Meet The Investor Betting Millions On 'Dangerous Founders'
'This sucks. '
Promise Phelon still remembers the sting of those words. She had spent countless nights and long hours perfecting her preparation, only to be torn down in front of the room. Back then she was a rising executive at the software conglomerate BEA Systems, standing before the company's top brass, walking them through a PowerPoint she had labored over. Then came the curveball – a division president asked her who the company's most profitable customers were. Phelon didn't have the answer, and in that moment learned a harsh but invaluable lesson in accountability.
'What I got from that experience,' Phelon tells Forbes, 'rejection, someone yelling at you, someone being unhappy – it's just part of this process.' Phelon eventually identified BEA's profitable customers, and the company sold to Oracle in 2008 for $8.5 billion.
Today, Phelon, 49, is the founder and managing partner of venture firm Growth Warrior Capital, a venture firm based on the same no-nonsense approach that once knocked her down. Only now she uses it to uplift underrepresented entrepreneurs. In February, Growth Warrior closed on its first fund of $26 million. Investors include Bank of America and Pivotal Ventures (founded by Melinda French Gates), the George Kaiser Family Foundation, Mellody Hobson and George Lucas Family Foundation. Individual investors include Seth Levine and Brad Feld, who co-founded the venture firm Foundry.
Phelon launched Growth Warrior in 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a mission to back bold, overlooked founders. The firm writes checks up to $3 million, and has already built a portfolio of 11 companies. Among them: Capitan, an AI insurance claim platform that raised $104 million, and ForceMetrics, an AI platform for first responders. With remaining capital, Growth Warrior will target startups with AI features for industrial jobs, including manufacturing, mining, plumbing, and recycling. Phelon calls the entrepreneurs 'dangerous founders,' – seasoned operators with decades of experience in jobs that are not glamorous.
Phelon launched Growth Warrior in 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a mission to back bold, overlooked founders. The firm writes checks up to $3 million, and has already built a portfolio of 11 companies. Among them: Capitan, an AI insurance claim platform that raised $104 million, and ForceMetrics, an AI platform for first responders. With remaining capital, Growth Warrior will target startups with AI features for industrial jobs, including manufacturing, mining, plumbing, and recycling. Phelon calls the entrepreneurs 'dangerous founders,' – seasoned operators with decades of experience in jobs that are not glamorous.
'They're great at doing more with less,' Phelon says. 'You don't expect them to be dangerous. They learn a lot, and they learn it quickly.'
Phelon discussed Growth Warrior Capital and its vision on The Enterprise Zone, a new magazine-style business show developed by Forbes. The weekly show, recorded at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, will offer captivating conversations with influential figures, including top athletes, prominent CEOs, entertainers, and visionary entrepreneurs.
The Enterprise Zone, a new magazine-style business show developed by Forbes. The weekly show, recorded at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City.
Forbes
The market for Gen AI software is worth $150 billion, according to Goldman Sachs. To understand how investors examine the AI software market, consider it in layers. Starting at the bottom is the foundation – large language models (LLM). These companies include OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. 'The core of what's causing the (Gen AI) transformation,' Phelon explains. The middle layer is connectivity, or companies figuring out how to connect mountains of data to LLMs. At the top, applications like ForceMetrics that are leveraging the layers below.
'It's the biggest part of the potential market,' Levine says when discussing his investment in Growth Warrior. 'That's where she (Phelon) is investing.'
The daughter of a U.S. Marine and professional golfer, Phelon grew up in The Colony, Texas, a small city outside of Dallas. By age five, she abandoned her dreams of becoming a doctor after discovering the word entrepreneur, largely thanks to her uncle.
'He basically said, 'It's a person who finds a solution to any problem,' Phelon says. 'I thought, I want to be that.' She then spent hours contemplating business ideas. 'Everything from the lemonade stand to learning how to make pizza and sell pizzas, I did it all.'
Phelon's entrepreneurial spirit intensified at Southern Methodist University, where she triple-majored in chemistry, religious studies, and marketing. As a student, Phelon started a business writing press releases for doctors – a side-hustle that generated revenues of $600,000, according to a 2012 Forbes contributor profile. After earning an MBA from Pepperdine University, Phelon returned to BEA to soak up more corporate knowledge. By 2015, she reached CEO status leading a social media influencer company TapInfluence, which sold to Nasdaq-listed IZEA Worldwide in 2018 for $7.6 million.
'They're great at doing more with less,' Phelon says. 'You don't expect them to be dangerous. They learn a lot, and they learn it quickly.'
Phelon discussed Growth Warrior Capital and its vision on The Enterprise Zone, a new magazine-style business show developed by Forbes. The weekly show, recorded at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, will offer captivating conversations with influential figures, including top athletes, prominent CEOs, entertainers, and visionary entrepreneurs.
The market for Gen AI software is worth $150 billion, according to Goldman Sachs. To understand how investors examine the AI software market, consider it in layers. Starting at the bottom is the foundation – large language models (LLM). These companies include OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. 'The core of what's causing the (Gen AI) transformation,' Phelon explains. The middle layer is connectivity, or companies figuring out how to connect mountains of data to LLMs. At the top, applications like ForceMetrics that are leveraging the layers below.
'It's the biggest part of the potential market,' Levine says when discussing his investment in Growth Warrior. 'That's where she (Phelon) is investing.'
The daughter of a U.S. Marine and professional golfer, Phelon grew up in The Colony, Texas, a small city outside of Dallas. By age five, she abandoned her dreams of becoming a doctor after discovering the word entrepreneur, largely thanks to her uncle.
'He basically said, 'It's a person who finds a solution to any problem,' Phelon says. 'I thought, I want to be that.' She then spent hours contemplating business ideas. 'Everything from the lemonade stand to learning how to make pizza and sell pizzas, I did it all.'
Phelon's entrepreneurial spirit intensified at Southern Methodist University, where she triple-majored in chemistry, religious studies, and marketing. As a student, Phelon started a business writing press releases for doctors – a side-hustle that generated revenues of $600,000, according to a 2012 Forbes contributor profile. After earning an MBA from Pepperdine University, Phelon returned to BEA to soak up more corporate knowledge. By 2015, she reached CEO status leading a social media influencer company TapInfluence, which sold to Nasdaq-listed IZEA Worldwide in 2018 for $7.6 million.
Watch the Promise Phelon conversation on The Enterprise Zone (LINK).
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