MANIFESTO FOR INVESTING

I think risk takers are the engine of human progress, and I believe my purpose in life is to back these people. But risk capital, frankly, is abundant. The scarce thing now is believing in founders and ideas that have not been validated by someone else. So, I define my job as being willing to underwrite something that does not have any true comps; I don’t care who said yes or no to you, I want to learn what you’re made of and how you think. 

Why do I feel this strongly about taking bets on people? Three people took a risk on me and it decided the trajectory of my life-- so i understand the power of your first believers.

Email me if people think you are too obsessed with one idea, if you are allergic to authority, if writing helps you think clearly, if you care more about what people do than what they say, if you have a stubborn sense of what’s right and wrong, if you’d rather be alone than managed, if what you are building refuses to be classified, if you play to win, and if you are an absolutist when it comes to your field of expertise but radically humble when it doesn’t. 

Areas I think a lot about: