Learn to Win — Sasha Seymore interview
"That one million dollar investment from MVP has already resulted in over $300,000 of ARR contract value within nine months. They're as strategic as a lead investor."
In their own words.
Tell us about Learn to Win.
My name is Sasha Seymore, I'm one of the co-founders of Learn to Win. We're a mobile-first active-learning technology designed to help teams learn faster and more effectively. We work with some of the most premier elite sports teams in the country — like the LA Rams, Super Bowl champions — across over 30 different groups with the US Department of Defense helping train our sailors and soldiers, and with some of the highest-performing commercial teams across frontline and sales organizations. Our lead investors are Northwest Venture Partners, and our board member is Jeff Grove, one of the managing directors there. MVP is part of our investing team as well, alongside strategic defense investors and other strategic advisors.
How would you describe MVP's role in your business?
After working with the MVP team for a little over a year, I would think of them as just as strategic, or almost as strategic, a decision as who your actual lead investor is. The MVP portfolio team has added tremendous value just in the way they've leaned in — "here are the nuts and bolts and the nitty-gritty of what you need from a go-to-market perspective; who are the advisors that you need on your team; how can our network of LPs actually help you get to where you want to go?"
Can you quantify the impact of their introductions?
They've made 10 to 15 introductions to people who could really lean in and say, "here's what you need to know about the space; here's what you need to know about working with this organization; here's how we can help." That one-million-dollar investment from MVP has already, nine months in, resulted in over $300,000 of ARR contract value. By the end of this year, it'll probably be closer to $400,000 to half a million. They put in a million dollars of investment capital, but their introductions have resulted in probably over half a million dollars of enterprise value, and probably more over the course of our relationship.
What's the broader effect of MVP being on your cap table?
By bringing in somebody like MVP, you exponentially multiply the number of people who are invested in the success of your organization. Having that group of people who say "we want to make sure you're successful, we want to lean in and help however we can" at those early stages really makes a big difference.