John Willmoth is the Blazer winner in the Investor category for KY Inno's inaugural Fire Awards. To read more about the other Blazer winners, click here.
Out of all the quotes that can inspire John Willmoth on a daily basis, perhaps none does a better job than Teddy Roosevelt’s famous speech from 1910 that has been commonly referred to as “The Man in the Arena” because of its most-well known line: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood …”
Willmoth and his firm Poplar Ventures have been in the arena for several years, having started a $22 million fund in 2019 with the support of seven advisory partners who have been with him since day one. Currently, the fund supports eight startups, most of which either started in Louisville or in the region.
Two of the firm's local investments, Podchaser and SkuVault, delivered returns with acquisitions this year.
“I will tell you that [quote] resonates with me: The people who are out there trying to do the work,” said Willmoth, a native of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, who moved back to the Bluegrass State in 2006. “I have tremendous respect for any entrepreneur or anybody in any field — it doesn’t even have to be in business. Get out there and make the effort, give it a shot, try. Do the best you can. Sometimes you fail. Sometimes you succeed. I’ve got a bias toward people who get out there and try to accomplish things, as opposed to folks that sit back and want to comment from the cheap seats.”
Although he will admit that there have been times where he and his firm have had to pass on opportunities due to not being the right market or terms of investment, Willmoth is always on the lookout for the next company that fits within the framework that Poplar Ventures has established in the tech space.
Here's more from Willmoth in a Q&A:
What are three qualities you look for in founders?
First of all, I’m looking for folks who understand their particular market opportunity … who have naturally come across their particular opportunity that they’re trying to pursue.
The second thing is I want to make sure that the founder has a work ethic, where they’re willing to work hard and fight through the difficult moments, because being an entrepreneur is one of the hardest things that you can possibly do.
The third one that I’m really looking for is having a strong connection with a founder. Are they trustworthy? Are they somebody who has high ethics, who I feel like is going to be able to attract a strong team? Am I going to be able to communicate with them very directly and are we going to be able to have a good dialogue back and forth about what’s going on with the business?
How long does the process typically take from meeting a founder to investing in him or her?
What I will say is my best investments [happen] when I’ve known the entrepreneur, and I’ve known the company for a while.
So from my standpoint, if I had my druthers, I would be able to work with the entrepreneur at least over a three-to-six month timeframe to really understand your business and understand exactly what I’m getting into, because the worst thing that you can do is invest in a company and you get expectations about what the company is going to do and you find out that those expectations are a little unrealistic, or the things are not quite as you thought they were.
What do you think the outlook of early stage investments will look like in 2023?
I would say that it feels very much like we are getting back to what I would call a more normal investment cycle. The last probably five to 10 years, we’ve seen this just increasing, very aggressive market in terms of valuations, in terms of the amount of money being raised in companies, and money that is being spent by early-stage businesses.
And I think it got a fair amount out of control. I think we’re kind of coming back to more normal market conditions where [the focus] is about having a good opportunity.
What Kentucky companies do you have your eye on?
I definitely have some that I’m looking at right now. I still have capital to deploy. Obviously, I pay attention to all the companies that are here to the extent that if I can find ones that are here that I like the market opportunity and the founder, and I feel like I can add value ... then I’m going to want to be able to make those investments.
How can Kentucky attract more VC dollars?
My whole bent would be focused on future-driven markets. I would say between software technology, ag technology and logistics.
Those are three very specific things that we as a community could say, “Hey, we’re going to build the best world-class companies here. We want those companies to set up shop here. We want investors to come in here and invest in those companies. And if you build that nucleus of talent, then you’re going to be able to get some attention.”
Other finalists in the Investor category:
Kelby Price
Keyhorse Capital (Louisville)
Kelby Price, managing director of Keyhorse Capital, has been leading seed-stage investments across the commonwealth. The Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. venture fund, which rebranded from Kentucky Enterprise Fund this year, invested $4 million in 27 Kentucky companies last year.
Patrick Henshaw
Render Capital (Louisville)
Patrick Henshaw stepped in as the managing director of Render Capital in 2021. The early-stage investment firm is responsible for the annual Render Competition, which awards $100,000 to the startups it selects. In September, Render Capital announced it would double its size to have nearly $30 million assets under management.
Garrett French
Citation Labs (Louisville)
Garrett French is the CEO of Louisville-based Citation Labs and one of the more active angel investors in the city. This year, he’s invested in XpressRun, Resound and Yornest — just to name a few.
Chris Redd
Network ‘N Chill (Louisville)
Chris Redd, a startup investor, adviser and consultant, also is the co-founder of Network ‘N Chill, a digital and in-person event series that highlights the stories of many local entrepreneurs. He is also the corporate IT manager at Baptist Health and is a business coach and mentor with the Russell Technology Business Incubator.
