🤝 Venture capital
I invest with Jeff Weiner at Next Play Ventures. Our mission is to coach and invest in entrepreneurial leaders building world-class, purpose-driven organizations. When it comes to investing (and relationships in general), I prefer to go deeper on a few rather than shallow across many.
Why I love venture
I love working in venture capital because we meet and support brilliant, good-hearted founders, all trying their absolute best to realize a meaningful vision much bigger than any one person or team. Life is too short to be mediocre. I strive to be the best at whatever I do, and I surround myself with people who pursue their "why" with relentless focus, optimism, and grit. I am inspired by those who aspire to be at the pinnacle of their craft, whatever that may be. And regardless of whether one summits at the peak, it doesn't really matter. It's the journey to the top that is worth appreciating.
🚀 Portfolio
I primarily invest through Next Play Ventures (see our portfolio here), and on occasion write a personal check as an angel. I focus on supporting founders who are:
a) high integrity + high energy;
b) building purpose-driven companies that I'm excited about;
c) seeking the unique value and perspective I provide.
Here are the five ways I support founders (beyond capital):
- Trusted coach: I'm there for founders regardless of the topic. My style is inquisitive, non-judgmental, and compassionate.
- Modeling excellence: I've seen what's worked at scale and love sharing my experiences from the c-suite of a successful tech company.
- Opening doors: Whether you're looking for investors, new hires, or strategic partners, I advocate on behalf of the startup to help make win-win connections.
- Product strategy: As a passionate user, I'll share product ideas, strategic guidance, and the occasional bug report 😉
- Domain expertise: Nine years at LinkedIn across B2B SaaS, data/AI, growth, marketplaces, consumer/social, subscriptions, HR, Marketing, Product, M&A, strategy, finance, BizOps, and more.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of investments I've made in recent years. For investments made by our fund Next Play Ventures, please visit our website.
| Company | Description | Website |
|---|---|---|
2.12 Angels (LP) | Early stage enterprise/SaaS | |
Alt | Increasing liquidity of alternative assets | |
Browser Company | Building the modern web browser | |
Canonical Crypto (LP) | Blockchain infrastructure | |
Chainlink | Hybrid smart contracts | |
Concrete Rose Capital (LP) | Capitalizing underrepresented founders | |
Dapper Labs | Fun and games on the blockchain | |
Magical | Automating repetitive tasks | |
Maven | Platform for cohort-based courses | |
On Deck | Modern educational institution for the future of work | |
Runway Fund (LP) | Supporting the best on deck talent | |
Skinny Dipped | Healthy chocolate almonds | |
Stealth - e-commerce | Increasing conversion rates | |
thirdweb | web3 APIs and SDKs | |
Trala | Learn to play violin | |
Truework | Simplified employment verification |