Instead of building a platform team of specialists, Eclipse operates like a small special forces unit. A lean team of senior partners, all ex-operators, handles everything from thesis creation to scaling companies. This ensures founders get direct support from proven builders, not junior staff.

The company uses its advisory service, where employees gain deep experience implementing its business frameworks, as a training ground to identify and develop leaders for its future portfolio companies in sectors like insurance and AI.

Eclipse rejects the traditional VC label, preferring "Operators with Capital." This model is tailored for physical industries, where hands-on expertise in manufacturing, supply chain, and CapEx management is more valuable to founders than passive capital alone.

One of Eclipse's incubation models involves convincing large corporations like Rivian to spin out promising internal projects into standalone companies. This allows the new venture to attract specialized talent and external capital while operating as a neutral "Switzerland" that can serve the entire industry, not just its former parent.

WonderCo first maps a target market to find an exceptional company to back. They only choose to incubate a new company from scratch if their deep search reveals no existing "rocket" to provide fuel for, ensuring they build from a position of unique market insight.

Koch Disruptive Technologies would have been shut down if judged on short-term financials, as venture losses appear before winners. The firm was sustained because the leadership valued the strategic learning about disruptive tech that could impact its core businesses, justifying the investment long enough for returns to emerge.

Contrary to institutional investor norms, Eclipse's strategy is "not to have a portfolio construction." They reject a box-checking approach to diversification (e.g., one company per category). Instead, they invest based on obsession, willing to back multiple companies in the same sector if they see a massive opportunity.

The incubator focuses on starting one company every two years, running it to $5-10M revenue, then hiring a CEO to scale. This model allows the founding partners to specialize in the difficult 0-to-1 phase while retaining significant involvement and ownership.

Incubating a company with a proven internal employee who develops an idea, like Every did with Good Start Labs, is a superior model. It bypasses the adverse selection problem inherent in recruiting external founders for pre-formed ideas, as the founder's capabilities and commitment are already known quantities.