Entrepreneurs, often lauded as "disruptors" in their fields, are now matched by a radical disruption happening in the way they get funded. Located in Silicon Valley and making early-stage venture capital investments, Obvious Ventures is betting on a way of investing that disrupts the process at its core. The firm makes investments in what it calls "world positive" companies: "Startups that create new solutions to big world problems in a profitable and scalable way."And Obvious takes a long-term view when choosing companies to support. "The world is continually going through major reinvention, and entire industries are being re-imagined," said Andrew Beebe, managing director for Obvious. "Now more than ever, if we do that in a way that has a long-term view into the market that it’s re-imagining, we think the outcomes are going to be economically better. We think we can outperform as a venture fund because of our focus on world positive companies."The firm's team members aren't new to the game. Take co-founder Ev Williams, who previously co-founded Twitter and later Medium. Or co-founder James Joaquin, who co-founded Clearview Software (acquired by Apple) and When.com, an Internet calendar and events service (acquired by AOL), and more. The founding and managing team members' combo of entrepreneurial and VC experience led them to set the firm's three areas of focus as sustainable systems, people power and healthy living.To date, the firm has two funds, with a combined total of about 45 portfolio companies and more than $300 million under management. "We invest mainly in early stage companies, but occasionally, maybe one in five, will be a late-stage investment," Beebe said.And while Obvious is serious about its work, the world positive focus has brought levity to the way the company operates, sometimes in surprising ways. Case in point: The firm closed its first fund at $123,456,789 and its second at $191,919,191. The firm closed its first fund at $123,456,789 and its second at $191,919,191. In late 2017, Obvious certified as a B Corp. In some ways, this move was, well, obvious. Certified B Corps are for-profit companies verified for their positive impact on all stakeholders, including people and planet, which connects to Obvious' intention to invest in profitable solutions to world problems. The benefit corporation governance structure, adopted by all B Corps in states where available, aligns with the goals of the Obvious World Positive Term Sheet: Both set the impact on all stakeholders as a value to be weighed with revenue potential in decision-making and help ensure the founders and all investors are on the same page."While we had discussed it informally for the past two years, the exploration of our second fund becoming GIIRS-certified is what moved the B Certification process forward for us in spring 2017. We knew this would not only put us on the GIIRS path, but would help us be more reflective in our company operations — cultivating more employee-centered, socially responsible and environmentally sound practices as a business," said Gabe Kleinman, director of content and marketing at Obvious Ventures. "We were able to make meaningful upgrades to company policies through the process, and we know from the data that practices encouraged by B Corps — transparency, diversity, commitment to sustainable practices — are connected to better business outcomes, deeper resonance with customers and clients, and attracting the highest caliber talent."On the heels of its certification, B the Change spoke with Beebe about how Obvious defines world positive, where the rest of Silicon Valley is headed, and companies that are doing remarkable things.