81 Collection
We are the founders fund for un-sexy industries. We seek to back entrepreneurs transforming boring trades, hard work, unpleasant spaces, and structural inequity. Businesses in these industries still attract less seed funding at lower valuations because investors believes these industries are still low margin, capital intensive, difficult to scale, and full of red tape, respectively.
The Challenge
Finding a full-service tool for modeling and portfolio management flexible enough to support a range of investments and scenarios
81 Collection had spent a significant amount of time building manual portfolio models. We were tired of having to update Excel files manually and felt that none of the files were ever in ”real time.”
As a first-time fund, we put a heavy emphasis on Portfolio Construction. We had built some proprietary spreadsheets, but they ended up needing to be more dynamic and required a large amount of customization depending on the types of investments. Tactyc is excellent because not only does it help with portfolio construction, but also tracks actual investments against portfolio construction at any date. I have seen quite a few software platforms, but none with the complexities that Tactyc has.
As a first-time fund, we put a heavy emphasis on Portfolio Construction. We had built some proprietary spreadsheets, but they ended up needing to be more dynamic and required a large amount of customization depending on the types of investments. Tactyc is excellent because not only does it help with portfolio construction, but also tracks actual investments against portfolio construction at any date. I have seen quite a few software platforms, but none with the complexities that Tactyc has.
Tactyc offered a solution that we had yet to see in the market. Compared to other portfolio construction / tracking software, it had all the bells and whistles. It allowed for fully customizing the fund specifics and tied in up-to-date market data for the construction period. We could import our current investments and track in real time how our portfolio construction was tracking against our actual portfolio.
Alex Kirshenbaum
Principal
The Solution
Tactyc for portfolio construction and management – all in one place
What challenges or pain points did you face prior to using Tactyc?
The main challenge was customization within the Excel models based on each situation. The Excel models were rigid, too simple, or too complex (too difficult to see how we were getting to each number quickly). Secondary to that was having a single – source of truth on both the construction and portfolio that was easily exportable for others to view. Finally, it was time consuming to add investment specifics and have a clean exportable output.
Why did you select Tactyc?
Tactyc offered graphs, charts, and Excel files that were easy to export and utilize for external presentations.
The user experience is simple and easy to follow, and the customer support was incredible whenever I had a question. The set-up time was minimal to get the software up and running.
The user experience is simple and easy to follow, and the customer support was incredible whenever I had a question. The set-up time was minimal to get the software up and running.
What was it like to implement Tactyc?
Very easy. They make great templates that can quickly get uploaded to Tactyc so that the implementation is seamless. The team is quite responsive with any questions.
The entire implementation took under 1 hour to get it up and running. They also provide many videos on the software and have explanations within the software.
The Results
- Data is collected seamlessly and is used to drive decision making in reserves and beyond.
- Efficiently communicate the portfolio construction model.
- Improved ability to create and share impactful visualizations.
Flexible, intelligent portfolio construction
Portfolio construction is easy to customize and to send externally / internally in a clean and understandable format. Every single feature can be personalized to our funds’ needs.
Tactyc has nearly every financing or investment type that had previously been custom built into Excel models. It also allowed us to quickly download pre-made outputs, as well as customize workflows so that they specifically worked with our fund.
Tactyc has nearly every financing or investment type that had previously been custom built into Excel models. It also allowed us to quickly download pre-made outputs, as well as customize workflows so that they specifically worked with our fund.
Easily collected data leads to impactful reporting
Tactyc allows you to export every part of the software into a PDF, JPEG/PNG, or XLS document, which makes it easy for various visualizations. Further, each table can be customized with the necessary metrics, many of which are already pre-populated.
Key Performance Indicators used to empower strategic decision making
We are able to track company KPIs that founders can easily submit. We are then able to track over time with Tactyc’s templates. It allows us to track all our KPIs in one place, which factors into us making better follow-on investment decisions.
What was an unexpected benefit of Tactyc?
Prospective LPs have appreciated the organization and how digestible the outputs are for portfolio construction. Fundraising can be difficult, and Tactyc helped us as questions about portfolio construction arose.
First and foremost, Tactyc helps our Operating Partner – visualizations on a month-over-month or quarter-over-quarter basis help us see companies' performance. This then helps us with data compilation and helps our fund with future decisions. Tactyc also makes it easy for founders to quickly submit online.
