Portland-based investor Angela Jackson is bringing a peer networking and support group to town that is aimed at people who have generated significant wealth through entrepreneurship, executive roles or investments.
The group is called Tiger 21 and it’s been around for 22 years. It has more than 20 global locations and more than 900 members. The group is aimed at first-generation wealth creators. It curates membership, which is open to people with at least $10 million in accessible assets.
For Jackson, bringing this group to town is an expansion of the work she has done for the last 10 years at the investment firm Portland Seed Fund. Over the years, the fund has been able to invest in entrepreneurs and some of those founders have become accredited investors in their own right through the success of their companies.
“Helping them navigate the personal challenges that sudden or extreme wealth brings is something they are underprepared for and did not have a playbook for,” she said. “I had informally tried to create it on my own with referrals but nothing to devote to that full time.”
Just in the Portland Seed Fund portfolio more than 10 companies have had successful exits. The fund closed its third fund in 2019 and it included 14 investors who were previously seed fund founders.
Jackson added that for entrepreneurs who have found success and come from modest backgrounds such a peer group is important if they don’t have an existing network.
The peer groups created by Tiger 21 offer a place for learning and open, vulnerable, confidential conversation, Jackson said. She first learned about the organization from a friend, and fellow Angel Capital Association member, who runs one of the New York groups.
Peer groups within Tiger 21 are capped at 15 members. Depending on the popularity city chapters can have multiple groups. Here in Portland the first group has a few spaces left.
Meetings are monthly and can be intense at seven hours long. At these gatherings members check in with each other and can offer advice or seek counsel. There are existing groups for entrepreneurs and business owners to seek peer advice on business issues, but Jackson saw a gap in some of the personal challenges that can come with success.
The organization is not trying to sell services or otherwise present members to vendors.
“None of the people in the room are seeking to monetize the advice,” she said.
With these groups people present their different investments and can really dive in and clarify who they are, how they spend their time and what they stand for, Jackson said. One element that has been impactful to see is how members talk to each other about best practices for handling wealth and family dynamics, particularly when it comes to children.
“This is important for me personally,” Jackson said. “Witnessing and being part of creating this vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem we are all in — they don’t all win but when they win, we want to make sure they continue to win for the entrepreneur personally, professionally and for the community.”
