Fundraising for Capital is often a means to an end, and it is often looked at as a painful process where you are giving away pieces of your soul in exchange for money. Capital is an ethereal unknown... a thing you need to 'crack' the code on. For most founders, the limiting belief is that Capital is the #1 roadblock, and without it, you won't accelerate growth. At Superstruct, we like to think of fundraising as a strategic part of the journey and just a part of the building blocks to success. And it is just 1/2 of the part of the Capital Strategy.
The Master Growth Resilience Model
Superstruct's RETURN focuses on two parts of the whole: Raising Revenue and Raising Capital. With the Revenue in the door first, there is market validation and stability, coming from a position of power when you capital raise. If a commercial partnership is interested in the product, we can then leverage that to go to an investor and seek capital to fund the project at a much lower cost, or even without dilution. It's a methodology, and the time spent helps to continually improve on the market interest. We are aiming for a commercial partnership to say, "this is a great product and I can see your vision." That's the same statement we are looking for from our investor community.
We lead with the mindset that there are four critical players in the capital strategy and creation of a business at this stage. We refer to them as Key Stakeholders (fairly common vernacular):
Founder & Executive Team (Business Owners)
Commercial Partners
Investors
Earth
The Key Stakeholders need to work in harmony to create the right structure to meet the goals of the business. It begins with understanding the EXIT and where the business intends to go over the long term (LIFECYCLE), and the most efficient way to get there. We ask many questions and map out the journey and expected crisis points over the business's lifecycle to understand the growth path. And then we MicroPivot with our Actionable Insights we learn during execution of our 3-Point Sales Strategy. This information flows as we take meetings and learn more about what the market and our commercial partners want.
We know that Investors often struggle to divest from fossil fuel-based strategies without a clear line of sight to recouperate their investment. Historic projects in climate-related activities have proven it to be nearly impossible to meet expectations for investors. Over the last 15 years, we have created our own approach to RETURN that unlocks opportunity and is its own investment strategy. Someday, we would like to lean into it, becoming its own asset class. We lean into 4 Particulars that drive this RETURN:
Current Yield
De-Risking Position & Liquidity Opportunities
Additional Investment & Revenue Share
Long-Term Incentives
In the first two years, we are focused on current yield and milestones where the investment begins to be derisked. We can do this with a revenue share and/or monthly or quarterly distributions. We create a highly creative and custom approach to capital formation and a specific model that benefits both business and investor.
We think in 1000 year strategies, not quarters. Which offers a completely transformative approach to incentives if businesses and investors are open to it. Why get all the capital now if you don't need it? Put it into a long term strategy that offers generations to come opportunity and growth. $30m 100 years from now can be worth $1bn if invested correctly.
Our approach has been simple: Lean into investors and think about it like a partnership. What is it that they want? Then, we facilitate a mutually beneficial approach to RETURN.
Raising Revenue as the First Stage of Capital Strategy
Our capital strategy is rooted in raising revenue as the primary driver of financial growth. We prioritize commercial applications and focus on how ventures will succeed in the market. They need to grow with the market and have use cases to accelerate.
Raising Revenue is a key activity for sustainable business growth. At Superstruct, we take a multi-dimensional approach to evaluating and optimizing revenue streams. This means not just increasing sales but ensuring that revenue generation is efficient, profitable, and aligned with long-term business strategy.
Building a Strong Foundation: Gross Margin First
Before diving into expansion opportunities, the first step in Raising Revenue is ensuring a solid Gross Margin. Without this foundational metric in check, increasing sales may not translate to profitability. You can make endless revenue and it can cost you all your revenue to do it, and more. We want to know meaningful increases in revenue are going to have meaningful impact on your business. We start by asking critical questions during our Interrogation "Dig":
Can we improve Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)?
Can we extract more value out of each product or service?
Can we increase pricing without losing market traction?
Is the product worth more than what we are currently charging?
What is the total market opportunity for expansion?
What are customers signaling through the sales process?
Who are the most consistent buyers, and what drives their purchasing behavior?
Is there a repeatable function that we can optimize?
Can we introduce a new product or service that extends the customer lifecycle?
By addressing these questions, we create a roadmap for revenue growth that doesn’t just focus on volume but emphasizes profitability and sustainability.
Strategic Revenue & Revenue Expansion
Once Gross Margin is stabilized, we employ Superstruct’s Master Growth Workflows to analyze and optimize revenue opportunities. These include:
Ideal Client/Customer Profile (ICP): Understanding who the highest-value customers are and refining messaging and offerings to cater to them.
Client/Customer Journey: Mapping out every touchpoint of the customer experience to identify optimization areas.
Client/Customer Emotional Touch Points: Pinpointing where emotion drives purchasing decisions to create stronger connections and increase conversion rates.
3-Point System: Evaluating revenue streams through a three-tiered approach of immediate opportunities, mid-term gains, and long-term strategies.
Qualification List: Assessing which prospects are most likely to convert and scaling outreach accordingly.
Product Prism (Dimensionalization): Expanding how a product is positioned and packaged to maximize value extraction.
By layering these approaches, we turn sales and marketing—often seen as an expense—into a growth vehicle that compounds over time.
Amplifying Existing Efforts for Greater Impact
Many businesses already have untapped potential within their existing operations. Instead of always looking externally for new revenue, we ask:
What is working right now that can be amplified?
Where is the market already showing readiness?
How can we leverage existing sales data to fine-tune targeting and pricing?
Are there partnerships or collaborations that could open new distribution channels?
By optimizing what’s already in place, we create immediate revenue boosts while setting the stage for longer-term growth.
The Messy Middle: The Hard Work That Leads to Power
Scaling revenue is not a linear process. It requires iterating, testing, and refining through what we call "the Messy Middle." This is the phase where businesses must do the difficult work of adjusting their approach, digging into analytics, and persevering through market shifts. Many companies try to avoid this stage by raising capital prematurely or making reactive decisions that don’t align with their core strategy.
One of my favorite analogies for this process is the Krispy Kreme doughnut effect. Often, we “glaze over” the hard work early on, thinking that securing more funding will buy us time to figure things out. Eventually, every company has to develop a real in-market sales strategy, whether they want to or not. If they wait until they’re running out of runway, it becomes a crisis rather than a proactive strategy.
Instead of choosing the quick fix (the metaphorical doughnut), we encourage businesses to optimize for clarity and make decisions that drive precision and long-term sustainability. Eating for nutrition, not just taste, leads to optimized performance. Eventually you have to dig and get through the hard work to figure out the market. Ideally you do that without burning towards ton of capital in the process.
Raising Revenue to Position for Power Before Capital Raising
Once a company has stabilized revenue and created a strong foundation, the next step is amplification through capital investment. However, we believe in raising revenue before raising capital.
When a company has clear revenue growth pathways, it gains the leverage needed to attract the right investors, negotiate from a position of strength, and deploy capital efficiently. This ensures that funding fuels real growth rather than just extending a timeline.
Revenue as a Catalyst for Sustainable Growth
Raising Revenue is more than just increasing top-line numbers—it’s about ensuring that sales efforts are structured, profitable, and scalable. By focusing on Gross Margin first, amplifying existing opportunities, enduring the Messy Middle, and optimizing for precision, businesses can create a sustainable path to growth.
Structuring the Capital Stack
Once revenue opportunities are established, we identify strategic partners and structure the rest of the capital stack accordingly.
It's as much about governance and systems thinking as anything else. Here are some of the strategies we think about. We have developed a rubric and a white paper to support the discussion.
Capital at Superstruct is not just about equity—it includes a diverse array of financial mechanisms, including:
Revenue-based financing
Redeemable equity
Evergreen fund structures
Government and philanthropic capital to de-risk private investment
Tax optimization and strategic exits
Addressing Systemic Capital Market Challenges
Traditional capital markets often operate on short-term, five-year cycles. CEOs and investors are incentivized to chase quarterly performance boosts rather than sustainable, long-term value creation. This is misaligned with nature’s systems, which are built on regenerative cycles.
We align with nature’s long-term strategies:
Cyclical Thinking: Accepting dips in performance as natural and necessary for long-term stability
Systemic Resilience: Viewing capital through the lens of ecological balance, where short-term losses can drive greater long-term prosperity
Generational Planning: Moving beyond five-year cycles to 10-year, 66-year (three-generation), and 100-year strategies
Nature-Inspired Capital Structures
In nature, growth follows regenerative cycles:
Volcanic soil produces the most fertile land
Seasonal change maintains balance in ecosystems
Tides function like a breathing lung, sustaining marine life
Forest ecosystems thrive through symbiotic networks
Similarly, our financial structures embrace:
1. Current Yield
Objective: Ensure steady financial performance while maintaining reinvestment capacity.
Quarterly Distributions: Implement structured dividend payout mechanisms for stakeholders, tied to profit thresholds.
Revenue-Based Financing: Allocate a percentage of revenues for reinvestment into strategic growth, ensuring liquidity for both the company and investors.
Net Profit & EBIT Management: Optimize tax structures and operational efficiencies to maximize reinvestment potential and stakeholder returns.
Waste as Revenue: Utilize byproducts and inefficiencies as additional revenue streams, aligning with sustainability objectives.
2. Liquidity Opportunities
Objective: Provide accessible capital while preserving long-term investment stability.
Redeemable Equity Model: Implement capped equity structures that allow investors to exit while ensuring capital remains mission-aligned.
Government & Philanthropic Capital Leveraging: Secure non-dilutive funding sources to de-risk private investment and enhance liquidity.
ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans): Establish broad-based employee ownership structures to drive long-term stability and performance.
3. Additional Investment & Revenue Share Incentive
Objective: Attract and retain mission-aligned capital while ensuring financial sustainability.
Evergreen Fund Structure: Maintain perpetual reinvestment capabilities through revenue-sharing mechanisms and strategic capital pools.
Ecosystems & Nature as Assets: Leverage natural capital accounting to quantify and monetize ecological assets.
Impact-Linked Incentives: Tie investor returns to mission-driven outcomes (e.g., carbon sequestration, social impact metrics).
Exit Planning & Tax Optimization: Prioritize incremental capital release strategies over lump-sum exits, ensuring continuity in mission-driven reinvestments.
4. Long-Term Incentives
Objective: Align incentives across multi-generational timelines while sustaining adaptive growth.
100-Year Strategic Vision: Establish rolling reinvestment frameworks to ensure sustained capital flow across multiple decades.
66-Year Generational Incentive: Implement legacy-based incentive structures that facilitate family wealth continuity and intergenerational capital deployment.
Historical Precedents: Learn from long-term incentive structures such as:
Guinness (9,000-Year Strategy) – Long-term brand stewardship and asset management.
Rockefeller & Carnegie – Perpetual trust structures and endowments.
Modern Models: OSC Fund, MAD Capital, Village Capital, Jonathan Soros' “mission equity.”
Rethinking Investment Structures Beyond Public Markets
Traditional venture capital and public markets impose restrictive growth expectations that do not suit all businesses. We emphasize private market solutions, including:
Institutional investors and private capital as long-term stewards
Sector-specific capital from investors who understand the market
Creation of new investment asset classes tailored to regenerative industries
Case Studies & Practical Applications with Longer Term Incentives
1. Carlsberg vs. Guinness
Carlsberg, a 180-year-old company, faces existential threats due to resource depletion caused by climate change.
Guinness, on the other hand, built a 9,000-year lease strategy, ensuring its long-term survival by embedding sustainability into its foundation.
2. Land-Based Strategies
In Virginia, we are developing a 640-acre sustainable land project that integrates forestry, mycology, indigenous plant medicine, and estuary conservation.
This model layers multiple revenue sources, including federal incentives, academic research grants, and long-term resource management.
3. Oyster Haven & Coastal Resilience
This initiative receives nitrate rebates from government programs, helping to clean waterways while providing financial stability.
By integrating public incentives with commercial partnerships, we de-risk the investment for private capital.
Financial Innovation & Sustainability-Linked Investment Models
We advocate for capital models that reward long-term stewardship:
Dividend-based incentives for long-term shareholders
Environmental impact bonds tied to measurable outcomes
Structured liquidity events that allow investors to exit profitably without forcing an IPO
Trust structures that span multiple generations, preserving wealth over time
Looking at Full Spectrum Capital Solutions
We recognize there is not a one-size fits all solution. Part of the work flow we are doing is to ensure that there is always outsized alpha and we are coordinating the right capital solution for the activity. It doesn't make a lot of sense to use equity financing for equipment or working capital needs, so it is more important to use the right capital structure for the right activity.
Creating Systemic Change Through Capital Markets
At the crux of it, we believe this is a new potential asset class in the making. How to create the right blend of public and private funding, short and long term incentives, and to make everyone win from the founder to the team to the investor, the earth and generations to come.
We are working on this as a subject matter, with a committee committed to developing out new ideas in the financial markets. Are you a big thinker? Think with us.
To shift the financial landscape, we focus on:
Capital Structure & Financial Sustainability: Implementing innovative funding models that drive profitability while maintaining resilience.
Governance & Stakeholder Alignment: Ensuring companies integrate regenerative principles into their business operations.
Environmental Stewardship & Long-Term Strategy: Partnering with businesses committed to sustainability and systemic impact.
Superstruct’s capital strategy is fundamentally different from traditional financing models. By designing capital stacks that align with ecological and systemic principles, we enable businesses to thrive over generations, not just fiscal quarters. Through our holistic approach, we are redefining how capital is structured, deployed, and sustained for the long-term health of businesses, communities, and the planet.