Investment Thesis
The conviction behind the portfolio: there are markets worth serving that no one has yet thought to serve.
The Opportunity
The consumer and industrial economies contain categories whose total addressable markets fall below the thresholds at which conventional firms are willing to invest. These categories — measured in hundreds or low thousands of participants — have been systematically overlooked.
Specific Industries was founded on the conviction that these categories are, in aggregate, substantially larger than any single category a conventional firm would pursue, and that a holding-company approach to many small markets can produce a stable, if theoretically unremarkable, set of operational outcomes.
We invest in categories that, on first description, draw a brief pause. The pause is the signal.
Our Investment Criteria
- ✓
Total addressable market under 11,000 people
We invest exclusively in categories whose participants could, in theory, fit in a mid-sized auditorium.
- ✓
Product category that arguably should not exist
Categories that survive an internal review of whether they should exist are, in our view, more interesting than ones that do not.
- ✓
Unclear revenue model (preferred)
We have found that brands with fully articulated revenue models tend to overcommit. Ambiguity is retained as a feature.
- ✓
No meaningful competition
We prefer categories no one else has bothered with. The absence of competition is, to us, the defining signal.
- ✓
Founder willing to commit indefinitely
We invest for indefinite horizons. Founder-patience is a prerequisite.
- ✓
Minimum 1 ridiculous aspect per brand
A brand should have at least one attribute that, on first encounter, raises a question the brand is prepared to answer calmly.
The S.P.E.C.I.F.I.C. Evaluation Framework
Our proprietary eight-step framework for evaluating and integrating portfolio additions. The framework has not been independently validated and does not need to be.
- S
Segment identification
We begin by identifying a consumer or industrial segment that has not yet been given a name by anyone else.
- P
Premise interrogation
The segment's underlying premise is interrogated, briefly, to ensure it has not been previously ruled out in writing.
- E
Economic justification
Economic justification is reviewed on a case-by-case basis and may be waived if the satirical integrity is sufficient.
- C
Commitment timeline
The founder's indefinite-operation commitment is verified in writing.
- I
Incubation
The brand is incubated within the portfolio, in whatever form it arrives in.
- F
First-to-market positioning
The brand is positioned as first-to-market in its category, which is achievable in every case.
- I
Indefinite operation
The brand is operated indefinitely. No sunset criterion is established.
- C
Capital event
A capital event is theoretically contemplated at an unspecified future date.
Track Record
Have an industry that meets our criteria?
If your industry fits the thesis above, we are currently accepting submissions for strategic consideration.
Submit Your Industry for Evaluation