I couldn’t help but spend the first few minutes of my conversation with Pejman Nozad fishing for the story of how a rug salesman built one of Silicon Valley’s top institutional pre-seed and seed funds.
Nozad has such a fascinating and inspirational story; it reflects what is possible when Silicon Valley is at its best. Nozad told me how Sequoia’s Doug Leone gave him a shot.
“We connected [as] both really good salespeople,” Nozad recalled. “I said Doug, ‘I can help you invest in some amazing founders.’”
Leone said he would come to meet with Nozad.
“I made my life mission that I’m ready,” Nozad remembers. They hit it off and the deal flow, well, it flowed.
Nozad would later introduce Sequoia to Dropbox.
Pear VC, which Nozad co-founded with Mar Hershenson, first raised $50 million in 2013.
Nozad and I spent much of our conversation talking about the practicalities of a $432 million seed fund.
For a firm that invests in pre-seed and seed round startups, the latest fund size is enormous, especially as we’ve been in a downturn outside of AI.
With that fund size, Pear VC will need to find many more winners than in earlier funds to generate high multiples for its limited partners.
“I wake up every morning and I think we’re going to go out of business by the end of the day,” Nozad said. “So that’s the mentality. It doesn’t matter if you have $400 million or $4 million or $4 billion. I want to stay on my toes. DoorDash performance, or Guardant Health, that doesn’t mean anything about Fund IV.”
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00:00:01
Hey, it's Eric. Newcomer, with the newcomer
00:00:03
podcast this week, I have Venture capitalists Hageman
00:00:06
Azad, who's Spencer, fun, pair VC, just raised and insane. 432
00:00:12
million dollar fun crazy because it is a pre seed and Seed fund
00:00:17
that grew up from just a 50 million dollar fund.
00:00:20
So, we talked about the fun strategy and also he's amazing
00:00:23
life story. I don't want to spoil it, but we
00:00:26
talked about that in the beginning, the conversation.
00:00:28
And then we get into the Vestments and Dropbox doordash.
00:00:32
And what? He's got cooking next as an
00:00:34
early stage. Investor.
00:00:36
Give it a listen. Here's the conversation.
00:00:38
Thank you so much for coming on in the newcomer podcast.
00:00:41
Very excited to get to talk to you.
00:00:44
We were just talking about how you were once a journalist.
00:00:48
Yes. Eric, thank you so much for
00:00:50
inviting me. Yeah.
00:00:51
I actually love what journalists and reporters do.
00:00:53
I grew up in Iran? In when I was 10 years old
00:00:56
recognition happen? And then when I was 12 years
00:00:58
old, the war happened. My teenager life was combination
00:01:03
of war and revolution and I think I look back it make me
00:01:06
stronger who I am today, but I was a soccer player.
00:01:09
I was a very good soccer player and I was playing, what are the
00:01:13
biggest clubs in Iran? And the owner of that club had
00:01:16
that Sports magazine. He started a Sports magazine and
00:01:19
I went to German schooled in Toronto.
00:01:21
I spoke German one day he came to the training ground and he
00:01:24
said page one, you play the game.
00:01:27
You have some magazine German. What do you come and translate
00:01:29
this? Soft care of Articles to Farsi.
00:01:32
So I did that, but I realize I can write my own articles and I
00:01:36
started to analyze games. So I made a name for myself and
00:01:39
I was like, 17, 18 years old, and one of the kind of the
00:01:44
senior journalist told me that we wanted you to host the radio
00:01:48
sports show in Iran, which was the biggest one.
00:01:51
So I was 18, 19 years old hosting LeBron, James of my
00:01:55
country and then Leo Messi of I got three was like, pretty
00:01:59
amazing. So I think that's how my career
00:02:01
started it. And I became a member of
00:02:03
international sports press Association, but believe it or
00:02:06
not. I went to Germany after I went
00:02:09
to University, I dropped College.
00:02:11
I served in the Army but I played soccer.
00:02:13
So I decided to leave Iran. And I went to Germany because my
00:02:17
parents left Iran before me. So in Germany, they gave me a
00:02:21
scholarship and playing soccer but my brother who left Iran,
00:02:25
when he was 14, 15 years old and yet it's American Dream.
00:02:29
And he was denied visa for few years and this was at the time
00:02:33
that was very hard to get Visa to come to you as even
00:02:36
Engineers. Doctors didn't get it to one
00:02:38
day, he forced me to take a train to go to Frankfort to
00:02:42
gold, to US Embassy. And I went over there and the
00:02:46
Consular ask me. Why do you want to go to UI
00:02:48
side? Said, you know, I want to go
00:02:49
watch NFL and be a already or supported and I was true.
00:02:53
And then she told me, she said, I don't know why, but I wanted
00:02:56
to see my country. She gave me a visa when I was
00:02:59
Two years old. I came home, nobody believed
00:03:01
that. So I took a chance to come here
00:03:02
with no plan wizard, really, that random, that the Visa
00:03:06
persons, or the got basis. That was She interviewed me for
00:03:08
45 minutes. She said tell me about your
00:03:11
life. I went through everything so
00:03:14
nobody believed that I got Visa. So I were into, you are the
00:03:17
listener. We are going to talk about the
00:03:18
four hundred thirty two million fun, but your life story is so
00:03:21
great that I do want to talk about it for a little bit.
00:03:22
Yeah, hurry and kill angel. I'm assuming all the wonky
00:03:25
anyway continue. Yeah, I can't even I think in me
00:03:29
not 92 2 right here. I didn't speak the language.
00:03:33
I don't know why I came because I think I had more comfortable
00:03:37
life in Germany, be playing soccer and my parents.
00:03:39
They're, you know, scholarship and I arrived right here in San
00:03:44
Carlos, was my uncle lived here. So that colleges account like
00:03:48
few miles from Stanford University, I didn't know what
00:03:51
I'm doing and I actually I was in love with the girl back home
00:03:54
in Iran and I thought I'm going to lose her so I started to Call
00:03:59
her from Payphone. And at that time, in a payphone
00:04:04
was like 45 dollars per minute. It was no white sap.
00:04:07
No internet phone. So the $700 I had was gone in a
00:04:11
few weeks. So I have to find a job which
00:04:14
doesn't require English language so I bought in 1973 Chevy for
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five payments of 160 bucks. And I found a job in San Jose,
00:04:24
which was a car wash. So my first job in America was
00:04:27
washing cars, and I'm really grateful The person who gave me
00:04:30
the job, it was actually a former Iran's national team
00:04:33
player who I knew. And, you know, he gave me this
00:04:37
job but, you know, I was the best car wash at the world has
00:04:40
ever seen. Erica.
00:04:41
Nobody watched cars. Like me.
00:04:43
How do you search selling rugs? Oh yeah.
00:04:45
It's I ended up getting a job in yogurt shop.
00:04:48
My English improved in Redwood City but I ran out of money.
00:04:52
So I asked the owner of be yogurt shop, if I can sleep in
00:04:56
an attic. The is a photo of me out there.
00:04:59
There that I used, a tactic is my home because I didn't have
00:05:02
ranks. So I was waking up every morning
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6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and go to college.
00:05:07
Studying one of those nights. I sign advertising for a rug
00:05:11
Gallery in Downtown Palo Alto. Right at University hired sales
00:05:14
people and you know I called because every Iranian think they
00:05:18
know something about Persian carpets, but they don't like
00:05:21
including me. Every American has an opinion on
00:05:24
NFL and NBA and baseball but not this is Eddie to play the game.
00:05:29
So the older gentleman, who owned the gallery, he actually
00:05:33
built an Empire of businesses in Iran and big after revolution to
00:05:36
nationalize his ass, if he came here, started for beginning.
00:05:39
So, he denied by he said, you don't have a sales background
00:05:43
but I insisted that he should meet me.
00:05:44
So next day, I went there. He hired me right on the spot.
00:05:49
As you know, II started to sell drugs again, I sold a lot of
00:05:52
rocks for how long I saw brought your 17 years but I tell you the
00:05:56
story so far. Six seven years into selling
00:06:00
rugs, I realized Persian rugs ecommons at page one.
00:06:03
I bought a home in San Francisco or Woodside.
00:06:06
And I'm looking for rug for my living room or dining room.
00:06:09
So we start to look at rocks together and then I said, Eric,
00:06:12
I bring this carpets to your home so you can look at it in
00:06:15
the house. So by going to people's home, I
00:06:17
spend a lot of time with them because, you know, showing 2030
00:06:21
carpets takes an hour or two hours, so I got to know them and
00:06:25
I realized everybody is the founder of be.
00:06:28
Tech companies, venture capitalist?
00:06:29
These are duck. The only John doors of the world
00:06:32
that you typically cannot see them, but I was hanging out with
00:06:35
them and having barbecue wide setting carpet, and I decided I
00:06:39
want to be one of them. I thought this is an opportunity
00:06:42
for me, and I was very lucky to have this access and I became
00:06:46
really good. Friends of them is a lot of
00:06:48
questions. This is late 90s when it's no
00:06:52
Park guys. Know, TechCrunch know, why see
00:06:55
none of these things. So founder is had To go sanfl
00:06:59
Road, Venture capitalists were not leaving their offices.
00:07:03
Nobody was wearing jeans the Khaki and light blue shirts and
00:07:08
it's very formal things. And I actually convinced the
00:07:11
owner of the garage to partner with me because I didn't have
00:07:13
money. So, we started this investment
00:07:16
big called together and I started to put lot of networking
00:07:21
events at the rod Gallery. So once I remember, I brought
00:07:24
the entire Sequoia Capital, senior Partners were Mike
00:07:28
Stevens, Doug Leone and I invited 150, entrepreneurs,
00:07:32
Persian food, it was just amazing.
00:07:34
And who are you closest to or who helped you really get the
00:07:37
credibility with that crowd? I think early on, was that not
00:07:42
Apostles and I think some people who really took a chance and me,
00:07:47
it was Doug Leone, you know, one day he came in and I went a
00:07:51
Saturday to sell him drugs in his home.
00:07:54
It was very obvious, he's a better negotiator than me.
00:07:58
Italian background but we connected both really good sales
00:08:01
people. And I said thought, by the way I
00:08:03
can help you invest in some amazing Founders and you know,
00:08:07
he said how should have access to the founders, you can meet
00:08:10
them including Laura, iranian-americans PhD at
00:08:13
Stanford said. Okay, I'll come Monday morning
00:08:16
to her office and Monday Tuesday.
00:08:19
So I meet my life mission that I'm ready.
00:08:21
So, normally we open the gallery at nine.
00:08:23
I would that at 5 a.m. make Persian T, everything came And I
00:08:28
explained that this is my network and he listened to me
00:08:32
and he said, you know, I really, I think a lot of
00:08:34
iranian-americans phds are Stanford, I can bring him here,
00:08:37
she look here. Why do we get together?
00:08:39
And then you invite them. I bring my team.
00:08:41
So that was kind of the beginning of some of the things.
00:08:44
I haven't even paid off because I think two years after I called
00:08:47
dog and said Doug, I made this incredible team two guys out of
00:08:51
a mighty company called Dropbox. We should meet them and, you
00:08:54
know, Sequoia ended up being the first investor and then Dropbox
00:08:57
went public Did you make the investment where they invest in?
00:08:59
Then you invest after them, but at the same time, okay?
00:09:02
So I committed to invest in the round.
00:09:04
I put it together as I tree. I mean, that's a different story
00:09:07
that I called, dog. And I took our Ash and Drew to
00:09:10
their office and then I took Mike Moore, it student apartment
00:09:14
Saturday morning because Mike wasn't available Monday.
00:09:17
And then Monday night, they told me they don't be on call.
00:09:20
And then after the appointment, parted meaning I've submitted
00:09:23
Gandhi at that time, was the partner of Sequoia.
00:09:26
He went then to excel this. Excel.
00:09:28
So, some even be me, our action driven to this forgotten, Union
00:09:32
Street Italian restaurant. And, you know, on the not King,
00:09:37
we made a deal to raise 1.25 billion dollars at the precede.
00:09:41
And I was invested. How did you find wrong?
00:09:43
I met them at the White Sea demo day.
00:09:45
No, I met Anna. What's it about that?
00:09:47
That time I think was like 12 teams.
00:09:49
And, you know, I looked at presentation, I said, I can use
00:09:52
this product. I reach up to our website, did
00:09:54
he speak Farsi and he said, I'm in the bed.
00:09:56
So we made it and Actually Drew has a very funny story up and he
00:10:00
came to meet me, he thought this is I'm a venture capital.
00:10:03
He said he came to rock store and they thought they came to
00:10:06
the wrong address. But in looked at it and said,
00:10:09
oh, this is 353 University, but this is not and they said, okay,
00:10:13
we goofed it up but we missed an investor.
00:10:15
We can impress anybody took a chance coming, I said well 353
00:10:20
but you're looking for Paige mine and should know he's in the
00:10:22
back door and yeah did beautiful boardroom in lot of carpets out
00:10:26
of it. So Salary wasn't like a regular
00:10:29
rug Gary was like, I mean, it just sounds like a museum
00:10:32
co-founders. Get a rug.
00:10:33
If you get to do a big enough check for their rugs part of the
00:10:36
deal, she not know. I felt that you try to sell a
00:10:40
ride on my side or like maybe you are.
00:10:42
No, I'm still selling rugs. If you need rugs, I think you
00:10:46
need some carpets for your home. The are missing.
00:10:48
I actually think it's interesting that, you know,
00:10:52
Founders used to go to this fancy office and Insanity in
00:10:55
Road and then with the becoming too, bookstores one of the
00:10:59
challenges was like and who proved that during the jet that
00:11:03
you have Capital, you can help them And you know, I thought
00:11:07
okay, I can remember. It's this beautiful right
00:11:10
Gallery as a way to introduce me, my culture and background.
00:11:14
And you know, Persian Tea is very important Persian culture.
00:11:18
So and make sure that the Persian T setting.
00:11:21
It's beautiful. And it's not like you're putting
00:11:23
a tea bag in the cup and the hot water.
00:11:25
It was like a setting in until later on are like people told
00:11:29
me, you know, I love coming to your office, you know, I open it
00:11:34
up, you didn't ask for it. But my in a market and product
00:11:38
and talk about life in Persian teeth and I say, stop to me that
00:11:42
you can always use your differences as strengths total.
00:11:45
And, you know, I didn't know, at that time, people love that.
00:11:49
One of my Fondest Memories, one of my college roommates is the
00:11:52
Ronnie and and let me live with his parents for a summer when I
00:11:55
was working at a newspaper in Florida was the sun-sentinel.
00:11:59
So I would have L Iranian tea you know every night that's
00:12:03
great. But anyway, Anyway, so we
00:12:06
started to make investment obviously be made by terrible
00:12:10
investment and told, you know, you know, I became very
00:12:12
fortunate to meet some amazing entrepreneurs, including Dropbox
00:12:17
and then SoundHound and up, loving, and Gaston.
00:12:20
So, I actually made money, I started to do solo invest in my
00:12:23
own capital and I build the portfolio of engineering, take
00:12:26
money from the rug business, you know, I made money through
00:12:30
Dropbox and other companies that we sold.
00:12:32
So I started to do so low investment around 2009.
00:12:36
And I realized, I mean, engine in Baxter and I look at the cat
00:12:40
people. There are few funds have put few
00:12:43
hundred thousand dollars, but, you know, Founders are left
00:12:45
alone right after raising the initial capital and I felt that
00:12:49
there's an opportunity to build an institution to serve Founders
00:12:52
Day. Zero, the question was, can I
00:12:56
walk to a roomful of Founders and claim?
00:12:58
I'm your best partner at that stage and the answer was no,
00:13:02
although I had a great track record, I knew D people knew me,
00:13:07
but I never built in ship product.
00:13:09
I never started the startup and I felt and I knew in order to be
00:13:13
very successful institution, I need a partner who has been
00:13:17
honored to know. So I reach out to my crime part
00:13:20
that marker shinsen, who we know, each other for 23 years,
00:13:24
took me four years to convince her.
00:13:25
So I didn't talk to anybody else the way.
00:13:28
I know more. I funded her husband's company
00:13:31
danger in 2000, which he started with the Andrew being and later
00:13:36
on. Became Android and then I
00:13:38
invested in Mars second company, 2003, which is sold that.
00:13:42
So we became really good friends, family friends, we got
00:13:45
to know each other. Both immigrant anyway, more,
00:13:48
every time I went over to talk to her and she says, you should
00:13:51
start the fun with me and she said, he's my, you're crazy,
00:13:54
you're not mention a place. I'm not a magic Apple.
00:13:56
I don't know how you do it. Then I change strategy in 2012
00:14:00
late 2012. I said, okay, that's okay.
00:14:02
Come and meet entrepreneurs with me at Cooper Cafe in downtown
00:14:05
Tahoe. Oh no.
00:14:06
And then she came and provide advice and she was hook couple
00:14:11
of months into, it was full-time meeting entrepreneur.
00:14:13
So I won. So we started pair in 2013, but
00:14:17
was the first fun size, 16 million 50.
00:14:20
And I tell you the story about it but you know, you're kind of
00:14:23
being an Yang. I'm a College Dropout, she's
00:14:25
Stanford PhD. I never worked for the tech
00:14:28
company. She started three tech
00:14:30
companies, she has 14 patents, I have zero pythons but I have not
00:14:35
have scars on my Body. I lost so many of my investment,
00:14:39
but I saw companies from garage all the way to IPO.
00:14:43
So we started the firm and the goal was and is the build the
00:14:46
best performing seed fund ever existed by partnering done to
00:14:50
present early stages so fast forward. 10 years today, you
00:14:54
know, Perry has a top 5% performing Fund in the world
00:14:58
based on the word. Yeah.
00:14:59
Well give us some numbers, you know, we have some Savvy people,
00:15:02
what can you say on the return? I can say but fun.
00:15:06
One, the DPI is top 5%, so your insurance certificate, you can
00:15:10
say whatever you want. No, I got is together.
00:15:13
What? You can find it out so we hide
00:15:15
to IPOs fund, one door, dashing Garden Health, but they have
00:15:19
other companies in that fund that going to do really well.
00:15:22
Augusto Aurora solar Branch affinity and filters and then we
00:15:27
race series of fund over there. But today, you know, our
00:15:30
investment team have started and sold ten companies through
00:15:34
Cisco. It's a cards in God.
00:15:36
Whole bunch of entrepreneurs, in addition to investment team, we
00:15:39
build a platform. One of the things we built that
00:15:41
is very unique, the building recruiting agency inside pair.
00:15:45
So we hire Matt, Bim bom was a head of Global Talent of its the
00:15:48
car. And it took its a card from
00:15:50
three hundred to three thousand people.
00:15:52
He join us. 14, 15 months ago and he hired three other senior
00:15:56
recruiters from SpaceX bright super.
00:15:59
So we have a team of four Recruiters on our payroll that
00:16:02
he could come to Perry High or people.
00:16:04
So, that's one of the additions of we can Uh, coordinator was
00:16:07
talk about the platform. They are well, again, size and
00:16:09
all that first. My first question is honestly,
00:16:12
when did you realize, you know, now you're a true, like, Silicon
00:16:15
Valley Insider like, I mean, certainly by the time you're
00:16:18
raising, you know, four million fun, you're like you're on The
00:16:21
Insider. When did it really felt like, oh
00:16:23
man, I've made it here and I'm part of, you know, so come Ali.
00:16:29
You know, I actually think Silicon Valley opened its arms
00:16:32
to me without really judging me 20 some years ago.
00:16:36
I started to be in jail, investor.
00:16:37
Like, think about it, that you are Iranian American, immigrant
00:16:42
newer College, Dropout, yourself, Persian rugs.
00:16:45
And you claim you want to help entrepreneurs, it's just like
00:16:48
unheard of. So I actually so grateful to be
00:16:51
part of this community. I think, when I was able to make
00:16:56
some investment including early on Dropbox, I felt I'm playing a
00:17:00
role here, so it gave me a lot of confidence and after that I
00:17:04
invested and I won many kind of partnership don't prove that was
00:17:09
very hard to get in like including God still guard until
00:17:13
this was like /. Subscribe rounds, early on
00:17:15
people wanted to invest and I was able to partner with
00:17:18
entrepreneurs so that gave me a lot of confidence to do it.
00:17:21
But fast forward, we started that fun.
00:17:24
It wasn't easy to raise the first fun because people say,
00:17:28
oh, a rug salesman turn to be engine investor and then former
00:17:32
founder wants to start a VC firm.
00:17:35
That's It may be a sign of bubble.
00:17:38
But you know, I think one of the advantages more and I we had
00:17:41
were ever not from the industry that venture capital in the
00:17:45
state. So we came and look at the
00:17:46
industry and we made changes and he built the firm.
00:17:49
We want to build before Founders and we build a lot of different
00:17:52
products and programs and community, that still needs very
00:17:56
unique to the Venture Capital Community and we can talk about
00:17:59
it more. So, that was one advantage with
00:18:01
raising. The fund was an easy.
00:18:02
We actually first, I thought, we can raise 10 to 20 million
00:18:05
dollars because I thought no one gives us money.
00:18:08
To be raised money from my network and Mars Network.
00:18:11
And few institutions really took a chance on us early on.
00:18:15
But even mention, we are by saying few firms.
00:18:18
They came in Industry, Ventures, University of Chicago
00:18:21
endowments, which is one of the top.
00:18:23
Oh God, they're great industry. Did lower cases, first fun and
00:18:27
they say well and then University of Chicago which is
00:18:29
kind of unheard of. And then we have an amazing
00:18:33
endowment and state of Hawaii called Kamehameha that by pretty
00:18:37
amazing weather. Few others came on like Drew
00:18:39
Brees and so on and in Founders and CEOs who helped us grow and
00:18:43
then the model established in after 50 million, you're a 75
00:18:48
and then 160, and then 400 but they focus in model has not
00:18:53
changed since day one. So this bigger fun doesn't mean
00:18:56
we want to write the ten million dollars.
00:18:58
There is a checks I think are very good at finding
00:19:00
entrepreneurs early and helping to get to product Market fit.
00:19:03
Well, I assume the doordash experience was part of the fun
00:19:06
size decision. Or I'm curious because I mean,
00:19:09
it was a comedy that raise so much Capital, along the way,
00:19:12
right there, wasn't a door. Nice story was told, I suppose
00:19:14
happened many years ago. I believe we reached our own
00:19:18
product Market fit after 10 years.
00:19:20
That's what we want entrepreneurs to do.
00:19:23
So you can look at today. Pair, we have a very
00:19:26
differentiated Playbook to find entrepreneurs before anybody
00:19:30
else and I can explain it how it is, and then we built the
00:19:34
investment team who can partner to understand what is it?
00:19:38
It take to build product and then we build the platform to
00:19:41
the size of the font is all about doubling down on what we
00:19:45
are good in. Got it bitch is investing
00:19:46
proceed and see don't fall on. So this fund is about doing more
00:19:51
of what we have been doing and writing bigger checks and
00:19:54
proceed and C. So, what percentage is like, for
00:19:59
the preceding seed Investments and what percentages for
00:20:02
doubling down on them as they raise.
00:20:05
Yeah. So, Our initial check is always
00:20:08
preceded seed but we do fall on and we keep over 50% of the fun
00:20:13
for fall warm but that 50% is not a distributed Capital.
00:20:16
So basically it goes to few good ones at a hundred.
00:20:20
Yeah so that has been always the model from funn1k year so we
00:20:24
keep over 50% and we double down on the winners.
00:20:27
Like for example, toward actually invested in seed
00:20:30
series, a series fee, which the series B valuation was around
00:20:35
six hundred million dollars. Hours at the time that he was in
00:20:39
rotted. Really obvious that food,
00:20:42
delivery. It's a category and people doubt
00:20:44
that and then we had a 60 million dollars fund which of
00:20:47
scary to ride. You wrote actually this is
00:20:50
public data. We rode one point four million
00:20:52
dollars check in that round. That even some of our health
00:20:54
bills got scared. That.
00:20:56
Why are you investing this much of the six hundred million
00:20:59
dollars? But, you know, when the exit
00:21:01
happens at 50 billion, it was kind of a no-brainer but not at
00:21:04
that time. How did you find the word?
00:21:06
Ash, Met them at the white sea level day and I think I learned
00:21:10
from white with the door that sound, there's a stand that
00:21:13
you're the only investor that invested in door Dodge who came
00:21:17
to them again. But we met told me it was like
00:21:22
you spent time with Tony and the team early on it was very
00:21:25
obvious. This is an outlier team and we
00:21:28
went to their home, they had a home on office and then on the
00:21:31
Whiteboard that they explain the model, but my partner Mark went
00:21:35
on University Avenue talk to her.
00:21:36
Restaurants and ask you out, or dashing everybody said, yeah, we
00:21:39
love Tony because he delivers the food himself and the pitch
00:21:42
it up and the other. So it was kind of our due
00:21:44
diligence there. We brought soft Pine to do the
00:21:47
round Jeff house. In bold was introduction from
00:21:50
ours and when did you raise this actual four hundred plus million
00:21:55
dollar? We raise that majority of the
00:21:57
fun last year and then we started deploy Capital fourth
00:22:02
quarter we just did the last closing recently.
00:22:05
I mean the meme. Out there, is it it's, you know,
00:22:08
a tough time. And I feel like the Legacy
00:22:11
Venture funds want to say, oh, all the new investors in
00:22:14
particular are going to be challenged.
00:22:17
I mean, you're not that new anymore, but I don't know what
00:22:20
was your read on the lp? Limited partner sort of
00:22:23
environment? Well, I think you're a very
00:22:25
lucky to have some exceptional LTS who have seen the growth and
00:22:30
strategy and the track record. I think that the reason I think
00:22:34
we could have raised this one was the model made.
00:22:36
Sense to LPS, and the strategy, the team, the focus, and the
00:22:42
opportunity. I think, when you do proceed and
00:22:45
see your immune to the public market.
00:22:48
So, they're always entrepreneurs out there, raising cap, but more
00:22:51
money. So, and if you stablish, an
00:22:54
exceptional brand and deal flow and the team, you can partner
00:22:57
with some amazing entrepreneurs early on with the steady pace.
00:23:01
So we have never been a seasonal investor the last 10 years, we
00:23:04
just focus on one thing. And the other one what I learned
00:23:09
through this fundraising some of the larger LPS who have not been
00:23:15
investing in proceed and see the realize this is the category
00:23:19
they should have in their own portfolio.
00:23:21
Many of them their investor in multistage forums, anything
00:23:25
proceed until it's covered by them but now they're looking for
00:23:29
Specialists that they can do that.
00:23:31
So I think the combination of our Focus strategy obviously
00:23:36
track, Record and the appetite people have for proceeding seed
00:23:40
funds. Okay?
00:23:41
So transition like to platform strategy in some ways and like
00:23:45
the services you provide, you know, we talked about Dropbox
00:23:48
and doordash you found out of YC.
00:23:51
I'm curious what your view on. I mean, pair is started doing
00:23:55
its own accelerator now? Right, or am I mistaken on that
00:23:59
and like, just how do you think about?
00:24:01
Yeah, other accelerators. I mean you know, I feel like why
00:24:04
you see people are constantly in the Panic that Prices are too
00:24:08
high. Now why see itself is writing
00:24:10
these huge checks? Like certainly seems hard for
00:24:13
precede unless you find it before.
00:24:16
Yeah, I'm just curious on your view on accelerated.
00:24:18
I think what obvious advice for has done an amazing job and we
00:24:21
see Y combinator is a kind of a source of companies were asked
00:24:26
to partner with them. We have our accelerator which we
00:24:30
change the name because we do a lot more than accelerator called
00:24:33
pair X. It's a boost camp for proceed
00:24:36
investment. That we do.
00:24:37
So we do it twice a year 10 to 15 companies, come to pair X and
00:24:43
the size of the investment is anywhere between 250 thousand to
00:24:45
two million dollars. They spent four months, four and
00:24:48
a half months. We'd obviously match the bit
00:24:50
senior Partners founded re unlikely because the whole world
00:24:53
is really small and almost all of our companies when they come
00:24:57
they haven't raised Capital before.
00:24:59
Just like these zero, their start and then we have a demo
00:25:02
dated come and present but we have had great successes and
00:25:06
it's growing. We These study I which is a
00:25:08
billion dollar company Noble, credit scientist.
00:25:11
Affinity can go ahead. We do this twice a year.
00:25:14
We match them with not investment team with their
00:25:17
platform team also and in addition we have to see platform
00:25:21
I think accelerator I just think in the Venture Capital business.
00:25:24
There's not one model that works.
00:25:27
You can be y combinator, very successful.
00:25:29
You can be Sequoia, Capital, very successful.
00:25:31
You can be Benchmark rate. Successful three different
00:25:34
forms, three different strategy. Exceptional performances and I
00:25:39
think we have picked our own strategy to what we are good at
00:25:43
and what we do. And as long as you become the
00:25:46
best at what you do, there's something magical happens, how
00:25:49
would you articulate that treasure?
00:25:50
What is sort of most unique about your approach today?
00:25:54
Yeah, I think being solely preceding seed, Focus, build a
00:25:59
machine for sourcing. So 50% of our companies.
00:26:03
Now founded by students, and this company is now worth over
00:26:06
fifteen billion dollars. Is so then I'm safe to be out at
00:26:09
the time that the invested. There were still students in the
00:26:11
class and we have a team working around and they have multiple
00:26:15
programs and then 50% of our companies are people who are non
00:26:19
students. If you have programs for it, one
00:26:21
of the programs that we both are very proud of it called female
00:26:24
engineer circles. It is a program.
00:26:26
We started two years ago for female Engineers who are
00:26:30
leaving. Big tech companies that have an
00:26:32
idea. It's a free program, it's highly
00:26:35
selective everybody. Patches around 30 female,
00:26:39
Engineers be matched with mentors.
00:26:41
We bring who is who in tag? It's a sense of community.
00:26:44
You can go raise money from anybody.
00:26:46
You want to over 30 companies have come out of last three
00:26:49
batches, Sequoias, investor and vision orbiting by serve
00:26:53
invested in seven of them. We do the same program for phds
00:26:56
and product manager, so at any given time people of this
00:26:59
community that go over there, but University is very
00:27:03
well-known, I can save it with your number one brand in the
00:27:05
world inside universities. We find entrepreneurs and the
00:27:08
help them grow over there. They have a program called
00:27:11
garage. The select top technical
00:27:14
students from Stanford and it's again, free program for nine
00:27:18
months, you have access to us. We come and we help you build
00:27:21
products not company, but naturally people start companies
00:27:25
there. So one of our companies Affinity
00:27:27
come from that and few others. However, reporter in turn
00:27:30
starting later this summer, who's a Stanford undergraduate?
00:27:33
One of the things I've tasked her with is yet to get a sense
00:27:37
of the vibe of like, I don't know, the Stanford undergrad
00:27:40
chart of scene. I mean, is it that?
00:27:42
I'm curious like to do some of the reporting for like, I mean,
00:27:45
I know like the Evan Spiegel days, you know, it was like, oh,
00:27:48
Stanford undergrads, we're sort of the obsession.
00:27:51
You are you seeing still a ton of great startups come out of
00:27:55
the undergrads? Yeah, I think Stanford.
00:27:57
I think it may be the internal versus number one inning in term
00:28:01
of any data. But you know, Brooke, these
00:28:02
there are were a mighty it's on with our think there are very I
00:28:06
mean, ACM, an amazing quality of Articles across different camps
00:28:11
in Stanford. The highest in terms of but
00:28:14
there are some amazing like you go to UC Berkeley, it's an
00:28:16
incredible group of Articles going over there.
00:28:19
We actually have a business plan competition every year and we
00:28:22
give every campus, you know, few hundred thousand dollars for
00:28:26
ideas and PC incredible entrepreneurs over there working
00:28:30
on an amazing ideas. Sometimes it doesn't work but
00:28:33
they're very committed to be entrepreneur.
00:28:35
And we want to build a relationship long time.
00:28:37
I don't have the numbers, but it feels anecdotally like there's a
00:28:40
Founders or older since I mean part of it is just that the
00:28:44
dominant figures in the tech conversation are some of the
00:28:47
same people. So it's like Mark Zuckerberg is
00:28:50
older. Now the Google Founders are
00:28:52
older but I feel like you know when I first started covering
00:28:56
Silicon Valley there was much more of a sense that the like
00:28:59
the young Founders were sort of super powerful in their 20s but
00:29:03
I don't know. It does.
00:29:04
It's like that today or my crazy?
00:29:06
No we don't. That view.
00:29:07
We don't look at the age background.
00:29:10
We look for Founders who are committed to be entrepreneur.
00:29:14
They have a deep understanding and the market they have
00:29:19
insights about the customers that other people don't have and
00:29:23
then French rated product and technology in the so that
00:29:26
matters. So, I'll give you an example.
00:29:28
We just invested in the company called Hazel their 23 sophomore,
00:29:32
students from Stanford we're using AI for realtors, it's just
00:29:36
very simple. Also they actually using AI to
00:29:38
eliminate 80% of the Caps that Realtors to.
00:29:41
That's one thing. We just gave a term sheet to the
00:29:43
very Senior Team out of Google. So it just doesn't matter me,
00:29:46
either by God, we don't say, if you are young, you cannot build
00:29:50
the company or you have to be the second time, Founders, some
00:29:53
of our Founders. Most of them they haven't put a
00:29:54
deck together, but some have built products at large tech
00:29:59
companies, you're saying you have an undergrad Focus.
00:30:01
You're like trying to have great coverage of college campuses or
00:30:04
No. In fact, when I say, The person
00:30:07
in front companies are started by students, majority of emerald
00:30:10
grads and phds Business Schools and phds we do have you do have
00:30:14
undergrads. But, you know, there's this
00:30:16
notion when you talk to people especially investor that you
00:30:19
drop what standards everybody things I never bought before,
00:30:22
but we have funded students who work for Goldman Sachs and Uber
00:30:26
and then phds who come to business with its combination of
00:30:29
both. There's a sense that I mean
00:30:31
they're having the data shows us like seed and proceed prices
00:30:34
have been much more resilient than Later stage rounds, like,
00:30:39
do you feel like the prices are going to drop and match
00:30:41
everything and see it in proceed?
00:30:43
Or how do you think that plays out and how do you react to
00:30:46
that? When there's sort of this
00:30:47
mismatch and the pricing levels it precede and seed versus later
00:30:51
stage? Yeah, I think prices across all
00:30:55
stages of come down. Let's sew on proceedings eat
00:30:59
except that you have a very senior AIT mandate is a totally
00:31:04
different conversation. Gets buys a lot of high.
00:31:06
So, Forget about that. But I think there's still
00:31:09
stable. We saw one of the changes I've
00:31:12
seen is not the prices is like the party rounds are
00:31:16
disappearing rounds where it used to come in 48 hours.
00:31:20
You didn't have time to even get to know the founders and I think
00:31:24
it's getting healthier that you have time to get to know found
00:31:27
or is obviously some of the rounds coming together still in
00:31:30
48 hours or 72 hours. But I think there's a chance
00:31:34
that you can spend time with that which is very, very
00:31:36
healthy. Z, I think, Sarah's a is
00:31:38
becoming really hard. But again, if you have a true
00:31:42
product Market, fit and strong growth still series, are you get
00:31:46
a competitive term sheets from VCS?
00:31:49
And if you have a negative unit economics, it's just almost
00:31:52
impossible to erase their exact. Do you ever do series is for
00:31:55
your companies or their ever cases?
00:31:57
Where you do series are the intake?
00:31:59
Check is not said he's a, but be investing Series in, be
00:32:03
sometimes Beyond, but they don't write the series a check.
00:32:06
They initially, Man. Yeah, the first checking, right?
00:32:09
It's either proceed or C and then we followed, but the
00:32:13
initial check me right. Never have a seat company
00:32:16
really. Like it's not raising.
00:32:18
Would you lead this series a or it needs another lead?
00:32:22
No, it's not an expertise. I think I'd series a, once you
00:32:25
reach product Market, fit. You need a group of people
00:32:28
investors who have seen growth from the product Market fit just
00:32:32
grows scale. The team that's not expertise,
00:32:35
we can still help companies. But that's not the core value
00:32:38
you bring to, to series a. I think there's a strong
00:32:41
argument that part of the reason prices didn't fall harder in
00:32:44
seed in series. A, is that, you know, these
00:32:46
multi-stage funds shifted some of their investment early stage
00:32:50
because they wanted to stay active and I don't know how do
00:32:54
you respond to the competition or what do you make of having
00:32:57
Sequoias who you are introducing two companies or injury sins
00:33:00
like in these early charge rounds?
00:33:03
Yeah, we see these firms that you mention and some other seat
00:33:06
firms. Looking at the same competitive
00:33:09
what we tell entrepreneurs that, you know, we live and breed
00:33:12
proceeding seat. They are specialists in that
00:33:15
stage and we built an investment chain and we build the
00:33:19
customized platform for that stage.
00:33:22
And this is our track record and you can reference it and you can
00:33:25
see it, but it is never dates. Don't ignore those who make the
00:33:29
decision. At the end of the day, I
00:33:31
actually think it's our business was restaurants.
00:33:35
You can go to Italian A restaurant and have a salad
00:33:41
pasta pizza Branzino and they're great.
00:33:45
But if you want to eat only Pizza, the best pizza is at the
00:33:49
coordinate with the shop that the guy comes and makes do every
00:33:53
day, and in and out, those are the best pizza.
00:33:56
So Pierre is that pizza shop of the Italian relevant heard to
00:34:01
argue that if you are the specialized, you know, pizza
00:34:04
shop for early stage investing like, What are different
00:34:08
services that these early stage companies, want, and that you
00:34:12
provide Char wine is the ability to help entrepreneurs navigate
00:34:20
through the market. They want to go and making sure
00:34:23
that they pick the right Market. Is it large enough market and
00:34:27
Define the first 10 customers hiring the right team and
00:34:32
helping them build the product and the actually have the
00:34:35
Playbook drifting? In any given you go on our
00:34:38
website and explain it, how we help our.
00:34:40
So that's that's where we help. And in addition, I think, 10
00:34:44
years ago when Eric you were raising money from pay and it's
00:34:47
a page when I need Engineers. I was calling my friends and
00:34:51
network and I didn't know how to recruit.
00:34:53
But now you come to us and I give you to the talent in you
00:34:57
and they give you a data on ask 2/4, be higher 30, people's rev
00:35:01
petroleum companies, which is for in a multi-stage friends.
00:35:04
They have recruiting team, big ones.
00:35:07
Not many. I don't think any seat from has
00:35:09
anything in the capacity that we have as senior full-time helping
00:35:14
our companies. And I think they're building the
00:35:16
same thing for go to market and you're saying building the same
00:35:18
thing for sulfur and engineering and so on.
00:35:22
So we are focusing in that. Me expanding our services and
00:35:26
you know, what are the things I actually think given?
00:35:29
What rot are told the early on, because more and I we came as an
00:35:33
outsider, but look at the Venture Capital World from
00:35:36
outside. I'd and if you're building a
00:35:38
firm for Founder's what they want and constantly become with
00:35:41
the new ideas. So, for example, the incubator
00:35:44
or their eggs are was kind of what we think.
00:35:47
And, you know, the idea of female engineer Circle came
00:35:50
about, like, thinking about the communities, and we came about
00:35:53
this reactionary. And now, we're just going to
00:35:55
announce a pair of X-ray eye, that two of my partners are
00:35:59
running it, so specific for AI companies.
00:36:02
Deep, technical Founders, were building solving real problems,
00:36:05
so I think B3 Paradise to the start off with the core product.
00:36:10
The core product is partnering with entrepreneurs, helping them
00:36:13
build companies. But around that product, you
00:36:15
always want to innovate and come up with the new ideas will
00:36:18
remain to court general Partners.
00:36:21
Or with this bigger fund know, we want to build the firm that
00:36:24
out that smart and I we actually inspired by Sequoia a gray locks
00:36:29
off the role that they have, it generational partner.
00:36:32
So this fund we have to GP more and I but we we hire people.
00:36:37
Hold with the hope that they become and run is for many years
00:36:40
from today, in terms of like types of companies, you know,
00:36:43
like what percentage a i investing are you doing right
00:36:46
now like where are the areas where you as a firm or most
00:36:49
excited to invest today or do you think that way?
00:36:53
I mean, you're saying you're doing a know, I'd be a very much
00:36:57
found was driven. Obviously we believe a our
00:37:00
Revolution Is For Real but at the same time is so much hype.
00:37:03
So, AI companies are twofold there.
00:37:07
Back, there are people who are coming with exceptional
00:37:11
innovation in this space and they're building long-lasting
00:37:14
companies. There are other companies that
00:37:16
they are AI power like the using AI to, in legal or tax or, you
00:37:23
know, consumer businesses and that's and be.
00:37:25
But our belief is we want to see the future Through The Eyes of
00:37:30
entrepreneurs. So we don't have a set sector to
00:37:33
look at it. Obviously, I pivot he's in aii
00:37:35
these days. It's true.
00:37:37
Tremendous, but we look at Health Care, consumer finite,
00:37:41
climate taking so on one of the things worth mentioning Eric
00:37:44
that pair is Adderley sperm. But we have partners with deep
00:37:48
knowledge and expertise need sectors.
00:37:50
For example, Arkansas was the founding engineer of Robin Hood,
00:37:55
and he sold the company to Plaid is leading.
00:37:57
Our fintech. Our biotech Investments is led
00:38:01
by a deal to him, who took one of our biotech companies popping
00:38:05
as a head up is there. And he has PhD in binding from
00:38:08
the mighty. So we have the the experts in
00:38:10
that sector. They can help you found any
00:38:12
former rug salesman to come in or how do people replicate that,
00:38:17
you know, like how I feel like it's heartwarming to hear the
00:38:20
story of somebody who really like fought in but then you go
00:38:23
to hire. You still like, oh let's get the
00:38:25
PHD or whatever, you know, have you found other cases where
00:38:28
you've been able to identify somebody without the sort of
00:38:31
conventional background and what sort of the how do you do in our
00:38:35
team? We have I've never hired the
00:38:38
former investor everybody. In our firm has been found
00:38:41
there, an operator and they come and they get trained.
00:38:44
So that's kind of the culture that we have.
00:38:46
Are I look for myself into people that people who are
00:38:52
Optimist and everything is possible that if you set your
00:38:56
heart and mind, you can do this thing's.
00:38:59
So that DNA, I'm actually very excited to meet people.
00:39:03
Either hiring in-house or partnering with our Grosso.
00:39:07
Part of my job is just getting to know the founders already on
00:39:10
yuy. Now, there's not much we can do
00:39:13
because there's no customer to call most of them.
00:39:16
Does no product, maybe prototypes.
00:39:17
It's getting to know the founders and the ability to
00:39:20
explain the market and the vision is very important.
00:39:22
When you do presidency, I want to go back, just to the fun size
00:39:26
thing for a second. We were doordash.
00:39:28
Like there was pro-rata like the, you could have exercised if
00:39:32
you had more money. I mean, obviously, you were
00:39:33
saying before that you already made the tough call of
00:39:36
investing, Like six or a million.
00:39:38
There are lots of tough calls or along the way where people were
00:39:41
agonizing about the prices, and there was also like a lot of
00:39:44
dilution, how do you look back on the pro rata?
00:39:47
Obviously knowing how it all works out and and with this new
00:39:50
font? So I think it goes back to the
00:39:53
relationship. He built early on with the
00:39:55
founding team. So the reason we invested in the
00:39:59
series be of doordash, wasn't because we get so much
00:40:03
information from the founding team and the strategy who they
00:40:06
are. And the relation we build with
00:40:08
David Sequoia and John doar came on board.
00:40:11
If he had more money at that point, we will have invested in
00:40:14
future rounds. By the way, we are, maybe the
00:40:17
only kind of the smaller funds that we never sold any shares in
00:40:20
life. You, I don't know who sold, but
00:40:22
they didn't and imagine that 50 million dollars fund.
00:40:25
Oh my God, that are going to Soul.
00:40:27
That's agonize, you're terrified.
00:40:29
Me could have sold at two billion, five billion, 10
00:40:32
billion, 20 billion long before going public with a return, the
00:40:36
function, Apple time, so we didn't do it in saw anything
00:40:39
nothing. Not one real cheese, like trying
00:40:42
to kill you or like never asking question, but we were varied
00:40:45
frying that do you not going to sell it and you know, we
00:40:48
obviously exited that at the huge valuation and have been
00:40:51
public but it tells that how we run the firm and how we look at
00:40:56
companies even know. We have a company called one
00:40:59
table which is at M and compliance offer.
00:41:02
About the answer key event is like, a great sponsor of this.
00:41:05
Yes, we love it. I had Christina on my episode of
00:41:09
my original, guess so yeah, yes, ma'am.
00:41:12
And then Sarah is a was done by Sequoia and last year.
00:41:15
Crafted people involved, valuation be wrote the biggest
00:41:19
track ever from Pair into last round which was normally you
00:41:25
don't do it. I really like the, I don't know
00:41:28
students have seed fund, economics would just say, you
00:41:31
know, like a bigger fund is just so much harder to return the
00:41:35
beauty of a 50 million dollar fund.
00:41:37
And is that one great investment can, you know more than return
00:41:41
the fun? Do you worry that with a 400
00:41:44
million dollar fund? You could land like historic
00:41:49
investment and still you know doesn't mean you're going to get
00:41:53
top returns again. Or how do you think about what
00:41:56
needs to be done to return? A four hundred thirty two
00:41:59
million dollar fund versus a 50 million dollar?
00:42:01
Yeah, it's a very good question. I wake up every morning and I
00:42:05
think we're going to go out of business.
00:42:07
Up-to-date. So that's the mentality doesn't
00:42:09
matter. You have four hundred million
00:42:10
dollars or four million or 4 billion dollars.
00:42:13
So I think I want to stay on my toes and my team that door dice
00:42:18
performance or garden. Hell doesn't mean anything about
00:42:21
fun for that's gone. So there's no guarantee.
00:42:25
If you don't perform 15 might be very hard to raise our.
00:42:28
So we need to prove this model works.
00:42:31
So with this fun you're doing more preceding batsman's, we're
00:42:35
going to do 20 to 30. Increasing Investments and 10
00:42:38
investments in C, 10 to 12. So, more companies a year, one
00:42:43
of the things we realized 13, we do an amazing work to create a
00:42:50
deal flow. And we were meeting, you know,
00:42:53
senior entrepreneurs, who were raising three to five million
00:42:56
dollars C. And we were not able to meet
00:42:59
those routes writing Two, Three or even four million dollars.
00:43:03
So, this fund allow us to lead those seed rounds.
00:43:07
Which we already have done in fun for and their own stealth
00:43:11
mode. So it's a combination of doing
00:43:14
more of what we have been doing. And, you know, writing bigger,
00:43:19
check in some cases and on more of the companies.
00:43:22
And yeah, I think at the end of the day this business, it's all
00:43:25
about your outliers. I think few companies can
00:43:29
return, but I think now, we can own more of the company's early
00:43:32
on and more shots at the goal with the bigger team, and the
00:43:34
platform team and established Brad.
00:43:37
Having a bigger fun doesn't mean anything other than a bigger
00:43:41
responsibility to return. If you want to be a cop perform,
00:43:44
how easy or hard is it from the inside to tell which of your
00:43:50
portfolio companies are winners really like both for yourself.
00:43:53
And I'm curious I'm sure you've looked at other firms like the
00:43:56
judging the sort of I don't know if you call them opportunity or
00:43:58
wherever. Yeah carry on investments.
00:44:00
Like what's the track record on those things?
00:44:03
Like have you doubled down on the wrong?
00:44:04
Yeah, the first sign is Quality of the people that the team is
00:44:09
hiring once you see exceptional people either in doing sales and
00:44:15
marketing joining a team. The very very good sign
00:44:20
historic. If you look at data, most of the
00:44:22
companies, the quality of the people who investors to come
00:44:25
series they to combination of what type of talent this
00:44:29
founding payment. You got good early on and then
00:44:33
the type of the investment, you can bring a series a it's a big
00:44:36
indication. To me, there are some exceptions
00:44:39
companies I pick up. They can raise series are from
00:44:42
copter being seized. They come back but, you know,
00:44:45
the combination of the quality of your higher is an investor is
00:44:49
always telling Google. I think this might be my last
00:44:52
question. Lester, today, I'm missing.
00:44:54
What are the next door to ashes or tell us about a couple of fun
00:44:58
portfolio companies? That maybe aren't on people's
00:45:00
radar that get you excited about where Silicon Valley is right?
00:45:04
I see. No, the, the next door that's
00:45:06
telling me I'm going to Anywhere in the world.
00:45:08
They are. No.
00:45:11
I think our companies are being by so early pics, like 34 years
00:45:15
to be where they are. So, I think our funds are very
00:45:18
young, but I told you about fund one that I think is done really
00:45:22
well point to, we have some great companies want I included,
00:45:25
we have a company called Silas two professors from duke who
00:45:29
actually went to pair X. Our incubator that the found the
00:45:32
way to detect cancer, very early.
00:45:35
And then we have Noble Credit with Nova credit, double cried,
00:45:39
exactly, for immigrants, bringing your credit, Sports
00:45:42
America, the growing very fast and infantry so early to talk
00:45:47
about, we have you made some great investment in front three
00:45:51
great companies, including some AI companies but it just, I
00:45:54
don't know, well not say which ones are winners but you know
00:45:58
you guys. Yeah yeah but I think it's all
00:46:00
over the place. There's be just one of our
00:46:02
company's going to announce a series.
00:46:04
A that been invested. They were still students at And
00:46:07
for believe or not, these people are building the operating
00:46:10
system for weather around the globe by sending balloons.
00:46:14
It costs only 300 bucks, just crazy.
00:46:17
I'm even in Bassett was like a science project.
00:46:19
So today, when hurricane is going on, they send the plane
00:46:23
inside at their to take kind of data and it cost like sixty
00:46:28
thousand dollars per flight they'd move the balloon for 360
00:46:31
bucks. Said that out, then does the
00:46:33
same thing and now the idea just sending all these balloons
00:46:37
Around the globe and collect all the data, and then better data,
00:46:40
which is very valuable for hedge funds, for farmers and sorry,
00:46:43
just which the company called Wing born.
00:46:46
So, did I know this? Someone in Domino?
00:46:49
But one of the most difficult things, when you do Creasy, it's
00:46:53
can you detach from your belief and see the world through the
00:46:57
eyes of entrepreneurs and in truly believe in that?
00:47:01
That's why not many people invest in Airbnb and Uber up the
00:47:05
bull because people have said of mine, In and Venture
00:47:08
capitalists. They believe they're very smart.
00:47:10
They know the world but I think entrepreneurs are the world.
00:47:13
Are the ones are building future be just servicing that great.
00:47:16
Well, thank you so much for coming on the show.
00:47:18
This is awesome. I really enjoyed it.
00:47:20
Alright, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
00:47:23
Thanks so much. That was my conversation with
00:47:25
page Munoz odd on are newcomers, has been the newcomer podcast.
00:47:30
Thanks so much to Riley consol my chief of staff.
00:47:33
Tommy Heron our audio editor, young Chomsky written.
00:47:36
Theme music, like comment, subscribe on YouTube, please
00:47:41
rate review on Apple podcast and of course, most importantly,
00:47:45
become the Bane subscriber to the sub style and newcomer
00:47:49
dotco, you really appreciate your support.
00:47:52
See you next week. Thanks so much.
00:47:55
Goodbye. Goodbye, goodbye.
00:47:57
Goodbye. Theme music, like comment,
00:47:38
subscribe on YouTube, please rate review on Apple podcast and
00:47:43
of course, most importantly, become the Bane subscriber to
00:47:47
the sub style and newcomer dotco, you really appreciate
00:47:51
your support. See you next week.
00:47:54
Thanks so much. Goodbye.
00:47:55
Goodbye, goodbye. Goodbye.