Background
I spend a lot of time thinking about technology catalysts, the waves of disruption they create and the new companies that emerge from these waves. I invest broadly across the technology spectrum, but my primary areas of interest are vertical AI, fintech and defense.
My Interest in Vertical AI
I am particularly interested in startups using artificial intelligence to revolutionize decision-making in specific verticals. Foundation models have dramatically lowered the cost of cognition, and this has unlocked a new generation of vertical AI companies that embed intelligence directly into mission-critical workflows. I am particularly focused on AI platforms in financial services, law and defense, where data is rich, decisions are high-stakes and workflow complexity creates natural barriers to entry.
My Interest in Fintech
I have broad interests in fintech and have gone particularly deep in wealthtech, where I have invested in a set of companies that are rebuilding the technology foundations of the wealth and asset management industries, including Altruist, a full-stack digital custodian; Arca, an AI-first Registered Investment Advisor; Moment, an operating system for investment management; Vanilla, an AI estate planning platform; and FINNY, an AI-driven prospecting platform for financial advisors.
My Interest in Defense
The revolutionary impact of AI on the character of warfare and intelligence has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for startups in the defense world. Some defense startups I have invested in include Dataminr, a real-time AI platform that identifies critical breaking information from publicly available information; and Percipient.ai, a visual intelligence platform for national security.
Importance of Great People
As much as I try to understand the specifics of these investment areas, I frequently meet brilliant entrepreneurs who are many steps ahead of me and who have developed a clear vision of what the world will look like in a particular space and have outlined a compelling new business idea to pursue in it. This is the most fun part of my job, and above all I spend my time trying to find the great new entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
When I Like to Invest
I like to invest early in companies I think have significant disruptive potential and help them develop their product and business strategies and build out their teams. This is the time where I feel I can add the most value to these companies. Most of the companies I invest in have less than 10 employees, and most have not yet launched a product. I’m happy to invest however much an entrepreneur needs, and my initial investments generally range from $500K to $15m.
My Interest in NYC
I live in New York City and am a big advocate of the New York startup ecosystem. I started investing in New York in 2003, when the venture capital industry viewed it as an unconventional idea. New York is now one of the largest and fastest-growing startup ecosystems in the world, and in my view its growth will only accelerate in the decades ahead.
Other Interests
I have deep interests in public policy and in particular how technology is changing geopolitics and national security. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, a foreign policy think thank, and participated on Task Forces there on Innovation and National Security: Keeping Our Edge and Confronting Reality in Cyberspace: Foreign Policy for a Fragmented Internet. I also serve as an Advisor to the Special Competitive Studies Project.
I am very interested in the role of global innovation in economic development and serve on the Board of Directors of Endeavor, a particularly cool non-profit organization that supports high-impact entrepreneurs globally and helps catalyze startup ecosystems in countries and regions underserved by venture capital markets. To date Endeavor has supported over 2,000 high-impact entrepreneurs, and today their companies generate over $10 billion in revenue and have created over 3 million jobs. Tom Friedman called Endeavor “the best anti-poverty program of all.”
When I’m not chasing the next big idea or my three children around the house, you might find me windsurfing or kiteboarding wherever I can find a strong enough wind.