good, they’re not doing sufficient due diligence.
For some founders, tying themselves to impact is a way to play into trends and get noticed by investors. It’s why some people identify themselves as an “impactpreneur.”
There’s a fine line between impact and pushing a narrative for marketing purposes, and misjudging a startup’s genuineness can cost investors money as well as their reputation. During my time working with thousands of startups, I’ve picked up on these three signs that a startup is using impact to gain traction on the public stage — not make real change.
They aren’t recording and tracking impact metrics
If a company isn’t measuring the impact they claim to focus on, that’s a red flag. Startups that are really striving for impact will have a clear definition of what their goals are, how they’re getting t …
