Incepta L.L.C., a new investment firm led by wireless industry veteran John DeFeo, wants to provide the telecom enterprises it invests in with more than just money.
The company has a more hands-on approach to investing, including providing development and management work for the companies it works with.
“In fact, we would list development ahead of investment,” said DeFeo, Incepta’s president and chief executive officer. “It allows us to contribute more and create more value in a company.”
The company’s focus is on telecommunications opportunities in North America and Western Europe, where deregulation is creating plenty of opportunities. DeFeo said local multipoint distribution services and third-generation wireless are two areas the company is examining.
In addition to funding companies that already have begun to establish themselves, DeFeo said Incepta also is willing to develop opportunities from scratch. With a management team of 20 people-each with more than 15 years of telecom experience-Incepta has a unique opportunity to develop ideas from the earliest stages to reality, said DeFeo.
“We want to create opportunities, not just invest in someone else’s opportunities,” said DeFeo.
“If an enterprise comes in and has an idea but the business plan is not there or they have weaknesses in some areas, we can work through that process,” said DeFeo. “We can put a person from our team into an area to jump-start the enterprise.
“Everything today is about speed,” continued DeFeo. “Speed to market. Speed to investment.
“Every time you turn around it’s about how fast can you do something,” said DeFeo, who noted the ability to plug experienced people from Incepta into organizations can speed up the process of bringing an idea to fruition.
DeFeo said Incepta likely will be involved in financing enterprises with other financial investors, who might see Incepta’s involvement in the development of a company as an insurance policy for their own investment.
“The purely financial players have trouble if the management of a company can’t get the job done,” said DeFeo. “All they can do is can the management and start over.
“We can help them,” continued DeFeo. “We’re less Draconian and binary in that sense.”
DeFeo said Incepta’s involvement with the enterprises it invests in should make those companies view it as a supportive partner.
“In the future we might find a merger partner or maybe take a company public,” said DeFeo. “We always see an exit. In that sense we are like an investor, but we are a patient investor.”
DeFeo’s own experience with investors as an entrepreneur is part of the reason he started Incepta with the help and financial backing of Bechtel Enterprises, which develops, finances and owns infrastructure projects. After heading U S West NewVector Group, DeFeo founded U.S. AirWaves to participate in the C-block personal communications services auction.
“When that went sideways, I gave all the money back to the investors,” said DeFeo. “People were so impressed that I did that, that they were willing to do more things with me again. If you treat investors fairly, they will do more things with you.”
