BuildGroup was founded by three experienced operators – Jim Curry, Klee Kleber, and Lanham Napier – who wanted to create a venture firm that did more than write checks. Drawing on their backgrounds in driving Rackspace's expansion, they aimed to help early growth companies overcome the challenges of scaling with hands-on expertise and strategic guidance. Jim Curry details the story behind BuildGroup, key lessons from the first fund, and their vision for the future of the firm.
The idea for BuildGroup emerged from the combined experiences of three operators – Lanham Napier, Klee Kleber, and myself – who worked together to build and scale Rackspace into one of the world’s leading cloud service providers. We didn’t just learn about success during that journey – we lived through the trials, triumphs, and transformations that define the growth of a company. BuildGroup was born out of a shared belief that the lessons we learned along the way could help others navigate similar paths and unlock the full potential of their businesses.
Lanham, who co-founded and serves as Chairman of BuildGroup, spent 14 years leading Rackspace, transforming it from a small hosting provider with $1.5 million in revenue into a $1.5 billion industry leader. His experience as CEO – and earlier as President and CFO – shaped his deep understanding of operational excellence, strategic decision-making, and leadership during periods of hyper-growth. Lanham was instrumental in creating Rackspace’s culture of “Fanatical Support,” which became a hallmark of the company’s success. His journey from the early days of Rackspace to becoming a leader in the cloud space taught him the value of resilience, adaptability, and an unwavering focus on customer success. Today, Lanham leverages these experiences to guide BuildGroup's portfolio companies, helping their leaders build robust cultures, scale efficiently, and maintain a strong focus on customer success.
Klee, another co-founder and Partner at BuildGroup, brings decades of marketing and operational expertise to the team. Over his 30-year career, he has specialized in building high-performance teams during periods of significant market change. As Head of Marketing at Rackspace, Klee built out the company’s growth engine to power the company into the number one position in the managed hosting and cloud categories. Earlier in his career, Klee led a range of global marketing, product and sales teams at Dell during the early dot-com days, pioneering e-commerce techniques that are common today. Klee also spent time in marketing roles at innovative companies such as WP Engine and Segway. His experience at these companies gave him a deep understanding of how to position products in evolving markets, build brands that resonate with customers, and lead teams through times of rapid growth and uncertainty. Klee now uses this extensive experience to support BuildGroup’s portfolio companies, helping them navigate market changes, develop compelling brands, deliver efficient growth, and build resilient, high-performing teams.
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For my part, my career began in finance at Goldman Sachs and continued in private equity. Though I gained valuable insights into company operations during my time in private equity, I quickly realized that traditional finance wasn't my true calling. A stint at an operating company while working in private equity confirmed my desire to be on the operational side, where I found mentorship and the inspiration to transition fully into business operations (thank you Larry Armstrong!). After business school, I was an early employee at a startup that raised over $100 million in venture funding during the dot-com boom, which, despite failing, provided invaluable lessons. I then spent a few years at Dell, gaining more operational experience but realizing large public companies were not where I wanted to be long-term either. It wasn’t until Lanham, seeking someone to lead product strategy at Rackspace, reached out to me through a mutual friend that everything clicked into place.
My time at Rackspace gave me valuable insight into the intersection of product innovation and market needs. Leading product and strategy initiatives, including the creation of OpenStack, taught me how to build scalable solutions that align technical advancements with business goals. OpenStack was a groundbreaking project that helped pave the way for open-source cloud infrastructure, and being at the forefront of this wave of tech infrastructure was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. However, none of us were experienced in our respective roles – Lanham as CEO, Klee as CMO, and myself in overseeing product and strategy efforts. We were all learning as we went, and that experience of figuring things out together was incredibly formative. It was during these experiences that we realized the power of aligning technology with a clear market need and the importance of building strong ecosystems around products.
This shared understanding of what it takes to build and scale transformative businesses inspired us to create a venture firm that would operate differently. Lanham, Klee, and I envisioned a firm that leveraged our operator backgrounds to help companies not just survive but thrive during the challenging transition from product-market fit to scalable growth.
We knew from experience that this stage of growth requires more than capital. It demands operational expertise, strategic guidance, and a hands-on partnership to tackle the complexities of execution. Together, we sought to fill this gap, bringing the same ecosystem-building mindset we honed as operators into our approach as investors, and thus BuildGroup was born.
Our operator-led model focuses on early growth companies – we define “early growth” as businesses that have validated their products but need help scaling effectively. It's the stage where the risk is shifting from product-market fit to pure execution. By partnering with these companies, we aim to provide not just funding but also the expertise and hands-on support they need to succeed. We knew that our combined experience – Lanham’s leadership in scaling a company from startup to industry leader, Klee’s marketing expertise in building brands and teams, and my product and strategy background – gave us a unique ability to help companies navigate the challenges of growth.
The timing was fortuitous. SaaS was evolving into a new phase, driven by the convergence of AI and data. This next infrastructure wave was reshaping workflows across industries, creating opportunities to build innovative, high-impact companies. We saw this as an inflection point and wanted BuildGroup to be at the forefront of it. We recognized that the integration of AI into SaaS products wasn’t just a trend – it was the beginning of a fundamental shift in how businesses operated, how they interacted with customers, and how they created value.
Our early days weren’t without challenges. Starting with our own capital gave us the freedom to experiment but also meant we had to be resourceful. We had to convince founders and investors alike to trust our unorthodox approach. What set us apart – our operator mindset, our focus on early growth, and our willingness to engage deeply with portfolio companies – ultimately resonated with those who shared our vision. We were fortunate to find founders who valued our experience and were eager to partner with us to take their companies to the next level.
Fund I, formally launched in 2018, allowed us to put our hypotheses into practice. We focused on early growth companies at pivotal stages in their developments: those with proven products but in need of operational and strategic support to scale. So, why early growth? Because this is where we believed we could make the biggest impact. These companies have validated their products but face significant challenges in scaling – building teams, refining strategies, and executing at a high level. By partnering with them during this critical phase, we sought to help lay the foundation for sustained success. We believed that our experience as operators gave us unique insights into the challenges these companies face and the solutions that will help them succeed.
Along the way, we learned critical lessons that shaped how we approach investing today. One of the biggest takeaways was the importance of focus. While our thesis was centered on early growth, we occasionally ventured into areas outside our expertise, such as SPACs, PIPEs, and turnaround opportunities. While some of these ventures had potential, they distracted us from our core strengths. Staying disciplined and true to our thesis became a cornerstone principle moving forward. We realized that by spreading ourselves across different types of investments, we weren’t able to provide the level of support and value that we knew we could deliver. This lesson was crucial in shaping the refined focus we have today.
Another key insight was the power of AI as a transformative force. Across our portfolio, we saw how companies were using AI to automate workflows, extract insights from data, and deliver measurable value to their customers. Casetext, for example, leveraged AI to revolutionize legal research, while Anaconda empowered data scientists with tools to harness the power of data. These companies weren’t just adopting AI; they were driving its adoption in ways that reshaped their industries. AI was no longer a buzzword – it was a powerful tool that, when used effectively, could redefine entire sectors.
Our hands-on approach proved to be one of our most significant differentiators. At BuildGroup, we don’t just provide capital; we become true partners to the founders we back. With companies like Fiix and Cybrary, we worked closely with their teams to refine strategy, optimize operations, and navigate leadership transitions. This level of engagement deepened our relationships and demonstrated the value of our operator-led model. For example, when Fiix needed help optimizing their go-to-market strategy, we were there, not just as investors but as partners who rolled up our sleeves and worked alongside the team. With Cybrary, we supported them through a leadership transition, helping to ensure continuity and stability during a critical time.
Fund I also highlighted the importance of alignment – both within our investment committee and with the founders we support. Misalignment of priorities sometimes led to missed opportunities, underscoring the need for clear governance and shared goals. As we move into Fund II, we’ve strengthened our decision-making processes to ensure that every investment aligns with our mission and values. We’ve learned that having a clear, shared vision from the outset is essential – not just for our internal team but also for the founders we partner with.
Our successes in Fund I validated our approach. We saw firsthand the impact of combining operational expertise with capital and the difference it made in the growth trajectories of our portfolio companies. Companies like Anaconda and Casetext achieved significant milestones that not only demonstrated their market potential but also highlighted the value of our partnership. But perhaps the most important lesson from Fund I was that the BuildGroup model works – and creates real value for everyone involved. It’s not just about financial returns; it’s about building lasting companies with meaningful impact.
Fund II represents the next chapter of BuildGroup’s journey. With a sharper focus and a refined thesis, we’re doubling down on early growth companies that leverage AI and proprietary data to transform workflows.
Our investment thesis for Fund II centers on four core principles:
1. Proprietary Data as a Competitive Advantage: Companies that own and control proprietary data are uniquely positioned to create defensible, high-value solutions. This data serves as the foundation for AI-driven insights and enables businesses to deliver differentiated results. Proprietary data is what turns an AI model from a generic tool into a powerful, specialized solution that delivers real value to end-users. And workflow applications are a primary source of proprietary data – consider Salesforce, which uniquely possesses insights into how users engage with their platform. Our focus has consistently been on identifying workflow products that generate valuable data, which can be transformed into meaningful insights for their users.
2. AI as a Workflow Transformer: The true power of AI lies in its ability to automate complex workflows, drive efficiency, and create measurable ROI. We focus on companies embedding AI into their products in ways that directly impact their customers’ bottom lines. AI isn’t just about making existing processes faster – it’s about fundamentally rethinking how work gets done, creating new opportunities for value creation that didn’t exist before.
3. Execution as the Key to Success: While innovation creates opportunities, execution determines outcomes. We focus on companies with strong leadership, scalable business models, and a clear path to market dominance. We look for founders who understand that having a great product is just the beginning – that building a great company requires discipline, focus, and the ability to execute consistently.
4. Long Term Focus: While much of the venture world targets three to five-year horizons, our approach is centered on building companies capable of sustaining growth and profitability over the long term. Even when planning for a shorter-term exit, a well-defined long-term strategy significantly enhances a company's value to potential acquirers, who will carry forward the mission.
The timing for Fund II couldn’t be better. The convergence of AI and SaaS has created a wave of innovation that is reshaping industries. Companies are solving problems in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago, and BuildGroup is uniquely positioned to support them. We’re at a point where the tools and technologies are in place to enable incredible innovation, and we have the experience to help companies navigate this complex landscape.
Looking ahead, our vision for BuildGroup goes beyond Fund II. We want to create a platform where entrepreneurs find the support they need to succeed – whether it’s refining a go-to-market strategy, scaling a product team, or navigating a leadership transition. Our goal is to build lasting partnerships, drive innovation, and create meaningful value for our investors and portfolio companies alike. We see BuildGroup not just as a venture capital firm but as a partner in building the next generation of great companies.
At its heart, BuildGroup is about more than investing. It’s about building. It’s about creating a legacy of innovation, partnership, and growth. And as we look to the future, we’re more excited than ever about what lies ahead. We’re committed to continuing our journey alongside the founders we support, helping them turn ambitious ideas into thriving businesses. We’re not just investing in companies; we’re investing in people, in their visions, and in the future they’re building.
Our journey – from Rackspace to launching BuildGroup, from the lessons of Fund I to the vision for Fund II – is a testament to the power of collaboration, the importance of staying true to our principles, and the belief that great companies are built, not born. Together with the founders we partner with, we’re ready to build the future.
The information in this blog post is provided in good faith without any warranty. It does not constitute investment advice, recommendation, or an offer of any services or products of BuildGroup Management and it is not intended to provide a sufficient basis on which to make an investment decision. This document is provided for educational purposes only. Discussions of current or former BuildGroup portfolio companies are intended for educational and discussion purposes only. Any portfolio company so discussed has been selected based on objective, non-performance based criteria. BuildGroup invested in and exited Fiix, Anaconda and Casetext and currently invests in Cybrary, and the inclusion of these companies in this piece is solely for illustrative purposes regarding our investment strategy.
This content does not constitute or form part of an offer of any investment advisory services of BuildGroup Management, LLC, nor does it constitute or form part of an offer to issue or sell, or of a solicitation of an offer to subscribe or buy, any securities or other financial instruments, nor does it constitute a financial promotion, investment advice or an inducement or incitement to participate in any product, offering or investment.
©BuildGroup 2024
©BuildGroup 2024
