What Makes a Startup Great? Investment Insights from a Mercury VC Heath Butler
Heath Butler is a Partner at Mercury Fund, where he invests in Work-Tech, Fin-Tech and Sports-Tech B2B Software. Heath is also the host of Mercury’s podcast, “Go Slow to Grow Fast". Prior to joining Mercury, Heath founded Gestalt Theory Venture Partners, a venture studio and investment platform for early-stage companies.
Outside of Mercury, Heath is an active angel investor, mentors in innovation communities throughout Middle-America, teaches a quarterly “How to Start a Startup” session at The Ion and blogs @ StartupHeat. He co-founded the Innovation Center for Urban Entrepreneurship (iCUE), a non-profit, designed to on-ramp underrepresented communities into the innovation ecosystem. Heath also supports numerous non-profits through board service, including, as a Board Trustee for American Leadership Forum, and as a Board Director for Lemonade Day.
Connect with Heath:
LinkedIn: Heath Butler
Websites: Mercury | mercuryfund.com
🌟 Resources & Links
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🎧 Episode Highlights
- [00:00] Podcast Begins
- [01:11] Early Investment Experiences: Heath’s background in the Houston ecosystem
- [04:42] What Makes a Startup Great? How Mercury & Heath evaluate founders & long-term potential
- [11:19] Unpack Houston’s Top Founders: dynamic problem-solvers with balanced perspectives on risk management
- [18:26] Tech as a Houston Investor Priority: Turning investor interest into financial reality for Houston’s family offices
- [23:29] Is Mercury Forging the Future? Heath talks AI, machine learning, Saas, & more
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Long-term Potential & Founder Relationship Building: It’s no secret that being the CEO of a tech startup can be lonely. However, Heath’s team at Mercury emphasizes their relationship with the founder first, giving feedback and advice to measure coachability and lay a foundation of support that can be used to build a long-term startup team.
- Curiosity, Passion & Initiative: The recipe for a great founder might look different for each VC firm, but at Mercury, intellectual curiosity is a core value. “They’re always pushing the limit of what could be and they’re always asking questions.”
- Beyond Oil & Gas: The Houston startup ecosystem is ripe for innovation, and Mercury’s investment and focus in tech is shining a light on what’s to come for investor trends. There’s still work to be done with higher net worth individuals, but Heath is confident that the interest in tech is there, even if the investor comfort level isn’t yet.
👤 Guest Spotlight
Heath Butler:
Heath Butler is a Partner at Mercury Fund, where he invests in Work-Tech, Fin-Tech and Sports-Tech B2B Software. Heath is also the host of Mercury’s podcast, “Go Slow to Grow Fast". Prior to joining Mercury, Heath founded Gestalt Theory Venture Partners, a venture studio and investment platform for early-stage companies.
Outside of Mercury, Heath is an active angel investor, mentors in innovation communities throughout Middle-America, teaches a quarterly “How to Start a Startup” session at The Ion and blogs @ StartupHeat. He co-founded the Innovation Center for Urban Entrepreneurship (iCUE), a non-profit, designed to on-ramp underrepresented communities into the innovation ecosystem. Heath also supports numerous non-profits through board service, including, as a Board Trustee for American Leadership Forum, and as a Board Director for Lemonade Day.
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