.406 Ventures

Address: 470 Atlantic Avenue, 12th Floor, Boston, MA 02210
Phone: 617-406-3300

Website: http://www.406ventures.com

Who We Are

.406 Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in innovative Information Technology (“IT”) and services companies founded by the finest entrepreneurs. We are a veteran team of industry entrepreneurs, operators and investors who apply real world experience, deep industry knowledge and networks, and strong company-building skills to create value for our entrepreneurs and investing partners. We typically are the lead, first institutional investor in early-stage and de novo investments in market-changing IT Security and Infrastructure, Technology-Enabled Business Services, and Next-Generation Software companies.

What We Bring

Entrepreneurs who have “been there”
As investors, we bring an entrepreneurial energy, enthusiasm and tireless commitment to our companies. Every member of the .406 team is an entrepreneur, each of us having been a founder, builder or principal driver in several successful companies. As a result, we are able to offer real-world advice based on first-hand experience with the unique challenges, opportunities and rewards associated with growing early-stage businesses.

We have a passion to share the benefits of our past experience so that entrepreneurs can make better decisions and avoid costly mistakes. We can help anticipate and manage rapid-growth risks as well as identify and support first-mover advantage on potential opportunities.

Finally, we understand the importance of mutual alignment in creating value every day. We believe in being fair to founders and sensitive to their ownership concerns. We work to achieve a balance of being an exceptionally strong advocate and a constructive sounding board. And we are committed to direct and honest communications with our investors and business partners.

Successful company-builders
We bring 70 years of collective entrepreneurial, senior operating and venture investing experience in early-stage IT companies over a 20+ year period and multiple market cycles. Each of us has successfully started, built, scaled, operated, IPO’d and sold companies. We bring executive management and functional company-building strengths, having been CEOs, CFOs, VP-Sales and Marketing, and VP-Business Development for technology start-ups and Fortune 200 companies. We have deep domain expertise and experience in our market segments as well as knowledge of best practices from the IT leaders.

We understand that most early-stage teams are always growing and evolving, rarely adhere to initial plans and succeed by adapting quickly and intelligently to rapidly-changing market conditions and competitive dynamics. We can help set and adapt strategy, offer operational leadership and insights, recruit and build teams, secure initial customers, facilitate sales channels and finance growth. And, we draw on our broad and deep networks cultivated over long and diverse careers in industry to cultivate strategic relationships and make key introductions.

Our entrepreneurial success has earned the .406 team industry recognition, including “Massachusetts IPO of the Year,” “Massachusetts CEO of the Year” and “New England Entrepreneur of the Year.”

Valued investing partner with exceptional syndicates
Having spent years working with venture-backed companies and in the venture industry, we understand best practices of venture investing through up and down cycles and have cultivated strong relationships with blue chip venture funds that look to the .406 team for industry depth, market knowledge and networks and an entrepreneurial orientation. In turn, we are able to bring our entrepreneurs exceptional financial depth and resources from some of the giants in our industry.

Our History

.406 Ventures was founded in 2005 by Maria Cirino, Larry Begley and Liam Donohue. The Managing Directors had worked together over 8 years founding, building and investing in over 12 successful IT and services businesses. The team came together with the belief that their combined career track records, complementary skills and compatible partnership style would allow them to bring fresh perspectives, approaches and experience to early-stage venture investing.

.406 Ventures was founded on and is dedicated to three operating principles:

* An investment philosophy that places industry operating leadership and company-building experience as the core competency of the investment team;

* A commitment to ‘back-to-basics’ venture capital disciplines focused on operational excellence, entrepreneurial spirit and capital-efficiency as the means to build successful businesses;

* An entrepreneurial partnership approach that values honest and straight communication and is deeply supportive while setting the bar high.

Our Name

Baseball fans know that .406 refers to Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams’ 1941 batting average, the last time a batter broke .400 in a season. Williams achieved this record through a scientific dissection of his strike zone and an ability to recognize and swing only at the pitches where he knew that he could achieve a high average. His success was not coincidental, but the result of a patient approach and rigorous discipline. Our logo represents Williams’ strike zone with the red points highlighting the zone of greatest potential success.

While no one on our team can claim to bat like Ted, we apply his disciplined approach to achieving high investment returns by investing in the areas we know best. As seasoned industry veterans turned investors, we understand the market segments in which we invest and can recognize early potential winners, being careful to ‘swing only at the pitches’ where we believe that we can add tangible value and achieve unparalleled success.

Tags: Venture Capital Firms