Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit and venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, recently posted about a unique “2%”.
Seven Seven Six invests in start ups. And in addition to the investment, they give an additional 2% in cash for the founders’ personal growth and family care.
1% can be spent on anything from therapy, to personal training, to ups killing.
The other 1% can be spent on childcare, or travelling to see a sick relative, or home renovations.
The idea was born from Ohanian’s experience in the early days of Reddit. A few months into starting the company, he learned his mom had terminal brain cancer. At that point, he was 22 years old, a first time CEO, and had just raised his first ever round of funding from investors. He reflects on what it would’ve been like to have had money from his investors set aside to afford the flights back to Baltimore to spend time with his mom.
Seven Seven Six’s approach inspires me. They don’t need to earmark this 2% for personal growth and family care, but they do. Their actions speak loud and clear.