Oliver Libby: Closing the gap between net zero and net positive impact on the environment

This week our TTI Interview Series covers our member Oliver Libby. Oliver is the Managing Partner of Hatzimemos / Libby Holdings (H/L Ventures) and CityRock Venture Partners. Based in NYC and founded in 2009, H/L Ventures is highlighting the importance of building high-growth businesses that protect people, and the planet while encouraging strong diverse leadership. Mr. Libby also chairs the Board of The Resolution Project, Inc., a non-profit organization based in NYC that he founded in 2007.

Mr. Libby began his career in the U.S. Government and later at a global managing consulting firm. Mr. Libby is a Presidential Leadership Scholar, a Steering Committee Member of the Milken Young Leaders Council, a Leadership Council Member of Tech: NYC, a Fast Company Impact Council Member, a Concordia Summit Advisor, a member of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Youth Advisory Council, a founding GLG Social Impact Fellow, and a NationSwell Councilmember. Mr. Libby was previously also a Foundation Trustee and Chair of the Admissions Committee of the Harvard Club of New York City, as well as a member of the Advisory Council of the Clinton Global Initiative.

Mr. Libby has been invited to speak at Harvard, the United Nations, and numerous business conferences. His work has been covered in publications including the New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Reuters, and television appearances including CNBC. Mr. Libby graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College.

In this interview, Oliver shares how dedicated themselves to taking a new approach to building companies and how their team has pioneered an innovative, effective model that aligns the interests of entrepreneurs, investors, other stakeholders, and society to succeed together.

Making up a holistic company-building ecosystem

Oliver, tell us about your work and how it intersects with the impact space.

When Eric Hatzimemos and Oliver co-founded H/L Ventures in 2009, they dedicated themselves to taking a new approach to building companies. Their unique model combines Daily Active Engagement with founders and focuses on investing in growth, impact, and diversity.

H/L Ventures manages a family of companies and funds that make up a holistic company-building ecosystem. At the heart of this system is H/L Studio, which was among the first venture studios to include social impact in its investment thesis. That venture studio is now supported by our opportunity fund, CityRock Ventures, and our managed services group, H/L Strategies, among other entities.

Our team has pioneered an innovative, effective model that aligns the interests of entrepreneurs, investors, other stakeholders, and society to succeed together.

Protect and promote people and the planet

What is your own definition of impact?

Impact companies offer innovative solutions that protect and promote people and the planet. Our impact thesis encompasses resilient communities, financial inclusion, health and wellness, sustainability, and more, with an emphasis on diverse and female founders.

Climate Change

What do you believe is one of the most important issues that need to be solved over the next 10 years?

We have to make significant progress on the climate crisis. This is simply not something we can put off or make incremental changes on. The Inflation Reduction Act set a strong incentive for the green economy to scale, and it’s now up to us to make sure that opportunity isn’t squandered.

As impact investors, we can point the way, but it’s also important for us, with our experience in the space, to spread awareness that no one company or a handful of companies is going to solve this problem for us. There are many innovative companies offering practical solutions that can be key parts of the green economy engine. They might never be unicorns, but they can still drive very nice returns. We, as impact investors, need to be champions for a new mindset in venture capital, away from the inherited mythology around unicorns.

We can also be standard bearers for a cross-sectoral approach to solving climate change, involving the public sector, media, philanthropists, investors, and innovators. If we’re going to solve a crisis of this magnitude, that’s what it will take. Climate change is and will affect everyone, but no one more than already marginalized communities. As impact investors, we’ve seen what innovative solutions can do to transform communities. Now we all need to come together to scale those solutions globally.

Continually overcoming the perception on impact investing

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges in the impact space?

There are many, but a few of the top ones are:

1. Continually overcoming the perception that impact investing is concessionary,

2. Also overcoming the fear that all ESG investing is now just trendy green/impact-washing,

3. Ensuring that the old ways of VC cannot define the way in which we invest and support impact-oriented founding teams,

4. The continued bias against underrepresented founders, and

5. The fact that impact measurement frameworks are still fragmented, imperfect, and extremely difficult to compare across sectors and firms.

Measuring impact on our own rubric, 4 P’s; Protecting & Promoting People & Planet

Tell us more about the long-term vision you have for your work and how you measure & quantify your impact.

Our long-term vision is for impact investment to become a normal lens for all investing. We believe strongly that Growth, Impact, and Diversity can all together drive returns and not only do good but do well for investors. We are also a pioneer in the trend for VCs to become much more helpful, founder-friendly, and hands-on (in a useful way), which is something that defines our investment approach. We measure our impact on our own rubric of the 4 P’s, Protecting & Promoting People & Planet. We are also working with the company Proof on 3rd party metrics verification. Also, we measure the diversity of the portfolio, which is one of the most diverse and representative VC portfolios in the world.

Impact investing is philanthropy

What are some of the misconceptions you’ve noticed regarding what “impact” is all about?

Impact investing is not philanthropy. We strongly believe that impact makes good business. Investing in sustainable businesses and diverse founding teams can not only fuel positive change but can also enhance returns.