I began my career in the bankrtupcy and restructuring group at McKinsey & Co., helping distressed investors pick up the pieces after the implosion of the telecom bubble of the early 2000s.
From there I moved to a large hedge fund affiliated with Goldman Sachs, then had an opportunity to work directly for Julian Robertson at Tiger Management -- one of the most deservedly legendary investors of all time, and an exceptional mentor. Julian became the anchor investor in a Tiger Cub I launched afterward, Sabretooth Capital, which focused on distressed & special situations.
Having studied what causes some companies to fail and what enables others to flourish in the public markets informs how I approach the early-stage opportunity set.
Returning recently to the West Coast -- I grew up in Berkeley, and studied biology, computer science, and literature at Stanford -- I now focus on finding young companies poised to play a dominant role in web3, applied blockchain technology, life sciences, and climate change resilience.
Here are some of the most important things I look for:
1. N = 1 opportunities. To paraphrase Peter Thiel, competition is for losers. I look for unique companies building things that no one else is building . . . Ideally, companies that even at a very early stage are already crystallizing unfair advantages that will make it difficult if not impossible for followers to compete with them on a level playing field. These unfair advantages can include intellectual property, strategic partnerships, proprietary data, regulatory barriers, or differentiated human capital, among other things.
You will not see me recommending deals for the n-th company attacking ineffecient payment remittances in emerging markets, building a social network to connect musicians or other celebrities to their fans, or using technology to improve the food/restaurant delivery ecosystem -- all areas in which I've listened to dozens of pitches from young companies.
2. Founder qualities. The older I get, the more I appreciate Buffett's axiom that in choosing your partners, you need to look for high intelligence, high integrity, and high drive. Two out of three isn't just "so-so" . . . It will kill you. You need all three in spades.
In the context of early-stage companies, I would add another quality: A natural capacity to attract other exceptionally talented people to the project. In my view this quality may be the single most important factor that differentiates start-up success and failure.
Because it's difficult to make accurate judgments about people based on a single point-in-time interaction or even a few, I have a bias to backing founders whom I've known for a long time. This doesn't mean that I won't invest behind founders I've met more recently . . . only that the bar is (and should be) higher.
3. Long-term, repeat-player mindset. Some people go about life with a heightened awareness that this is a very long-term, repeat-player game . . . And that therefore the most important thing each of us has outside of health and family is earned community trust/reputation. I seek out people who share this mindset as founders, partners, and friends.
A few words about the syndicate name: One of Julian Robertson's most inspiring qualities is his absolute commitment, into his 70s and 80s, to remain a student -- a student of investing, of technology, of people, of life itself. The most successful people I know are people who remain students of the game long after they've achieved extraordinary success. The syndicate name is an homage to this philosophy.
Deal flow comes from personal relationships. I am fortunate to know some of the most interesting builders and financiers in the web3, applied blockchain, and life sciences ecosystems and make it a deliberate practice to meet more of them.
I will syndicate all deals where capacity is large enough to allow participation.
