Many of the actions we take have side effects. We perform actions with an intention, with an expected outcome. Side effects can sometimes be significant, leaving a notable positive or negative experience on those affected. Take the example of going early in the morning to the bakery to buy fresh bread. On the way to the bakery, you can either greet others with a smile (positive side effect) or bump into someone and have a rough verbal exchange (negative side effect). Both will affect how you feel and how you made others feel for the day.
The same goes for investing, you need to decide what is the primary goal: financial return or positive impact (on nature or affected stakeholders). While the two are not mutually exclusive outcomes, you need to decide what your intention, your primary goal is. In the case of impact focused startups, I would argue a lot needs to go into the mix in terms of skills, attitude and experience. Yet, when it comes to the primary goal, it should be in my view maximizing the scale and depth of positive outcomes for their target groups. And if done well, financial return will be a consequence. My thesis is that if you focus on building lasting relationships, making conscious decisions along the way with the intention to improve lives and restore nature, you build a resilient business case that is likely to attract like-minded investors and generate returns. But that is merely - a positive - side effect. And so, Malmanka stands for enabling startup founders to think about their intended impacts in the first place. And attract patient capital as a consequence.
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