Felix Capital的創(chuàng)始人弗雷德里克·庫特喜歡先行一步，創(chuàng)業(yè)項(xiàng)目還沒成型時(shí)就搶先投資。這家倫敦的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資機(jī)構(gòu)尤其鐘愛客戶對(duì)品牌狂熱崇拜的“數(shù)字生活方式”公司。

庫特向《財(cái)富》雜志介紹并購和并購者的每日簡(jiǎn)報(bào)Term Sheet表示：“我們投資的很多公司最初都是誤打誤撞做起來的生意。關(guān)鍵是客戶喜歡。當(dāng)今世界上，衡量客戶怎樣與品牌或者產(chǎn)品互動(dòng)很容易，能早早與客戶建立深厚感情的公司就是我們密切關(guān)注的。”

Felix Capital投資的公司包括剛剛上市（IPO）的FarFetch、Peloton、Mejuri和Highsnobiety，還有筆者個(gè)人最感興趣的Goop。

投資Goop完美體現(xiàn)了Felix Capital的理念。Goop由好萊塢女星格溫妮斯·帕特洛于2008年創(chuàng)立，最初只是提供生活方式建議的簡(jiǎn)報(bào)，如今已是一家經(jīng)營(yíng)生活方式業(yè)務(wù)的帝國(guó)，估值2.5億美元，還獲得風(fēng)投資本支持。庫特三年前投資Goop，現(xiàn)任該公司董事，他認(rèn)為帕特洛是一位有遠(yuǎn)見的企業(yè)家。

以下問答中， Term Sheet與庫特暢聊投資，他如何運(yùn)用圖片與食品分享社交應(yīng)用Instagram開展投資交易，以及怎么看待追求生活品質(zhì)提升的健康潮流興起。

《財(cái)富》：你利用Instagram進(jìn)一步投資，你最想投資哪種標(biāo)的，又怎樣接觸有投資潛力的創(chuàng)業(yè)者？

庫特：我們一直在通過Instagram觀察多種領(lǐng)域，其中一類是珠寶。越來越多面向21世紀(jì)成年的所謂“千禧一代”品牌出現(xiàn)，特別是針對(duì)千禧一代女性。在珠寶之類的行業(yè)，年輕女顧客需要更有忠誠(chéng)度，也更貨真價(jià)實(shí)的品牌。我們通過Instagram發(fā)現(xiàn)了Mejuri的創(chuàng)始人。團(tuán)隊(duì)先接觸到她，花兩年時(shí)間培養(yǎng)關(guān)系。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)她的公司Mejuri業(yè)績(jī)?cè)鲩L(zhǎng)，對(duì)品牌產(chǎn)生了興趣。等到他們希望融資的時(shí)候，機(jī)會(huì)來了，我們成為最適合的投資方，因?yàn)槲覀兒瓦@家公司建立了可以信賴的關(guān)系，他們很清楚我們能提供很多方面的幫助。這就是我們借助Instagram直接找到投資對(duì)象的案例。

Highsnobiety是我們投的另一個(gè)品牌，我是在職業(yè)社交媒體LinkedIn上接觸到創(chuàng)始人，問能否談一談。幸運(yùn)的是，當(dāng)時(shí)這位創(chuàng)始人正在考慮找合作伙伴加入董事會(huì)。于是，我們開始談，最終達(dá)成投資。

關(guān)于FarFetch，我從2008年10月他們發(fā)布第一份簡(jiǎn)報(bào)時(shí)起就是訂閱用戶，我花了一年時(shí)間和FarFetch的創(chuàng)始人結(jié)交，提出正式商談。有時(shí)候，投資機(jī)會(huì)就擺在面前卻沒發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種情況發(fā)生過很多次。所以我覺得，做風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資有一項(xiàng)關(guān)鍵素質(zhì)是好奇心，做一些研究，判斷即便離開創(chuàng)始人，相關(guān)創(chuàng)業(yè)項(xiàng)目是否可能也有投資潛力。我們很多工作都是積極地定期和別人接觸溝通。

聽起來，你已經(jīng)投資了很多以資訊簡(jiǎn)報(bào)起家的公司。訂閱用戶的忠誠(chéng)度是不是對(duì)投資者最有吸引力的一點(diǎn)？

庫特：談到品牌時(shí)，我們很感興趣的是跟客戶形成緊密的關(guān)系?！敦?cái)富》創(chuàng)辦的頭腦風(fēng)暴科技論壇就是個(gè)好例子。論壇為《財(cái)富》培養(yǎng)了忠實(shí)用戶群體，這群人很樂意付費(fèi)參會(huì)。我們最看好的就是這種。我們投資的不少公司都提供體驗(yàn)式服務(wù)，尤其是帶有媒體屬性的，就像Goop的健身活動(dòng)。原因很簡(jiǎn)單，客戶希望體驗(yàn)品牌。

你是Goop的早期投資者，現(xiàn)在又是公司董事會(huì)的成員。為什么你要投資這家公司，對(duì)于創(chuàng)始人格溫妮斯，你看中她什么？

庫特：我熟悉Goop，因?yàn)槲乙恢痹谧x他們的簡(jiǎn)報(bào)，獲得出行的建議。十年前，格溫妮斯在廚房里發(fā)出第一份Goop簡(jiǎn)報(bào)，當(dāng)時(shí)是2008年9月?，F(xiàn)在Goop就像時(shí)尚策源地，格溫妮斯成了時(shí)尚教母。剛成立Felix的時(shí)候，我們接到風(fēng)投公司NAE合伙人托尼·弗洛倫斯的電話，他認(rèn)為我們會(huì)成為Goop的好搭檔。我立刻發(fā)現(xiàn)格溫妮斯擁有巨大的品牌價(jià)值，但當(dāng)時(shí)Goop的業(yè)務(wù)規(guī)模還非常小。

三年前我們投資Goop之后，格溫妮斯積攢了龐大的客戶群，樹立起強(qiáng)大的品牌。這家公司的模式實(shí)質(zhì)上是內(nèi)容運(yùn)營(yíng)，但很多內(nèi)容都和產(chǎn)品和商業(yè)有關(guān)，所以能激發(fā)購買欲。正因如此，格溫妮斯回到洛杉磯以后決定將Goop當(dāng)成事業(yè)。她當(dāng)然可以繼續(xù)拍電影，但還是熱情洋溢地全身心投入Goop的工作。我們投資Goop的時(shí)候，她還不是公司的首席執(zhí)行官，但我們對(duì)她這位創(chuàng)始人，以及她具有的創(chuàng)新力量深信不疑。在我有幸共事的企業(yè)家之中，她是最優(yōu)秀的一位，她還在和企業(yè)共同成長(zhǎng)。

我們看中Goop顯然是因?yàn)槠浯蛟斐鲂碌哪Ｊ健Ｗ鳛橄M(fèi)類品牌，Goop營(yíng)造了情境式的商業(yè)環(huán)境，出售精心挑選的一系列產(chǎn)品，其中部分來自我們投資的公司。同時(shí)也創(chuàng)造很多內(nèi)容，都涉及跟女性用戶有關(guān)的一些問題。

Goop因?yàn)樯⒉紓慰茖W(xué)信息而受到批評(píng)。（Goop剛剛達(dá)成和解，同意就出售未證實(shí)功效的陰道能量石而支付14.5萬美元。）Goop不經(jīng)篩選就向治療師、心理研究者和所謂靈媒提供平臺(tái)，身為投資人，你有沒有疑慮？

庫特：一點(diǎn)也沒有。和大多數(shù)初創(chuàng)公司一樣，Goop犯錯(cuò)也很正常，但在健康養(yǎng)生領(lǐng)域一直處于創(chuàng)新的前沿。Goop很早就介紹冥想，率先普及少吃麩質(zhì)或者不食用麩質(zhì)的好處，以及各種健康生活方式。因此，在這樣一個(gè)宏大的概念中，Goop成長(zhǎng)的過程也是學(xué)習(xí)的過程，公司還在推薦新的健康生活理念。

從內(nèi)容的需求端看，人們希望更了解自我，過上更好的生活，這方面Goop可以為一些用戶提供幫助。當(dāng)然不能指望所有內(nèi)容都老少皆宜。格溫妮斯的看法是，只要是觀點(diǎn)就總有些人會(huì)喜歡，有些人不在意，還有些人則會(huì)討厭。身為投資人，我們也有自己的看法，就是看好Goop這個(gè)機(jī)遇。

所以你的意思是，只要有需求，公司推廣未證明療效的產(chǎn)品也可以接受？

庫特：我支持Goop有關(guān)此事的公開聲明。我理解為何有人感受不到產(chǎn)品與美感的聯(lián)系，其實(shí)沒關(guān)系，只要還有人欣賞就行。當(dāng)然，我們也需要尊重法律，這也是Goop一直以來行事的準(zhǔn)則。初創(chuàng)公司發(fā)展過程中就是容易犯錯(cuò)，可以從中吸取經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)，然后迭代，確保不犯同樣的錯(cuò)誤。我們?nèi)χС諫oop的立場(chǎng)。

你是FarFetch的第一位投資者，這家倫敦的奢侈品網(wǎng)上交易平臺(tái)不久前才上市。你能跟大家透露一下，對(duì)FarFetch的初始投資獲得了多少回報(bào)嗎？

庫特：我沒法透露確切的數(shù)字，不過可以這么說，回報(bào)率超過100倍。

剛開始決定投資的時(shí)候，你最大的挑戰(zhàn)是要說服合伙人，讓他們相信FarFetch可能變成巨頭。你從FarFetch身上看到了什么，讓你能滿懷信心堅(jiān)定投資？

庫特：當(dāng)時(shí)我對(duì)網(wǎng)上交易平臺(tái)很感興趣。我注意到，特別是在歐洲，數(shù)字領(lǐng)域最成功的案例實(shí)質(zhì)上都和商業(yè)有關(guān)，比如旅行、快時(shí)尚或者奢侈品。因此，我覺得可能有機(jī)會(huì)出現(xiàn)新商業(yè)模式。和（FarFetch的創(chuàng)始人）何塞（·內(nèi)維斯）一見面，我就感覺： “沒錯(cuò)就是他了?！?/p>

我在做風(fēng)投以前也開過公司，成立了一家紡織業(yè)的交易網(wǎng)站，最終因?yàn)樽龇ㄌ皼]能堅(jiān)持。當(dāng)時(shí)是1999年。這段經(jīng)歷讓我對(duì)快時(shí)尚頗有了解，因此一發(fā)現(xiàn)FarFetch，我就知道這是天才的商業(yè)模式，我對(duì)何塞有信心。我本來就對(duì)這個(gè)領(lǐng)域有興趣，所以能一早發(fā)掘其中的商機(jī)。

你投資的很多公司都像FarFetch、Peloton和Goop一樣出售昂貴產(chǎn)品。是不是只有富人特別渴望提升生活品質(zhì)？

庫特：實(shí)際上并不是這樣。財(cái)富和受教育程度有直接關(guān)系，涉及到健康方面更是如此。以Goop為例，很多內(nèi)容都關(guān)于清潔美容和健康飲食。內(nèi)容是免費(fèi)的，是很棒的資源，但并不是所有人都具備相應(yīng)水平的意識(shí)和好奇心。

去Goop會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，很多產(chǎn)品通常都價(jià)格不菲，但所有內(nèi)容都是免費(fèi)的，可以通過內(nèi)容體驗(yàn)品牌。FarFetch是一個(gè)時(shí)尚奢侈品的平臺(tái)。Peloton也提供高價(jià)的產(chǎn)品，肯定也有奢侈時(shí)尚的基因。

與此同時(shí)，我們也投資了The Food Assembly，主要幫助農(nóng)場(chǎng)主、生產(chǎn)商和消費(fèi)者溝通，服務(wù)很平價(jià)。我們也投了免費(fèi)應(yīng)用Shine Media，提供很多健康方面的內(nèi)容。

你認(rèn)為，在數(shù)字健康市場(chǎng)，是Term Sheet的讀者應(yīng)該了解哪些趨勢(shì)？

庫特：關(guān)鍵是要了解，目前存在健康和養(yǎng)生的熱潮，尤其是年輕一代。人們感興趣的潮流之一跟食品有關(guān)，因?yàn)閺氖澄锬芸闯鲆粋€(gè)人是否健康?，F(xiàn)在食用植物類食物的潮流明顯興起。

另外一個(gè)熱門的趨勢(shì)是清潔美容。年輕人希望了解產(chǎn)品的成分，廠商再也不能用復(fù)雜的標(biāo)簽隱瞞信息。這是兩個(gè)重要的趨勢(shì)。

我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們?cè)絹碓叫枰邮苡嘘P(guān)健康方面的教育，在家庭和學(xué)校可學(xué)不到。把產(chǎn)品與教育結(jié)合起來就會(huì)成功，這正是Goop在努力做的事。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)有越來越多的人在為自己投資。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

Felix Capital founder Frederic Court likes to invest in founders long before their ventures are considered real businesses. The London-based venture firm backs “digital lifestyle” companies with a customer base that exhibits cult-like loyalty to the brand.

“We’ve backed quite a few companies that have started as accidental businesses,” Court told Term Sheet. “The key is customer love. In today’s world, it’s easy to measure how people are interacting with the brand or product. The emergence of a close-knit community early on is something that we look at very closely.”

Felix Capital has invested in companies including FarFetch (which just IPOed), Peloton, Mejuri, Highsnobiety — and the one I’m personally most intrigued by — Goop.

Goop encapsulates the firm’s investment thesis perfectly — it began as a newsletter of recommendations curated by Paltrow in 2008. Today, it’s a venture-backed lifestyle empire valued at $250 million. Court invested three years ago, and he now sits on Goop’s board and considers Paltrow a visionary entrepreneur.

In this Q&A, Term Sheet spoke with Court about his investments, using Instagram for dealflow, and the rise of the aspirational wellness movement.

TERM SHEET: You use Instagram for dealflow. What exactly do you look for and how do you approach reaching out to potential founders?

COURT: We have been looking at a number of categories through Instagram, and one of those categories is jewelry. There are more and more brands popping up for millennials, and in particular, millennial women. Jewelry was one of the categories where there was a need for a more engaging, authentic brand for younger female customers. Instagram is how we found the founder of Mejuri. Our team got in touch with her, and over two years, we developed a relationship. We saw the company’s numbers grow, and we developed an interest in the brand. So when it came to a point when they wanted to raise a round, we were in a perfect position to invest because we had a relationship of trust and they understood we could help in many ways. That came directly through our proactive research on Instagram.

Highsnobiety is another brand we backed where I just reached out to the founder on LinkedIn and asked if we could talk. It was luckily the time when the founder was thinking about potentially bringing a partner on board, so we started talking and we ended up in investing.

When it came to FarFetch, I subscribed to their first newsletter in October of 2008, and it took me a year to connect with the founder and ask for a meeting. There are so many times when investment opportunities are directly in front of us, and we just don’t see them. So I think a key trait for VCs is to be curious and do some research and decide whether it’s something that could be a potential investment even if the founder isn’t there yet. A lot of what we do is proactive where we reach out regularly to people.

It sounds like you’ve invested in quite a few companies that began as newsletters. Is it the loyalty of the subscribers that was most appealing?

COURT: When we talk about brands, what we are very interested in is a strong community. A good example is the community that Fortune’s built at the Brainstorm Tech conference. It’s a strong community and people are happy to pay money to be a part of it. It’s exactly what we’re looking for. A few of the companies we’ve backed — especially ones that have a media component — have an experiential component, like Goop’s wellness events. Customers want to experience the brand.

You were an early investor in Goop, and you sit on the company’s board. Why did you invest, and what did you see in Gwyneth as a founder?

COURT: I was familiar with Goop because I had been reading the newsletter to get travel recommendations. Gwyneth sent the first Goop newsletter from her kitchen 10 years ago in September 2008. To this day, Goop is very much a curation, and Gwyneth is the tastemaker. When we launched Felix, we got a call from Tony Florence at NEA who thought we would be good partners to Goop. I saw that Gwyneth had tremendous brand equity, but the business was still very small at the time.

Since we invested three years ago, she’s built a tremendous community and a very strong brand. The model was essentially content, but there was clearly a lot of content around products and commerce so there was purchase intent. So when she moved back to L.A, Gwyneth decided that Goop would be her thing. She clearly had opportunities to do more movies, but she really had a passion to work on Goop full-time. When we invested, she was not the CEO, but we had a conviction around her as the founder and the creative force. She is one of the best entrepreneurs I’ve ever had the chance to work with, and she continues to grow with the business.

Clearly we’re onto something with Goop as it’s about creating a new model. It’s a consumer brand that creates contextual commerce where we’re selling a curated list of products — some of which are our own — while creating a lot of content related to issues relevant to a female audience.

Goop has been criticized for peddling pseudo-science. [Goop just agreed to pay $145,000 in a settlement over unsubstantiated claims about vaginal eggs]. As an investor, do you have any personal qualms about the company giving an unfiltered platform to healers, psychics, and mediums?

COURT: Not at all. Obviously, there are some things where, like most startups, we don’t always get it right, but Goop has always been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to well-being. It was early to meditation and early to the benefits of eating less gluten or no gluten, and all these various things. So in the grand scheme of things, Goop is learning as it goes, and the company continues to offer people new well-being propositions.

When we look at the level of demand for the content, people want to understand themselves better and learn to lead a better life, and that’s where Goop can be a tool for a certain audience. But of course, it’s definitely not for everybody. Gwyneth has a point of view — there will be some people who love the point of view, some who don’t mind it, and some who hate it. As investors, we ourselves have a point of view, and we are very bullish on the Goop opportunity.

So you’re saying that as long as there’s demand, it’s acceptable for a company to promote unsubstantiated claims?

COURT: I stand by the company’s public statement on the matter. I understand why people may not relate to the aesthetic and the content, and that’s fine, as long as there are people who do find it relevant. Of course, it goes without saying that you need to respect the law, and that’s what Goop always aims to do. As you grow a startup, you make mistakes, you learn, you iterate, and then make sure it doesn’t happen again. We are fully behind the company’s position on this.

You were the first investor in FarFetch, a London-based luxury online marketplace, that just went public. Can you share what return you made on your initial investment?

COURT: Rather than give you an exact number, I’ll say it’s more than a 100x return.

When you first decided to invest, your biggest challenge was convincing your partners the company could be big enough. What did you see in it that gave you the conviction to go ahead and invest anyway?

COURT: At the time, I was very interested in marketplaces. I noticed that in Europe, in particular, the best success stories at that time in digital were essentially around commerce, like travel, fast fashion, or luxury. So I thought there would be an opportunity to come up with a new model. When I met [founder] José [Neves], I was like ‘That’s it.’

And before I was a VC, I was an entrepreneur and I started an online marketplace for the textile industry that ended up being way too early for its time. It was 1999. That experience gave me a good understanding of the fashion industry, so when I saw FarFetch, I knew it was a genius business model and it gave me conviction around José. I already had an interest in the category, so I was able to see the opportunity early on.

Many of your portfolio companies like FarFetch, Peloton, and Goop sell expensive products. Is indulging in this aspirational wellness movement only for people who are affluent?

COURT: The answer is technically no. But there is a direct correlation between affluence and education generally, especially when it comes to wellness. Goop, for instance, has a lot of content around clean beauty and eating well. That content is available for free and it’s a great resource, but not everyone has that level of awareness or curiosity to learn about it.

If you go to Goop, a lot of the products are generally premium offerings but all the content is free so you can experience the brand that way. With FarFetch, it’s a platform for luxury fashion. And Peloton has a premium offering, so there’s no doubt that it’s a luxury fashion proposition for sure.

But at the same time, we’ve also invested in The Food Assembly, which connects farmers and producers to consumers, and it’s a very affordable proposition. We have also backed Shine Media, which is a free app with a lot of content for well being.

What are some trends in the digital wellness market that Term Sheet readers should know about?

COURT: The big thing to know is that there’s a massive trend especially from the younger generation around wellness and well-being. One trend that we’re very interested in is related to food because you are what you eat. We’ve definitely seen a rise in plant-based eating.

Another one is around clean beauty. Younger people want to know what the ingredients in products are, and you can’t hide behind a complex label anymore. These are two key trends.

We see a growing need for people to be educated around wellness, which is not something that’s taught at home or at school. The success comes when you combine the product with education, which is what Goop does. We see more and more people investing in themselves.