[JATAF] The Aether Foundation

We make small investments in return for small stakes in the companies we fund.

All venture investors supply some combination of money and help. In our case the money is by far the smaller component. In fact, many of the ventures we fund don’t need the money. We also get the investments we fund incorporated properly with all the standard paperwork, avoiding legal time-bombs that could cause serious hassles and delays later. We introduce founders to lawyers who will often agree to defer payment for legal work. We regularly help our investments find and hire their first employees. We can help with intellectual property questions, like what to market, and when. One of the least publicized things we do, for obvious reasons, is mediate disputes between founders. No corporation thinks they’re going to need that, but most do at some point.

The kind of advice we give literally can’t be bought, because anyone qualified to give it is already rich. You can only get it from investors.