Merritt Hummer

What do you look for in an investment?

We look for novelty in each investment we make. What is the company doing that is new or fundamentally different relative to its predecessors? We love emerging software categories and innovative approaches to old problems.

We like markets that are ripe for change. Why is this the right moment for a company to emerge? It could be due to the presence of an enabling technology, the availability of a new data source, or a secular change in how people work. Whatever the catalyst, we try to align our investments with an understanding of the moment. All else equal, a market tailwind is the difference between a good investment and a great investment.

We want to back companies that have the potential to scale quickly, efficiently and durably. Whether a company can pull that off is a function of many inputs: business model, product-market fit, go-to-market strategy, customer profile and product innovation. We aspire to invest in companies with “no brainer” metrics and teams to match. We appreciate companies that are rigorous and metrics-oriented in their DNA.

Ultimately, we care about quality over quantity of investments. We want every company we partner with to be great. In each new investment, we believe we see the right idea at the right time with the right person.

What do you look for in a founder?

I love to back ambitious founders with a strong will to succeed. When things get hard, as they inevitably will, those who feel that they must find a way are the ones who do. Building a company is not for the faint of heart. It requires a special person with a blend of skills to do it well. I look for something in the founder’s background or personality that provides an extra gear.

I look for a unique insight that a founder has derived from personal experience with a problem. Real world problems that founders have encountered are more inspiring than business concepts derived from whiteboarding sessions.

The best founders need to reinvent themselves over time, transitioning from scrappy zero-to-one visionaries to pre-IPO leaders. I love to back founders who have the leadership potential to ring a bell at a stock exchange one day, surrounded by world class colleagues they recruited along the way.

Why BCV?

Before we make a new investment, we look for a way that we can uniquely help the company. If we can’t articulate how our team will disproportionately support the company’s objectives, then we shouldn’t invest. Our value add manifests differently in each investment. For MaintainX, this meant facilitating introductions to Bain Capital-owned companies in the manufacturing and retail sectors. For Pleo, this meant providing strategic consulting resources for important projects. For Apollo, this meant leveraging our expertise in product-led growth business models to advise on go-to-market strategies. We aspire to be valuable partners embedded in our companies rather than investors who show up once a quarter at board meetings.