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The Charleston Marketing Podcast
Welcome to The Charleston Marketing Podcast, the podcast that dives deep into the world of marketing, with a specific focus on the vibrant city of Charleston. Join us as we explore the strategies, trends, and success stories that shape the marketing landscape in this historic and captivating coastal city.
Each episode of The Charleston Marketing Podcast brings you exclusive interviews with local marketing experts, industry thought leaders and Charleston entrepreneurs who have harnessed the power of effective marketing in the Lowcountry and beyond. From strategic communication, social media, PR, digital strategy and everything in between, we uncover valuable insights and actionable tips for our listeners.
The Charleston Marketing Podcast
Kristina Chapple w/ 11 Tribes | Investing in Founders, Not Just Companies
How are we doing? Who do you want to learn from next? Text us with notes and ideas.
Kristina Chapple has a refreshing take on startup funding that might just transform venture capital as we know it. Fresh from raising $46 million for 11 Tribes Ventures second fund, she's on a mission that extends far beyond traditional investment metrics.
While most VCs focus exclusively on financial outcomes, Kristina's team is pioneering a dual approach that places equal emphasis on what happens to the founders themselves. "What's the state of our founders' most precious relationships when they walk from their company?" she asks. "If they're married, are they still together with that spouse? If they have kids, do their kids know them? What's their health like—physical, mental, spiritual?" These questions reflect 11 Tribes' commitment to measuring and supporting what they call the "founder outcome," born from the team's personal experiences with the often devastating personal toll of entrepreneurship.
This isn't just feel-good investing—it's strategic. Kristina believes that by dedicating resources to founders' wellbeing, the financial outcomes naturally follow. Her fund targets companies positioned for exits in the $75-300 million range, deliberately seeking founders who have been "haunted by a problem" rather than those who simply spot market opportunities. And instead of concentrating in traditional tech hubs, 11 Tribes is bringing capital to overlooked ecosystems like Charleston, Atlanta, Nashville, and Tulsa, where committed entrepreneurs are building solutions to problems they deeply understand.
Kristina represents what she calls "a new wave of venture capital entering the market post-2020"—one that's more aligned with founders as whole people, not just vehicles for returns. For entrepreneurs who've worried that raising capital means sacrificing everything else, her approach offers a compelling alternative. Connect with Kristina on LinkedIn or at 11tribesvc.com to learn how this human-centered investment philosophy might support your journey.
Presenting Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Title Sponsor: Charleston American Marketing Association
Cohosts: Stephanie Barrow, Mike Compton,
Produced and edited: RMBO Advertising
Photographer | Co-host: Kelli Morse
Art Director: Taylor Ion
CAMA President: Margaret Stypa
Score by: The Strawberry Entrée; Jerry Feels Good, CURRYSAUCE, DBLCRWN, DJ DollaMenu
Studio Engineer: Brian Cleary and Mathew Chase
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Welcome to the Charleston Marketing Podcast, brought to you by the Charleston AMA and broadcasting from our friends at Charleston Media Solutions Studios. Thanks to our awesome sponsors at CMS, we get to chat with the cool folks making waves in Charleston, from business and art to hospitality and tech. These movers and shakers choose to call the Lowcountry home. They live here, work here and make a difference here. So what's their story? Let's find out together. Uh, where are we? What's my name? Um, this might be our interview. 13 or 14, I'm not sure but I'm gonna go with both.
Speaker 2:I'm here with stephanie. Uh, hello steph at the Big South. We're live streaming at Big South. I never know what camera to point at, but I'm going to go with both. I'm here with Stephanie. Hello, steph.
Speaker 3:Hi guys, Stephanie Barrow, his lovely co-host.
Speaker 2:Lovely. Who said I did, I did we're excited.
Speaker 3:We're going all pure adrenaline, Kind of tell like we're speed dating the podcast. Today You're the 15th, we're having fun, we're having fun with it. I'm like a leading, very and inspired by everybody.
Speaker 1:Lucky number one five. It's been great.
Speaker 2:Christina Chappell has joined the set right now. Christina, what are you doing here at Dig South?
Speaker 3:Man, I'm trying to meet founders at Dig South, is that right?
Speaker 2:There you go. Yes, I like it. Okay, founders at.
Speaker 3:Dig South. Is that right there?
Speaker 2:you go? Yes, yeah, I like it.
Speaker 3:Okay, okay, we just raised $46 million for our second fund, what, and I'm trying to meet the best founders in this country to allocate to this year, and you told me you're from Chicago. Yes, ma'am, so you flew in from Chicago for this. That I did, though my roots are southern. I grew up in Alpharetta, georgia.
Speaker 1:Okay nice Chapel Hill.
Speaker 3:North Carolina school and now the Midwest, has surprised me in a million lovely ways. How is?
Speaker 1:that snow treating you.
Speaker 3:You know it's not as bad as people told me Okay that's good. It's not as bad, that's good, that's good. So your hair ticks out.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, she's catching a flight back home. So back to Chicago, so back to Chicago. So we've got to keep it quick. What did you think about today for your mission here?
Speaker 3:It's such a special day. Any chance that we have to meet a large group of people and get to share this thesis that is, I believe, more focused on the founder and trying to innovate on some of the traditional ways that Venture has functioned, is just such a privilege. You know there's only so many calls one can fit into in any given week. So these one to many opportunities to speak with people are invaluable to us. So you came in the day before yesterday. Yes, well, I flew in yesterday.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, next time you're going to stay a little while and enjoy Charleston.
Speaker 3:Exactly, it's true.
Speaker 2:Yes, so many fond memories here.
Speaker 3:Oh sure, so you've already known the ladies of my family. Oh my gosh, charleston, south Carolina, did you say ladies? There's so many ladies in Charleston, there are a lot of ladies.
Speaker 2:It's like ladies take over Charleston.
Speaker 1:A lady to welcome.
Speaker 2:What's your day?
Speaker 3:My day job is to meet founders, oh.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that.
Speaker 3:Yep, yep. So check in the box today and then bringing our thesis forward into the markets that we're targeting investment in, and so Charleston is one of them, as is Atlanta and Nashville and Tulsa and any city that's really not New York, San Francisco or Boston, where much of the venture capital is consolidated.
Speaker 2:God, I love that. That just makes me excited to be here. You know, have you been to any other Dig South type place?
Speaker 3:This is my first.
Speaker 2:First Dig South.
Speaker 3:Yes, but any other tech conference In Charleston, anywhere, anywhere, oh my gosh. I'm on a plane a week around the country trying to meet different founders at different tech weeks and the like.
Speaker 2:What do you think about DigSouth as far as in comparison to these other ones?
Speaker 3:It is an operation, it is.
Speaker 2:Talk about it.
Speaker 3:I think this is the tightest ship that I've been a part of, wow.
Speaker 1:That's impressive.
Speaker 3:As far as having, you know, 30 minutes for a panel, having the clock count down in front of me, having the music play during one of my panelists' answers to a question of now it is time to transition.
Speaker 1:It was great, it's the little things that count, isn't it Exactly?
Speaker 3:Yeah, dig South really stood out in the details. Did you make some real connections while you were here? I did. I got to meet some incredible founders and co-investors. We're not on a cap table together yet, but that is the hope.
Speaker 2:Any ones that stand out that you like.
Speaker 3:Top three Top three no pressure. One of the questions that I fielded, which stopped me in my tracks in a great way, was how do you handle the zeros at your fund. Tracks in a great way was how do you handle the zeros at your fund? And we have stories to share of teams who, you know, never got to the ultimate vision that they had set out for themselves. Granted, we're a young fund. We wrote our first check April of 2021., so still sort of this new fund on the block and it feels like we really established some legs here with the 46 million.
Speaker 2:Working hard for sure.
Speaker 3:But at 11 Tribes. The reason why we're existing today in the market is that for the last 70 or so years since Venture's been around, investors have focused entirely on one part of the exit conversation, which is the business outcome, and, of course, as a steward of capital, I want strong business outcomes for every person I have the privilege of meeting and it's fairly straightforward on how to measure those. You know exit valuations, arr, cash flow, the like but our team exists to shed light on a part of the exit conversation that we think is actually more central to if the company exits or not, which is what we call the founder outcome and how our team measures that and holds ourselves accountable and striving for success in it is. What's the state of our founders' most precious relationships when they walk from their company? If they're married, are they still together with that spouse?
Speaker 2:That's a big feat.
Speaker 3:If they have kids, do their kids, know them and talk to them.
Speaker 3:Is there any peace in that founder's life? What's their health like? Physical, mental, spiritual health? Our team we've all had experiences building companies from day zero. Only one of us, mark the managing partner, has built a venture-backable company, but we've all taken this downward journey of entrepreneurship and experienced a fracturing of our own founder outcome, and so, as a fund, we've tried to dedicate as many resources, as much thoughtfulness and strategy around what happens to our people as they build and as they eventually walk as we do the company. We think if we do that well, then the financial outcomes that we're striving for are only going to be reinforced.
Speaker 3:So you know getting to share that on a panel is just so special.
Speaker 2:It is. It's a tough story, though it's a tough story to tell in such a short amount of time. So I'm glad you were able to tell it again here on the podcast because you do it so well.
Speaker 3:You do it so well. Yeah, very eloquently.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm super excited, I can't wait to follow you on all the social media and all that.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:How do we find you anyways?
Speaker 3:You can find me on LinkedIn, yeah.
Speaker 2:Find you at Dig South. Yes, yes, find me on in emails or com for 11?.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, 11tribesvc, you can go to our website and get some more data on the opportunities that we typically bring into diligence. We have a funding application there. And then for teams that are able to find me on socials or reach out via email, including just a short description of why in the world you have taken this path, that is not one of least resistance is what I'm looking for. I bet you're inspired all the time. Yes, oh, my gosh. My job.
Speaker 3:Getting to meet people who put their heart and soul into what they do every day take that big risk, and we like to say that we search for founders who might have gray hair, in that they have been haunted by a problem. They've been haunted by a problem for decades and they want to see it through, and so many of our teams. They haven't just stumbled upon an opportunity area and said, oh hey, there's a lot of money to be made here.
Speaker 3:They are really bought into seeing a certain niche problem fixed and they're trying to build a company that's going to land in the $75 to $300 million enterprise value at exit, and we have underwritten our fund to back that company, and so we have to have a higher success rate across the board, which is scary, a healthy burden, but at the same time, I do think that there's a new wave of venture capital entering the market post-2020, and I think it's more aligned with the founder.
Speaker 2:More aligned with the soul, finding the soul of the founders.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Love that Well, it was such a pleasure meeting you.
Speaker 1:We know you have to catch a flight to Chicago.
Speaker 3:Thank you, christina. Thank you, I'm so excited that you're here. Oh, had your flight to Chicago. Thank you, christina. I'm so excited that you're here, christina.
Speaker 2:Chapel. Oh my gosh, thank you for having me, of course. Of course, we already know how to get a hold of you right. Christina, yes, we talked about that. Now let's thank our sponsors. We've got Kaz Films, we've got Larry Monty.
Speaker 3:Why am I blanking?
Speaker 2:right now Larry Monty.
Speaker 3:We have the Charleston Marketing.
Speaker 2:Association.
Speaker 1:Larry, how do you say?
Speaker 2:your last name again.
Speaker 1:Monteith. That's what I said. Yes, Larry.
Speaker 2:Monteith, charleston Media Solutions and the Charleston American Marketing Association.
Speaker 3:Yes, we're coming live again, and shortly, from Dick South.
Speaker 2:Yes, we'll see you in a couple minutes.
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