Alt Goes Mainstream

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s episode, we travel around the world of hospitality investing. We talk with Carlos Rodriguez Jr., the Founder, President, and COO of Driftwood Capital, one of the US’s leading hospitality sponsors with over $3B in hospitality assets under management. They’ve found a way to do both the traditional things in real estate investing and development well and compliment that with an innovative strategy to bring over 1,200 accredited investors on their platform as they find ways to improve how sponsors can access deals and capital.Carlos and I had a fascinating discussion about real estate and private markets. We covered:* How hospitality investing was impacted by Covid and how Driftwood weathered the storm.* Lessons learned from operating through Covid.* Why location, location, location rings true in real estate investing.* How the millennial traveler and work from home have impacted hospitality investing.* The most surprising things in real estate investing over the past few years.* How technology is impacting real estate investing.Thanks Carlos for coming on the show to share your insights and wisdom about hospitality investing. We hope you enjoy.Join over 3,450 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Apollo, Goldman Sachs, Ares, KKR, Carlyle, Blue Owl, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, J.P. Morgan, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s show, we welcome a senior member of the team at the world’s 3rd largest alternatives manager. Tyler Jayroe is a MD and Portfolio Manager in the Private Equity Group at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which manages over $2.4 trillion of assets on behalf of a diverse group of global institutions and individual investors. Tyler’s team, the Private Equity Group, has a 40 year history of investing across private markets, covering the alternative investment spectrum and investing over $42B of capital. Tyler helps spearhead a team that invests into funds, co-investments, and secondaries across private equity, growth equity, and venture fund strategies.Tyler and I had a fascinating conversation about how an industry behemoth allocates capital across funds and strategies. We discussed:* What they look for when investing into funds.* Why middle market private equity is an area they have focused on.* The opportunity for secondaries in the current market.* The differences between a first-time investor and a first-time fund manager.* What a scalable and replicable process really means when it comes to evaluating fund managers.Thanks Tyler for coming on the podcast to share your deep experience in private markets. Hope you enjoy.Join over 3,350 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Apollo, Goldman Sachs, Ares, KKR, Carlyle, Blue Owl, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, J.P. Morgan, and more.Contact JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc. at 1-800-480-4111 for a fund prospectus. You can also visit us at www.jpmorganfunds.com. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives and risks as well as charges and expenses of the mutual fund before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the mutual fund. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.This document is a general communication being provided for informational purposes only. It is educational in nature and not designed to be a recommendation for any specific investment product, strategy, plan feature or other purpose. Any examples used are generic, hypothetical and for illustration purposes only. Prior to making any investment or financial decisions, an investor should seek individualized advice from personal financial, legal, tax and other professionals that take into account all of the particular facts and circumstances of an investor’s own situation.Risk SummaryThe following considerations, which summarize some, but not all, of the risks of an investment in the representative strategy, should be carefully evaluated.General Investment RisksThere is no assurance that the investments held by the Fund will be profitable, that there will be proceeds from such investments available for distribution to Shareholders or that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. An investment in the Fund is speculative and involves a high degree of risk. Fund performance may be volatile and a Shareholder could incur a total or substantial loss of its investment. There can be no assurance that projected or targeted returns for the Fund will be achieved.Financial Market DevelopmentsVolatile conditions in the capital markets may cause limitations on the ability of companies in which the Portfolio Funds will invest to obtain capital, or subject such companies to higher costs of capital for financing. This lack of available credit could impede upon the ability of such companies to complete investments and higher costs of capital could reduce the returns of the Fund or Portfolio Funds. Changes in interest rates may adversely affect the investments held by the Fund. Changes in the general level of interest rates can affect the value of the Fund’s investments. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental, monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations, fiscal deficits, trade surpluses or deficits, regulatory requirements and other factors beyond the control of the Fund and the companies in which the Portfolio Funds invest. Although it is expected that the Fund’s borrowings, if any, will be short-term in nature, the companies in which the Portfolio Funds invest may finance a significant portion of their activities with both fixed and floating rate debt. By financing the acquisition and development of an investment with floating rate debt, such companies and Portfolio Funds, and indirectly the Fund, will bear the risk that in the event of rising interest rates and a lack of concomitant growth in income, or any increase in underwriting standards that might limit the availability of credit, it could become difficult for such companies and Portfolio Funds to obtain refinancing. In such a case, a company or Portfolio Funds could be forced to take actions that might be disadvantageous at the time in question, such as refinancing on unfavorable terms or selling an asset. Any rise in interest rates

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s show, we welcome a long-time VC investor who brings the perspective from both sides of the pond. Fred Destin, the founder of Stride VC, a seed fund operating out of London and currently investing out of its second £123M fund, shares his views on the venture capital industry.Prior to Stride, Fred was a General Partner at Accel and Accomplice (fka Atlas Venture). He’s invested in some of venture’s big winners, including Deliveroo, Pillpack, Cazoo, Zoopla, Secret Escapes, Integral Ad Science, and more, generating over $1.4B in value to investors and a blended multiple in excess of 7x. Fred has been featured on the Forbes European Midas List a number of times. Fred and I had a fascinating conversation about the hows and the whys of early-stage venture. We discussed:* How VCs can navigate the difference between decision points and discovery zones.* Why a positive bias towards people can be a driver of returns in venture.* Why venture capital is often a poor experience for founders.* Why trust, truth, and empathy make for a strong and enduring founder relationship.* Why Fred thinks that the most product of a venture capital organization is decisions.* Why and how simplicity can be core to company-building.* How to evaluate risk versus reward at early-stage.* How younger investors can hone their craft.* The future of early-stage venture.Thanks Fred for coming on the podcast to share your wisdom on early-stage investing.Join over 3,160 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Apollo, Goldman Sachs, Ares, KKR, Carlyle, Blue Owl, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s show, we welcome a veteran of venture, a champion of portfolio concentration, a master of micro VC. Chris Douvos has taken a mosaic of experiences as an allocator at both endowments and funds that worked on behalf of institutional investors to found Ahoy Capital in 2018, an intentionally right-sized firm focused on working with smaller, emerging VC managers. A pioneering investor in the micro VC movement, Chris has been a mainstay in venture capital for decades. At Ahoy, he discovers and partners with smaller VC funds to help drive returns for his LPs, being seen as a “bird dog in the Valley” for many institutional investors who lack the access, network, and knowledge of the early-stage venture landscape to Chris’s degree.Chris has been embedded in the venture world for years, dating back to the early 2000s. Prior to Ahoy Capital, Chris spearheaded investment efforts at Venture Investment Associates and The Investment Fund for Foundations. He initially learned the craft of private markets investing at Princeton’s University endowment, although he earned his BA and MBA from Yale.Chris and I had such a fun discussion about venture and the emerging VC landscape. We discussed:* How the business of venture has changed.* Why there’s always room for a Bugatti when the market has a lot of Fords and Toyotas.* What he learned from Doug Leone at Sequoia in his early days as an allocator at Princeton and how it’s informed how he invests today.* Why it’s tough to be a midsized fund in today’s venture market.* Why he believes that concentration is key as a LP – and that diversification can lead to “diworseification.”* Why he believes smaller fund sizes can lead to outperformance.Thanks Chris for coming on the podcast to share your wisdom and lessons learned from decades in venture.Join over 3,000 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Ares, KKR, Carlyle, Blue Owl, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today’s show brings us inside the mind of a top allocator and CIO in the private wealth world.We talk with Shannon Saccocia, the CIO of Neuberger Berman Private Wealth, a division of NB that has almost $70B of assets under management. With over 24 years of experience, Shannon brings a wealth of knowledge on private markets to bear. At NB Wealth, she works closely with investment leadership to establish market views, asset allocation, and portfolio recommendations tailored specifically for NB Private Wealth clients.Prior to joining NB, she was the CIO for 5 years at SVB Private and Boston Private Wealth, which SVB acquired in July 2021. In this capacity, she oversaw all investment management functions, including portfolio construction, asset allocation, third-party manager selection, equity and fixed income portfolio management, performance and trading.Shannon and I had a fascinating conversation on the evolution of private markets and how both allocators and GPs can think about this changing landscape. We discussed:* The definition of alts and what “true alternatives” are.* The changing nature of asset allocation and why alts are such a critical part of an investors’ portfolio.* The evolution of fees and what investors should be paying for.* Why specialized managers can win.* The importance of geopolitics and macro in a world where deglobalization has an increasing impact on asset allocation.* Why secondaries are an important onramp to private markets for the HNW channel.* What it means to get comfortable with being uncomfortable as an investor.* What the institutional investor world can learn from HNW investors.Thanks Shannon for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your thoughts and wisdom on private markets.Join over 2,700 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Ares, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today’s show dives into the collision of culture, sports, and finance. We talk with Chase Griffin, a student-athlete and QB at UCLA, who has become a pioneer in the college athletics Name Image Likeness (NIL) movement and is the 2x winner of the NIL Male Athlete of the Year awards from the NIL Summit and Opendorse.Chase has excelled on and off the field, so he’s no stranger to success. In high school, he was the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year, and he turned down Ivy League offers to commit to UCLA. At UCLA, he’s played behind NFL draft pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson and put up strong performances on the field. Off the field, he’s been a leader in the NIL movement and an exemplary scholar-athlete, to the point where his coach at UCLA, Chip Kelly, has said, “if you could buy stock in a human, buy stock in Chase Griffin.”Chase has deftly navigated the rapidly changing landscape of the NIL to secure over 30 NIL brand deals and launched the community / charity giving platform #NILforGood. He recently joined Range Media Partners as Athlete/Creator in Residence and contributes to Range business operations across Sports, NIL, Film, TV, Music, and Social Impact.Chase and I had a fascinating discussion about how the NIL could change college sports as we know it and how it will coincide with more investment into college athletics. At a time when private equity firms are investing into companies that are part of the developing NIL ecosystem and possibly even investing into collegiate athletics conferences, Chase shares his views on the impact that the NIL and financialization of sports has on athletes, colleges, pro sports, and broader student bodies.Congrats on all the accomplishments in your young career thus far, Chase. Thanks for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your experiences and wisdom on the NIL.Join over 2,500 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Ares, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s show, we bring the institutional family office perspective to private markets. We talk with Jamie Rhode, a Principal at Verdis Investment Management. Verdis is a single family office based in Philadelphia that was built on the rich legacy of the family, a major business family, that has spanned over three centuries.At Verdis, Jamie is focused on venture capital, private equity, and hedge fund investment sourcing and due diligence. She joined Verdis from Bloomberg, where she held roles in both equity research and credit analysis. Verdis is an active investor in the venture capital ecosystem, leveraging a data-driven investment approach that Jamie spearheads to allocate to mainly smaller and emerging managers. They’ve taken a very thoughtful approach to asset allocation, particularly venture, and have had a number of valuable insights on asset allocation come out of that process.Jamie and I had a fascinating discussion about the allocator’s perspective on venture capital and smaller fund managers.We discussed:* Why Jamie believes that 90% of investment returns come from asset allocation strategy.* Why smaller funds often drive the best returns.* Why illiquidity and duration are so critical to producing outsized returns, with Verdis finding that the last 20% of the hold period of a fund producing 46% of the returns.* Why Verdis believes in the strength of the YC network.* The perfect fund size and portfolio construction.* Why former operators may not make the best fund managers in Jamie’s view.Thanks Jamie for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and data-driven perspectives.Join over 2,500 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Ares, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today we bring on one of the world’s largest pre-seed investors to cover what the state of early-stage investing looks like.We welcome Maelle Gavet, the CEO of Techstars, a leading accelerator and global investment business that works with early-stage startups. Maelle has taken a background where she’s been a CEO, COO and operator at the likes of Priceline and Compass to run Techstars as they continue to transform their business. Techstars has invested in over 3,700 early-stage startups that have collectively achieved over $98B in all-time accelerator portfolio market capitalization.With a global reach and an early-stage perspective across ecosystems and sectors, Maelle was in a great position to share views on: * Why being relentless makes a great founder.* Why, even despite more seed funds than ever, there’s still been an increase in applications to Techstars by over 2.5x.* Why Techstars can be seen as the ultimate fund-of-funds in her view.* Why an actively managed index of early-stage innovation can make sense for many allocators.Thanks Maelle for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and perspectives on early stage investing.Join over 2,500 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Ares, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today, we travel to London to talk with someone who has seen the evolution of the European tech ecosystem up close.We discuss the rise of Europe with Isomer Capital’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner Joe Schorge. Isomer is a pan-European fund-of-funds, co-investment, and secondaries platform that is on its way to €1B AUM. They’ve invested in 70 VC funds, including the likes of Seedcamp, Hoxton Ventures, Atlantic Labs, and leading European companies like Sorare, Refurbed, Zenjob, and more.Joe has a fascinating perspective on the European’s tech ecosystem on a number of dimensions. He’s an American who moved to Europe in the late 1990s to work in tech before moving to the allocator and investor side. He worked as an investment consultant at Cambridge Associates, where he advised institutional investors in Europe and MENA on strategy, planning, and implementation that amounted to over $2B of capital across 75 transactions in private markets. He was then a Managing Director at Pomona Capital in Europe, where he focused on secondaries, fund investing, and co-investments, which paved the way for him to found Isomer as one of the early institutional pan-European fund-of-funds based in Europe.Joe and I had a rich conversation about the past, present, and future of the European tech ecosystem. We discussed:* Why Europe is a great place to invest right now.* Perspectives on how to build a tech ecosystem, given Joe’s deep experience and history in Europe.* How they uncovered two local funds which invested in one of Europe’s biggest tech successes, UiPath.* Why availability of capital is not the issue for the European ecosystem.* The biggest opportunities in the ecosystem.* Why local funds will still win in their respective regions at pre-seed and seed.* Why there are different skillsets that both investors and founders need to have to succeed in Europe.* What the current market environment means for European venture.* Why more institutional investors should be allocating to European venture.Thanks Joe for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and experiences about European venture and thanks to the EUVC team, Andreas Munk Holm and David Cruz e Silva, for the intro to Joe, where they together have a fantastic partnership between Isomer and EUVC.Join over 2,400 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Ares, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Startup stories are often stuff of dreams — and today’s podcast is a story about one of tech’s most unlikely venture capitalists.Journalist and professional soccer player turned immigrant turned self-proclaimed “best carwasher in San Jose” turned Persian rug salesman turned top Silicon Valley seed investor Pejman Nozad, the Co-Founder & Founding Managing Partner of Pear VC comes on the show to chronicle his journey that has crossed continents to back many of tech’s top companies. While his story has taken him many places, one thing has stayed constant — his ability to build relationships and connect with people. And that talent has enabled him to succeed in building a top seed fund in Pear with his partner and serial entrepreneur Mar Hershenson, where they have backed the likes of DoorDash, Gusto, Guardant Health, Aurora, and many more.Pejman shares everything from how to build relationships to how to build a seed fund.We discussed so many fascinating topics:* What he looks for in founders.* Why family is so important.* How and why building relationships is so critical in early-stage investing.* How Pear has built out a multitude of products and services for founders across pre-seed and seed.* How companies can go from zero to product-market fit.* Why some of the largest institutional LPs are interested in a dedicated pre-seed and seed strategy. * I also learned that he makes some really good Persian tea, which is apparently even better than Sadaf.It was a pleasure to have you on the show, Pejman, to share a story for the ages and one that is still being written.Join over 2,300 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Ares, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today’s episode features a pioneer in the sustainable investing world. Bill Orum, who is a Partner at Capricorn Investment Group, has proven that investors can do well and do good at the same time. Bill and his Partners have led Capricorn, a $9B AUM sustainable investment platform serving families, foundations, and institutional investors for over 20 years as a full service OCIO and investment platform.Capricorn has been an innovator for a number of years and has evolved into a firm with three distinct but related investment strategies: an OCIO, a GP stakes business that backs asset managers focused on sustainable investing, and the Technology Impact Fund, a VC fund that manages both Capricorn capital and outside capital and is focused on backing companies providing climate solutions.Capricorn has managed to navigate a complex investing strategy — impact or sustainable investing — and the many geopolitical and governmental challenges associated with climate focused investing in order to generate impressive investment results.Bill and I had a fascinating conversation. We discussed: * The evolution of impacting investing.* How and why generating impact and strong financial returns aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.* How to find and seed managers.* Why it’s so important to allocate capital to solving the climate challenge. * How they’ve helped normalize sustainable investing.Thanks Bill for coming on the show to share your wisdom and knowledge and for being a pioneer in the sustainable investing space, something so important for the future of our planet.Join over 2,200 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s show, we dive into the world of wealth management with one of the industry’s leaders, Haig Ariyan, the CEO of Arax Investment Partners.Haig has seen it all. He went from someone who grew up in the advisory world as a wealth manager at Dean Witter Reynolds to ultimately becoming President and CEO of Alex Brown, America’s first investment banking firm. At Alex Brown, he oversaw 220 financial advisors and $70 billion in client assets. When Alex Brown sold to Raymond James Financial, Haig became the Head of Global Wealth Solutions. Prior to Alex Brown, Haig was Head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management in the Americas.Haig is taking his expertise to build Arax Investment Partners. Together with RedBird Capital, an $8.6 billion private equity firm focused on financial services and sports and media, Arax is partnering with wealth and asset management firms and teams to build a differentiated platform that takes lessons learned and deep experience from running wealth management businesses.Haig and Arax are well-capitalized and off to a flying start. They’ve already acquired their first few wealth businesses as well as a $1 billion AUM broker-dealer that will give them the foundation to build on as a hybrid platform.Haig and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of wealth management and how alts are playing a big role in shaping the future of wealth.We discussed: * What it means to be an advisor.* Why Modern Portfolio Theory was such an important innovation for the industry.* Why the hybrid brokerage and advisory model makes sense.* How the wealth management space will continue to evolve.* How alts can be a differentiator for advisor practices.* How to build a platform that incentivizes advisor teams.Thanks Haig for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wealth of wisdom.Join over 2,200 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s show, we have a fascinating episode that combines the macro and the micro.Nimble Partners Founder John Burbank and Partner Ken Wallace come on the show to share their unique perspectives and discuss both the nuances and intricacies of investing in private markets and early-stage venture.Nimble Partners is a technology investment platform that invests into early-stage fund managers through their manager selection program and as well as direct and co-investments into breakout performers from their fund manager relationships.John and Ken have had illustrious careers in both public markets and private markets, investing in many of the biggest technology trends and many top early-stage managers over the past 15 years.John was a top macro investor from founding Passport Capital in 2000, where he was amongst the best hedge fund managers of his time. He’s been investing into early-stage fund managers for the past decade. As a long-time macro investor, he has consistently focused on sectors and investments where technology can be disruptive and accelerate change. He’s also an investor in the Golden State Warriors, the championship winning NBA team.Ken joined John to build Nimble after a stellar career at Industry Ventures, backing a number of emerging managers, most notably Chris Sacca’s first-time Lowercase Capital fund, which at over 200x+ returns, was amongst the best performing venture funds in history. At Industry Ventures, he specialized in hybrid fund of funds strategy, originating, valuing, and managing primary fund commitments, early secondary LP investments, and direct co-investments.We had a fascinating conversation that spanned a number of topics: * Why this is not the end of venture capital — and why the winners are still to going to win and win big.* How global macro impacts venture capital.* The framework that John and Ken use to evaluate technology trends and emerging managers.* How the “portfolio manager” model can be applied to venture capital.* How information is a huge edge.* Why duration is the most important thing an investor can have.Thanks John and Ken for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom.Join over 2,000 thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Recently, I had the pleasure of hosting a live podcast at the Allocate Beyond Summit, where I interviewed Avy Stein and Jordan Stein from Cresset.Allocate’s founders Samir Kaji and Hana Yang brought together a fascinating and thoughtful group of allocators, family offices, and VCs for an engaging two days of discussion about private markets.At the event, I interviewed father and son duo from Cresset. Avy Stein, the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Cresset, and Jordan Stein, Director of Private Capital at Cresset Partners, joined me on stage to discuss how their firm has achieved astronomical growth over the past few years, largely due to their business building acumen and in part powered by their focus on private markets.Cresset is a client and family-owned award-winning multi-family office with over $40 billion in AUM that was built by founders and private equity professionals.We had a fascinating discussion that covered everything from how and why Avy and Jordan built Cresset to the evolution of the wealth management space and how private markets is playing a large role in that.Thanks Avy and Jordan for sharing your wisdom and thanks Samir and Hana for hosting such a fantastic event.Join thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today’s episode dives into an important and growing part of the alts ecosystem: how investors can access and invest into alternatives through their retirement funds.We have Eric Satz, the CEO of Alto, a self-directed IRA custodian, with us today to discuss how he’s on a mission to provide everyday Americans with the same investment opportunity long favored by institutional investors.Alto provides custody for a wide array of alternative assets, including private companies, real estate, crypto, loans, and securitized collectibles. Alto has streamlined the process for companies, funds, and SEC registered investment platforms to include IRA investors in their offerings. They’ve partnered with firms across the alts space, including AngelList, Coinbase, EquityZen, Republic, Masterworks, and others, to enable investors to invest into private markets with their IRA.Eric is a serial entrepreneur and former investment banker. He worked at DLJ / Credit Suisse First Boston before co-founding Currenex (acquired by State Street for $564M), Plumgood Food, and Tennessee Community Ventures. His passion for entrepreneurship led him to serve on the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority from 2015 to 2018 and he teaches an entrepreneurship class to high school students.On today’s podcast, Eric teaches us all about the merits of a self-directed IRA. He shares why and how it makes sense to use an IRA to invest into private markets investments and how he’s taking lessons learned from prior IRA businesses to build Alto.Thanks Eric for coming on the show to share your knowledge and passion for alternatives.Join thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Wealth managers are increasingly participating in private markets, and for good reason. Today’s podcast is with an expert allocator in the alts space, Phil Huber, who has not only been actively investing in private markets as the CIO of $18B Savant Wealth, but has also authored a book about how advisors can approach private markets.This podcast is a must-listen for any allocator, particularly in the wealth management space, as Phil shares actionable insights for how LPs can go about building a strategy for investing in private markets and how GPs and alternative asset managers can work with the private wealth space.Phil is the CIO of $18B Savant Wealth. He comes onto the show to discuss how he approaches allocating to alts on behalf of their clients. Phil has spent much of the past 15 years thinking deeply about alts. The has culminated in him authoring a book, The Allocator’s Edge, A Modern Guide to Alternative Investments and the Future of Diversification. Phil is a Certified Financial Planner professional, has attained his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and is a member of the CFA Society of Chicago. Phil has been featured in a number of notable media outlets, including the WSJ, New York Times, and Bloomberg TV, and Phil recently won RIA Intel’s CIO of the Year award. He produces his own investing blog, bps and pieces, in addition to authoring his book.Thanks Phil for coming on the show to share your wisdom.Join thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today we peer into one of the most fascinating companies in private markets, AngelList, and talk with AngelList’s CEO Avlok Kohli.AngelList is building the operating system for modern startups and tech innovation, and as such, they see themselves as building a company of companies. AngelList has had almost 19,000 startups raise capital from syndicates and funds on their platform, they support over $15B in assets, and 40% of all US unicorns have had a GP invest in them through AngelList.To date, AngelList's GP business has largely been known for its marketplace and fund admin product. That changes this week when they begin to release a series of software products available to any venture firm, even if they don't run a fund on AngelList, which automates and adds intelligence to the most onerous and ambiguous parts of running a fund. It all starts with the most comprehensive and tailored banking product, built specifically for venture funds.Avlok has an impressive background as a tech founder and operator and gives us an insight into how AngelList is building their business.Avlok is the CEO at AngelList and the Founder and CEO of LegalReach. He is also the former Founder and CEO at Fairy. He created Fastbite, a food delivery service, which was acquired by Square a few months after launch and was integrated into Square’s delivery product as Fastbite by Caviar.Avlok and I had a fascinating discussion about how AngelList’s product driven culture has enabled them to evolve with customer needs and build all sorts of products and services for GPs, startups, and LPs. We discuss: * What makes AngelList a n-of-1 company.* How his experience at Square has informed his company building strategy at AngelList.* How AngelList's data can track relative health of companies and what will make a “sustainable unicorn.”* Why it’s almost impossible to compare them to a single traditional financial services company given the breadth and depth of their product offerings.Thanks Avlok for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and experiences and for all the work you're doing to power private markets.Join thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today we talk with John Avery, an executive who is leading the charge for private markets, Web3, and tokenization at one of the largest publicly traded financial services companies, FIS.FIS is one of the world’s leading financial services companies. Over 95% of the world’s banks work with FIS. Their asset management technology processes $40 trillion on an annual basis. And their products and services reach 20,000 clients globally. In the alts space, they work with the majority of the world’s largest private equity funds and alternative asset managers.FIS has a focused initiative on Web3 and digital assets. John is responsible for that initiative. John’s background spans both technology, where he was a developer in the 1990s, and financial markets, where he built capital markets software that was acquired by SunGard, which was acquired by FIS.John believes in the infrastructure promise of blockchain technology and how it can create efficiencies in private markets, so we had a fascinating conversation as we delved into how digital assets can transform private markets and how a set of evolutionary changes might deliver transformation on a revolutionary scale.Thanks John for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and experiences.Join thought leaders from private market firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s episode, we talk with Seyonne Kang, a Partner at StepStone, which acquired her former firm, Greenspring Associates. StepStone is a global private markets firm that provides customized investment and advisory solutions to some of the world’s most sophisticated investors. StepStone has a total capital responsibility of $602B of assets and has $134B of assets under management across the spectrum of private markets investments, giving them incredible purview into the current private markets landscape.At StepStone, Seyonne is a member of the private equity team, where she focuses on venture capital fund and growth equity investments.Prior to StepStone, Seyonne was a Partner at Greenspring Associates, a venture capital and growth equity firm that merged with StepStone in 2021. She spent the 7 years prior in investment management, with a focus on private capital, working at Jasper Ridge Partners and Commonfund. She also spent a decade on Wall Street in institutional equities.Seyonne and I had a fascinating conversation about the current state of venture capital and what it means for LPs and GPs. We discussed: * How GPs can weather the storm.* How LPs can navigate the current venture environment.* Advice for emerging managers.* Why secondaries might be an interesting investment opportunity right now.* How newer allocators to private markets can approach investing into venture and growth.* Why subject matter expertise matters for fund managers.* Why Seyonne is excited about innovation and venture in the US in the current market.Thanks Seyonne for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and experiences.Join thought leaders from private market firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s episode, we have Sheel Mohnot, the co-founder and Partner of FinTech VC fund Better Tomorrow Ventures.Sheel is a career fintech investor and operator. He has built Better Tomorrow Ventures into an active pre-seed and seed stage fintech VC that has grown to over $225M AUM. Prior to founding BTV, he was the GP at 500 FinTech, where he was the first institutional investor in Albert, Kin, Indio, Chipper Cash, Ethic, and others. He was also an early investor in Stripe and Flexport. He also co-founded two fintech startups – FeeFighters, which was acquired by GroupOn, and Innovative Auctions.Sheel and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of FinTech, how to build and scale an emerging manager, the challenges of raising a first time fund, and why smaller funds can outperform.We didn’t have a chance to discuss the experience of his Taco Bell wedding in the metaverse, but congrats Sheel and Amruta on your marriage and wishing you happiness in both life and the metaverse.Thanks Sheel for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and experiences.Join thought leaders from top private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, Fidelity, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today’s show was recorded live from AltsLA 2023 in partnership with CAIA. CAIA is the leading global professional body dedicated to alternative investment credential programs.On this episode, we speak with Daniel Joye, where he oversees Infrastructure investing at LACERA, the $58 billion AUM Los County Employees Retirement Association.Daniel and I had a fascinating conversation about how an institutional investor like LACERA approaches investing in infrastructure, the benefits of infrastructure investing, particularly in the current market environment, how to think about risk / return of infrastructure assets in a portfolio, and why investing in infrastructure is so critical to the development of cities and nations.Prior to moving back to Los Angeles and joining LACERA (he is an LA native), Daniel worked in London for Morgan Stanley, Vitol and BP with a focus on energy trading and investing.He started his career in the French Navy as a gunnery officer where he navigated the 7 seas and participated in Operation Enduring Freedom.He holds a Masters in Engineering from l'Ecole Navale (the French Naval Academy) and an MBA (with honors) from Wharton.Thanks Daniel for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your views and knowledge.Join thought leaders from private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman, Apollo, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today’s show was recorded live from AltsLA 2023 in partnership with CAIA. CAIA is the leading global professional body dedicated to alternative investment credential programs.On this episode, we speak with Mark Anson, the CEO and CIO of Commonfund ($28B AUM). Mark and I had a fascinating discussion on private markets. We discussed:* Why size discipline and sector focus defeat the explosion of capital in private markets.* Why multi-manager strategies or commingled vehicles make sense for wealth managers (particularly in VC).* How allocators can invest in the next Sequoia. * Why the concept of lagged beta matters for allocators.* How ESG and impact investing can be integrated into an investor’s portfolio.Mark Anson is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the Commonfund and Chairman of the Board of Commonfund Capital Inc. and Commonfund Asset Management Company.Previously, he was the President and Chief Investment Officer for the Bass Family Office. He was the President and Global Head of Investment Management at Nuveen Investments, a full-service asset management company with over $900 billion in assets under management.Prior to Nuveen, Mark served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer for the British Telecom Pension Scheme (BTPS), the largest institutional investor in the UK with assets of £55 billion.In addition, Mark was the CEO of Hermes Pensions Management in London, a £60 billion asset management company that is wholly owned by the BTPS. Prior to joining BTPS, he served as the Chief Investment Officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System.Thanks Mark for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your views and knowledge.Join thought leaders from private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today’s show was recorded live from AltsLA 2023 in partnership with CAIA. CAIA is the leading global professional body dedicated to alternative investment credential programs.On this episode, we speak with Christopher Ailman, the Chief Investment Officer of one of the world’s largest institutional investors, CalSTRS. Chris and I had a fascinating conversation about all things private markets. We discussed: * How one of the world’s largest institutional investors manages a portfolio with 40% exposure to private markets.* How many institutional investors are really managing an 80/20 portfolio (80% equity / equity-like, 20% fixed income / fixed income-like), not a 60/40 portfolio.* The current state of private markets.* Why alternative investments make sense in an investors’ portfolio.* The importance of “catching the wave” and investing in megatrends, like decarbonization.* How the retailization of alts impacts institutional investors like large pensions and endowments.He leads an investment staff of more than 200 and oversees a portfolio valued at $307 billion as of March 31, 2023.He has more than 37 years of institutional investment experience, including tenures as CIO of the Washington State Investment Board and the Sacramento County Employees Retirement System.He represents institutional investors on the MSCI Index Editorial Advisory Board, the PRI Asset Owners Advisory Committee, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Investor Advisory Group and the Toigo Foundation.He is the chair of the 300 Club and co -chair of the Milken Global Capital Markets Committee. Ailman is recognized as one of the top CIOs both in the U.S. and globally. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Institute for Fiduciary Education’s CIO of the Year in 2000.Thanks Christopher for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your views and knowledge.Join thought leaders from private markets firms like Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, iCapital, Franklin Templeton, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast and hello from AltsLA.Today’s show was recorded live from AltsLA 2023 in partnership with CAIA. CAIA is the leading global professional body dedicated to alternative investment credential programs.On this episode, we speak with the 44th Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle, the Chairman of Cerberus Global Investments. We discussed the intersection of politics, private equity, people, and patience: * The current state of private markets.* How geopolitics plays an important role in investing.* The impact of social media on financial markets.* How Cerberus grew into the firm it is today.* The power of patience in investing.Vice President Quayle is Chairman of Cerberus Global Investments and a member of the Firm’s senior leadership team, joining when the firm was $14B in AUM and playing a role in overseeing its growth to over $60B AUM.Prior to joining Cerberus in 1999, he served as the 44th Vice President of the United States of America to President George H. W. Bush from 1989 through 1993. In 1976, Vice President Quayle was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and re-elected in 1978.In 1980, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and was the youngest Senator from Indiana. He was re-elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986.Following his vice presidency, Vice President Quayle authored three books, including Standing Firm: A Vice-Presidential Memoir, which was on The New York Times’ Best Seller List.He was a distinguished visiting professor at Arizona State University ’s Thunderbird School of Global Management for two years. He was also active for many years on the lecture circuit in the United States and internationally.Thanks Vice President Quayle for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your views and knowledge.Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s episode, we go to Europe, and specifically Berlin, a region where some of the most exciting activity in the VC world is occurring.We have Filip Dames, a Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures, a top pan-European early-stage VC fund that has around $700M AUM, lead us in a discussion about why Europe is such a compelling place to invest and why it’s on the precipice of an incredible decade in tech.Filip has the founder DNA. Prior to Cherry, he started his first company in 2008, which was a digital marketplace for art and collectibles long before NFTs existed. He then joined Zalando as a member of the founding team, where he led business development and international expansion efforts. He founded and was the CEO of the group’s shopping club, Zalando Lounge, and left Zalando after a successful IPO in 2014 to fully focus on Cherry.In Cherry, Filip has strived to build the firm that he would have wanted as a founder. They’ve backed the likes of AUTO1 Group, FlixBus, Forto, Flink, SellerX, Infarm, and Bunch amongst others.Filip also shares a passion for helping entrepreneurs build businesses outside the tech world, as an active supporter of the Ashoka network and forming a family foundation with his wife to support education and access to entrepreneurship for families from disadvantaged backgrounds. Filip also serves on the boards of KfW Capital, a subsidiary of the German state owned investment and development bank, and the Bundesverband dt. Startups (BVDS).Filip and I had a fascinating conversation. We discussed: * The evolution of the European venture ecosystem and why it’s such a compelling region to build and invest into category defining companies. * How his experience as a founder informed how he’s built Cherry.* How to build a VC from a business perspective.* Why Filip is so excited about private markets as he shares his investment thesis in Bunch.* What the future of European VC looks like.We also surprised Filip with a few questions from friends who have known him at different stages of his life, with thoughtful questions from:* Steve Cherundolo, former Bundesliga professional footballer at Hannover 96 and the US Men’s National Team and Head Coach of LAFC in the MLS.* Mario Goetze, current Bundesliga professional footballer at Eintracht Frankfurt and the German National Team, active investor in VC funds and startups at his firm, Companion-M, and Cherry Ventures LP.* Levent Altunel and Enrico Ohnemuller, the co-founders of Bunch, where Filip and Cherry led a 7.3M EUR Seed round last summer.Thanks Filip for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom and experiences.Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s show, we have a private equity expert who is as thoughtful and sharp as they come.Graham Elton is the Chairman of Bain & Company’s EMEA Private Equity practice, where he’s helped many of the largest PE and alts firms navigate a growing market and build successful businesses.Graham has also spearheaded the industry standard in reports — the Bain PE Practice Report — which is read by many across the industry.Many of the world’s largest GPs often turn to Graham for advice on their business due to his background as an operator, investor, and strategic consultant. He previously ran multiple media businesses — he was the CEO at Miller Freeman UK, was a MD at The Financial Times Business, a strategy director at Pearson, and a Partner at Evolution Global Partners.He serves on a number of boards, including Lane Clark & Peacock, Pageant Media, Capital Economics, SLR Consulting, and Now Teach and National Youth Centre.He was awarded a MBE for his services to the economy in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours List.Graham and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of private equity — and what the growth of the industry has meant for GPs and LPs alike. We discussed:* How the $3.7 trillion in dry powder in private equity will get put to work.* The business of private equity and how funds have evolved into platforms.* How the growing size of PE has paved way for the opening up of the retail channel for fundraising.* What the future of private equity looks like.* The narrowing differences between public and private markets.Thanks Graham for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom.Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.We have a special episode today – it’s a collaboration between Alt Goes Mainstream and Venture Unlocked: Samir Kaji, the Co-Founder & CEO of Allocate and the Venture Unlocked Podcast, and I have a back and forth discussion about the future of private markets and venture. If you are an allocator to private markets or a VC fund manager, you won’t want to miss this.Samir co-founded Allocate to enable the wealth management community to be able to access high quality venture funds in the same way institutions have for years.He draws upon a background of 22 years in venture banking at First Republic and SVB, where he worked closely with and advised over 700 venture capital and private equity firms. He completed over $12B in structured debt transactions and has invested in a number of funds and companies.Samir completed the Kauffman Fellows venture program and is an active writer and podcaster with Venture Unlocked.We cover:* Where is venture now and what the future looks like.* Alpha vs. Beta in venture.* Why VC should be included in many investors’ allocations.* How LPs can approach venture in this dynamic market.* How VC funds have turned into platforms, much like private equity, and what this means for the industry. Note that the podcast was recorded before the Silicon Valley Bank news, so we did not cover the topic of the banking system and its impacts on the venture ecosystem on this show.Thanks Samir for collaborating to have a rich conversation on the complexities of venture capital and the current environment. Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.On today’s podcast, we have an expert in alternative assets and fund accounting. We welcome Gareth Hewitt, a fund accounting veteran and co-founder of LemonEdge, to the show.Gareth is the CEO and Co-Founder of LemonEdge, where they are building a better, more efficient fund accounting software platform.With backing from Blackstone, Lauren Iaslovits, the founder of pioneering fund accounting software Investran (acq by SunGard), Sidekick Partners, and others deep in the PE and alts world, Gareth has been building a next generation fund accounting solution for GPs, fund admins, and investment platforms.LemonEdge’s solution has a modern core infrastructure, full multi-currency partnership accounting, system-aware fund structures and integrated waterfall technology. They've built a platform that is used by a number of the industry's largest GPs and asset managers.Gareth is an expert in alternative assets — he was Head of UK Product Development & Sales for eFront, a unicorn focused on software for alternative investment funds, which sold to BlackRock and he then founded and ran a fund solutions business.Gareth and I had a fascinating conversation about private markets. We discussed: * Why innovation in fund accounting is so critical to the evolution of private markets.* How LemonEdge is on the cutting edge of the transformation in fund accounting.* How to take a problem that’s historically been solved by spreadsheets to a low code / no code platform.* How the fund accounting space can be digitized and customized.* When and how strategic investors can be valuable in the alts space.Thanks Gareth for coming on the show to share your wisdom and experience in private markets and let everyone know about the exciting business you’re building at LemonEdge. Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today’s episode of Alt Goes Mainstream features someone who is building a vertical SaaS solution for fund managers and LPs.Today’s guest is Michel Geolier, the Co-Founder and CEO of Betterfront, a b2b company dedicated to private markets. He’s building a comprehensive solution to enable fund managers to more efficiently and effectively fundraise and trade secondary market fund interests.You can listen to this episode of Alt Goes Mainstream on Apple Podcasts here, on Spotify here, and on Transistor here.Betterfront’s mission is to transform the way alternative fund managers engage, win, and retain investors by using technology, data, and analytics. Betterfront is already trusted by a number of top European VCs, including Cherry Ventures, Partech, Episode 1, and more.Michel comes at the problem of fundraising with a very unique perspective. He was previously on the LP side, where he led due diligence and fund manager selection for the Siemens’ pension fund in Germany. And he started Betterfront out of frustration for poor solutions for analyzing alternative investment funds.Michel and I had a thought-provoking conversation about the current challenges that GPs have with fundraising and how Betterfront was built to provide better solutions for GPs. We discuss how much of private markets technology is ripe for disruption and why historically it’s been difficult to build modern specialized software for private markets. We then look to the future about how Michel believes that the placement agent and secondaries businesses can be disrupted with technology and data. You can read more about Betterfront’s secondary marketplace that enables LPs to buy and sell fund interests here.Thanks Michel for coming on the AGM podcast. We hope you enjoy.Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast and Welcome to Wrexham.On today’s show, we go to Wrexham, the town in North Wales that has become a football (soccer) mecca due to a blend of its rich history as home to the 3rd oldest club in the world and a recent injection of Hollywood with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying the club.We talk with Shaun Harvey, the Advisor to the Board at Wrexham AFC, and a highly experienced football club and league CEO to discuss how teams can have success on and off the pitch.Shaun is the CEO of Wantaway Limited, where he advises football clubs, organizing bodies, and companies on all things related to the business of football. His current clients include Wrexham AFC, FIFA, Inner Circle Sports, and Macron.He’s taken his experiences as the MD at Bradford City FC, which he led to Premier League promotion, the CEO at Leeds United, and the CEO of the English Football League to Wrexham AFC, where he and the team are working to secure promotion back into the Football League and bringing a successful club back to the town of Wrexham.And they are well on their way to building a global brand in a number of respects — they are performing well on the pitch, they have created a show, Welcome to Wrexham, that has been a hit on Hulu, and their recent FA Cup home match vs Sheffield United was the most followed soccer game across ESPN’s website and digital platforms in the US.Shaun and I had a fascinating discussion. We talked about:* How clubs balance on the field performance and off the field business success in a world where the evolution of entertainment and social media have turbocharged the concept of monetizing engagement.* How important it is to think about the community when investing in a sports team.* Why Shaun believes “the Wrexham effect” has been a huge driver of success for their club.* How lifting up a club financially and on the pitch can create tremendous economic and social benefits for the town that they play in.Thanks Shaun for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to welcome us to Wrexham — and share why this is such an exciting and impactful project that we can all learn from.It’s always sunny in Wrexham.You can listen to this episode here on Apple Podcasts, here on Spotify, and here on Transistor.Thanks Steve Horowitz at Inner Circle Sports for the kind introduction to Shaun to make this episode possible.Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

On the latest episode of Alt Goes Mainstream, we talk with one of the pioneers of the online investment space.Today’s guest is Ben Miller, the Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise, one of America’s largest direct-to-investor alternatives investment managers.Ben has tremendous experience and expertise in both the real estate space and in building innovative alternative investment technology solutions. Prior to founding Fundrise, Ben was a Managing Partner of WestMill Capital Partners and President of Western Development Corporation, where he was responsible for acquiring, developing, and financing more than $500M worth of property.In Fundrise, Ben has built a company whose aim is to use technology to build a better financial system for the individual investor, which is simpler, lower cost, more reliable, and transparent. They build software that enables the company to develop and manage investments uniquely well-positioned to grow and preserve their clients’ capital in any economic environment.Since launching America’s first online real estate investment platform in 2012, Fundrise has now become one of the largest direct-to-investor alternatives investment managers with more than 1.6 million active users, more than $3.3B of equity under management, and $7B of real estate transacted. From private credit to real estate private equity to growth-stage venture capital, Fundrise offers investors exposure to various asset classes.Ben and I had a fascinating conversation. We discussed:* Fundrise’s evolution from real estate to broad based alternatives investment manager and how they got there. * The evolution of the real estate market and current investment opportunities in real estate. * The importance of technology in building a more efficient and low cost way for investors to access alternatives and how Fundrise has focused on this to grow their platform.Thanks Ben for coming on the AGM podcast to share your views. We hope you enjoy.You can listen to this episode here on Apple Podcasts, here on Spotify, and here on Transistor.Listeners can find out more about Fundrise at Fundrise.com and can follow Ben Miller on Twitter at @BenMillerise.Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

We have an exciting episode today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.We are joined by Mathias Pastor, the Co-Founder of Semper, a London and Paris based company that uses liquidity to align the interests of private companies, employees and investors.Mathias and his co-founder Balthazar de Lavergne created Semper after observing that private companies are staying private longer and employees and founders need ways to unlock liquidity in a systematic, recurring way. Working at The Family, a European VC fund, Mathias saw that employees at some of their largest and fastest growing companies were paper-rich, but didn’t have the liquidity that reflected the value of their shares.Mathias and Balthazar have created a liquidity financing platform to help fast-growing private companies run recurring, end-to-end secondary transactions. They believe this can enable teams to retain talent while enabling investors to access high-quality private companies.Mathias and I had a fascinating conversation about how and why they have started with liquidity solutions for private companies, how they are approaching secondary market liquidity for both companies and investors, why recurring liquidity programs make sense for companies and employees, how employee retention for companies can be an important feature of private secondary transactions, what is beyond secondary market liquidity for a platform like Semper, and why Europe is an interesting place to start.Thanks Mathias for coming on the AGM podcast to share your insightful views on private markets.You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here, and Transistor here.Thanks for reading Alt Goes Mainstream by The AGM Collective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

We have a special episode today on Alt Goes Mainstream. Our guest today is Henry Ward, the CEO and co-founder of Carta, one of the most innovative and exciting companies in private markets.Henry founded Carta from the kernel of an idea and they are now trusted by over 30,000 companies, 5,000 investment funds and 2.1 million employees for cap table management, compensation management, liquidity venture capital solutions and more. They’ve raised over $1B from the likes of Silver Lake, Union Square Ventures, a16z, Tribe Capital, Meritech, and many others.Carta has been included on the Forbes World’s Best Cloud Companies, Fast Company’s Most Innovative list, and Inc’s Fastest Growing Private Companies.Henry is a serial entrepreneur who was previously the founder and CEO of Secondsight, a portfolio optimization platform for retail investors. He built Carta with a deep sense of passion for helping people to become investors in private markets and equity owners.Henry and I had a fascinating conversation, covering a lot of ground. We discussed:* How he’s built Carta into a category-defining company for private markets. * Why it’s beneficial to be a “plate spinning company” and how that’s good for a network effects business.* Why competing with spreadsheets can create a special business – and how it leads to the creation of other successful businesses as time goes on.* The ownership era and what it means for founders, employees, and investors.* The future of private market liquidity.* Gems on people management and company building.Thanks Henry for coming on the AGM podcast to share your wisdom. We hope you enjoy.You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

We believe that good things come in bunches. On the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we’ve covered a number of innovative ways in which more investors are now able to access alternative investments thanks to innovation in infrastructure that pools investors together.Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we are lucky enough to peer into a market that’s creating a bunch of excitement: the early stage venture market in Europe.Levent Altunel and Enrico Ohnemuller are a big part of making alts go mainstream in Europe with their company, Bunch.In Bunch, Levent and Enrico are building the operating system for private markets investing. They’ve brought their fantastic and relevant backgrounds to bear – Levent as a Citi alum and VC investor at Paua Ventures and Enrico as a Goldman alum and a builder at FinLeap, building critical core banking and payments infrastructure – that will enable them to unlock the private markets for more investors and make these markets more efficient.Levent and Enrico have quickly figured out how to build the critical infrastructure for private markets in Europe while navigating a complex regulatory landscape and multiple jurisdictions. They’ve built compliant, regulated end-to-end infrastructure to help founders roll up smaller investors and angels and help VCs and angels to efficiently and seamlessly raise capital and manage SPVs.They are coming off a recent 7M EUR seed round led by Cherry Ventures and have already grown in leaps and bounds at a time when alts are going mainstream in Europe.Levent, Enrico, and I had a fascinating conversation. We discussed: * Why they believe SPVs are the atomic unit of value for private markets.* How the seedification and decentralization of private markets has created the need for better private markets infrastructure.* Why they are creating the “Clean Cap Table Club.”* How SPVs can help investors build a track record to launch their fund. * Why there are very big businesses to be built in the alts space.Levent and Enrico share a very thoughtful, nuanced view into the importance of private markets infrastructure so any investor and founder will enjoy hearing their wisdom.Thanks Levent and Enrico for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom about private markets. Good things really do come in bunches. You can listen to this episode of Alt Goes Mainstream on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, or Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we have the third podcast in a special three part series with some of the titans in the alts world.We are partnering with CAIA, the leading global professional body in alternative investment credentialing programs, for a very special episode that dovetails with the release of their latest report on Renewed Professionalism and creating client centered outcomes for the Portfolio of the Future.We are lucky enough to have Jenny Johnson, the CEO of Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s largest asset managers with over $1.5T AUM spread across a number of specialist managers.Jenny and I had a fascinating conversation: * About the evolution of the asset management industry.* How companies can be considered nation-states.* How to distribute alternatives to all investors in a responsible way, which is a particularly interesting perspective given that Franklin Templeton has over 25% of its $1.5T AUM in alternative assets.* Why net of fees is the most important question in the fee question debate.* Why now is a great time to be building in the crypto space (note: this episode was recorded prior to the recent crypto news).Jenny is the President and CEO of Franklin Templeton. She joined the firm in 1988 and held leadership roles in all major divisions of the business before becoming CEO in February 2020. She led the historic $6.5 billion acquisition of Legg Mason in 2020 and has been named to Barron’s list of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance.Jenny has been instrumental in building Franklin Templeton into a firm that serves clients across asset classes and has over 25% of its $1.5T AUM in alternative assets. Jenny spearheaded Franklin Templeton’s acquisitions in the alts space, including the $1.75B acquisition of secondaries PE firm Lexington Partners and private credit firm Alcentra.Jenny has managed to bring the past, present, and future together at Franklin Templeton, balancing being the third generation in the family to lead the business, helping the firm to maintain its culture through numerous acquisitions, while also looking to highly innovative corners of the investment world, like crypto and blockchain to keep Franklin Templeton ahead of the pack.Thanks Jenny for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast to share your wisdom. It was a pleasure to have you on the show.You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we have the second podcast in a special three part series with some of the titans in the alts world.We are partnering with CAIA, the leading global professional body in alternative investment credentialing programs, for a very special episode that dovetails with the release of their latest report on Renewed Professionalism and creating client centered outcomes for the Portfolio of the Future.We are lucky enough to have Michelle Seitz, a stalwart and veteran of the asset management industry who is the Founder and CEO of MeydenVest Partners, LLC, a private investment firm, and was most recently the CEO of Russell Investments, one of the largest investment firms in the world with $300B in AUM and $1.2T in assets under advisement.During Michelle’s five year tenure as Chair and CEO, she helped to modernize client offerings by adding leading edge capabilities around private markets and ESG investing and elevated diversity and inclusion programs.Michelle’s illustrious career includes a number of accolades such as Barron’s Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance and American Banker’s Most Powerful Women in Finance.Prior to joining Russell, Michelle spent 22 years at William Blair, where she was CEO of William Blair Investment Management and on William Blair’s corporate board of directors for 16 years. She took the helm as CEO at the ripe old age of 35, where she led William Blair’s institutional, mutual fund, and private wealth management businesses. She drove 5 fold growth at WBIM and transformed an $11B business into a $74B global asset management firm and a five-time winner of the “Best Places to Work in Money Management.”Michelle and I had a fascinating conversation starting with how her career started with the crash of 1987 and what it meant for how she viewed the asset management world and how to focus on the client’s outcomes, the importance of portfolio construction, how and why alts may not be a fit for every investor depending on the risk, portfolio construction, fee questions, and the importance of understanding risk.Thanks Michelle for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to share your wisdom. It was a pleasure to have you on the show.You can listen to this episode on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, we have the first podcast in a three part series with titans in the alts world on how they’ve built and run some of the world’s largest investment managers.We have partnered with CAIA, the leading global professional body in alternative investment credentialing programs, for a very special episode that dovetails with the release of their latest report on Renewed Professionalism and creating client-centered outcomes for the Portfolio of the Future.We are lucky enough to have Luke Ellis, the CEO of Man Group, one of the largest active investment firms in the world. Man Group manages $142B (as of June 30, 2022) across a range of liquid and private markets strategies and has the central objective to deliver alpha for clients.Speaking of alpha, Luke and I had a fascinating discussion about what it means to create alpha. Luke believes that alts are all about the return the client gets and he and Man are focused on doing important work to ensure that the end client, the saver, is generating returns over time for the risk they are taking.Luke’s background has a consistent them of helping to make certain investment strategies and asset classes go mainstream. He was part of the early days of the development of the derivatives world at JP Morgan and was a pioneer in the hedge fund space, helping hedge fund of funds FRM enable hedge funds to become a mainstream part of investors’ portfolios.He’s since taken over the helm at Man Group for the past 12 years and has helped steer them become one of the most important investment management firms in the world.Please enjoy this wide ranging discussion where we talk about:* The importance of active management.* Fee compression in the industry. * The importance of technology in investment management.* The impact of human behavior on financial markets.* Why it’s important to focus on the end client.* How Ted Lasso’s management style has informed how Luke thinks about building Man Group to enable clients to achieve alpha.Thanks to Luke and CAIA for collaborating on this important topic. We hope you enjoy.You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a guest who has rich experience in the alts space.Robert Picard, who was recently tapped to become the Head of Alternatives at Hightower, a $117B AUM wealth management platform, has over 32 years of experience on the buy and sell side in alts.Robert came onto the podcast to discuss how he’s witnessed alts evolve over the past 30 years. He’s worked with top-tier asset managers, built private wealth units for banks, and is now building out Hightower’s expansive alts capabilities in-house to provide bespoke sophisticated solutions for some of the industry’s best wealth managers.Robert was recently First Republic’s MD and Head of Alternative Investments. At First Republic Private Wealth Management, he consolidated two alternative investment businesses into a single platform and generated meaningful growth in wealth management team participation in alts and fund offerings across all asset classes.Prior to First Republic, he founded and was CEO of the Rumson Ridge Group, a consultancy focused on building alternative investment platforms. Prior to Rumson Ridge, he held senior leadership positions at The Carlyle Group / Rock Creek, Optima Fund Management, RBC Capital Markets, and InfraHedge / State Street.Robert and I had a thought-provoking conversation about the evolution of alts and the importance of alts in an investor’s portfolio.We drilled down on how an expert like Robert performs manager due diligence and what he looks for in a successful fund manager, which is becoming increasingly important as many new managers enter the alts world and as new allocators look to invest into funds. Thanks Robert for sharing such thoughtful views on the alts space on the show. You can listen to this episode on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a fascinating episode with a wealth management veteran who has transformed his firm into a full fledged asset manager with significant private markets capabilities.Lorenzo Esparza is the CEO and Founding Principal at Manhattan West where he leveraged his legal, corporate, and financial experience to form the modern version of an investment firm.Lorenzo and I had a fascinating conversation that spanned the evolution of wealth management, how advisors are approaching the alts space, how platforms and tech are democratizing access to alts, and Manhattan West’s unique model.Lorenzo manages Manhattan West’s strategic direction while overseeing day to day operations. He is focused on building the firm using a top-down approach to working with clients across a broad suite of services and investment categories.Lorenzo is looking to position the firm as a leader in the investment industry serving ultra-high net worth clients, family offices and institutions across the United States.Lorenzo began his career in financial services at Alliance Bernstein before joining JP Morgan Securities. He launched Manhattan West immediately following his tenure at JP Morgan.Lorenzo is an avid Philanthropist where he supports numerous causes that benefit underprivileged youth. Active in the community, he is a former Board Member of the Richstone Family Center, the former Board Chair of the Cancer Support Community-Benjamin Center in Santa Monica, and is a former Board Member of the Stroke Association of Southern California.Thanks Lorenzo for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. It was a pleasure to have you on the show.You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts here, on Spotify here, and on Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a guest who has seen virtually every evolution of the internet and financial services since the 1990s.Graham Jenkin is the Co-Founder and CEO of CoinList, the leading token issuance platform in the crypto space that has helped a large number of the top crypto projects by market cap get their earliest funding and customers with an initial token sale on CoinList.CoinList has played a critical role in the crypto ecosystem for early-stage token projects from doing token issuances for Flow to Solana to Mina and more.Given the quality of projects that they work with from the earliest of days, it's no surprise that they have attracted millions of users to CoinList. They have over 5M users on the platform. Graham's background and blend of consumer, engineering, design, and finance lends itself incredibly well to building CoinList.Prior to helping spin out CoinList from AngelList and co-founding the business, Graham was the COO and UX engineer/designer at AngelList over a 6.5 year period. Prior to AL, he led the redesign of the user interface of the world's most profitable online business - Google AdWords, where he also won the inaugural Google Great Manager Award.He also understands financial services innately well - he led BofA.com to two Webby awards. Graham is a fantastic operator with a clear vision for how to build special consumer businesses and a critical piece of crypto market infrastructure.Graham and I had a fascinating discussion on the evolution of crypto market infrastructure, how CoinList provides a critical service to both projects and investors, and the importance of Web2.5 in a world that is transitioning to Web3 by discussing how CoinList is building a centralized bridge to a decentralized world.Thanks Graham for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. It was a pleasure to have you on the show.You can listen to this podcast on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, or Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a guest who has seen the alts and crypto worlds from multiple angles.Don Stalter is a Partner at Global Founders Capital (GFC) where he focuses primarily on the US early stage venture market. He has a deep operating background as a founder and operator at some of tech’s leading marketplaces.He co-founded CityDeal, which was acquired by Groupon. He then built Groupon’s international offices in Europe and Asia.He subsequently led BD at Airbnb globally and launched multiple offices organically and through M&A.At GFC, he’s been an early investor in fintech titans Brex, Checkr, Deel, Slope, and many more. He’s also invested in a number of crypto funds. We had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of technology and venture capital. We also discuss how companies can think about integrating crypto – namely the likes of Airbnb and Brex – into their payments flow and how VC funds can approach investing into crypto funds and companies.This was a fascinating conversation with a really thoughtful VC. Thanks Don for coming on the AGM podcast.You can listen to this episode on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Hi from Mexico City. Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast we travel to one of the most exciting regions in the startup world – Latin America, which has seen venture backed funding dollars of $14.8B flowing into the region in 2021 come in higher than the prior 6 years combined.Brian Requarth comes onto the podcast to talk about building the company that he wish he had when he was an entrepreneur in Latin America.He’s the co-founder of Latitud, the a16z and NFX backed infrastructure and accelerator for startups. With Latitud, he’s building the operating system for venture backed companies in the region.We had a fascinating conversation about why founders and investors should be #LongLatAm. We discuss:* Why LatAm is such an exciting region to invest into right now.* How community is the new lean startup and the equivalent of Stanford of the internet.* How the confluence of talent, capital, size of the market, and opportunity make LatAm a region of focus for VCs.* Why Latitud will play a critical role in developing the startup ecosystem in LatAm.When he sold Brazilian online RE marketplace Viva Real for $550M several years ago, he had to pay over $100M in capital gains taxes due to incorporation errors made early on. It was quite the expensive mistake and one that he hopes to help fix with Latitud for the next generation of founders.Brian is a serial entrepreneur who also worked with ZAP Imoveis, which was owned by Grupo Globo, Latin America’s largest media company.As an angel investor, Brian has invested in over 150 tech startups in Latin America, so he’s quite familiar with the inner workings of starting a company in the region.Thanks Brian for coming on the show to talk about such an exciting region in the startup world. You can listen to this episode of Alt Goes Mainstream on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a guest who is making alts go mainstream by streamlining the process of investing into funds.Carta and fund manager veteran Tim Flannery is the Co-Founder of Passthrough, a fund workflow automation tool that digitizes and automates the fund subscription process.We had a fascinating discussion about how Passthrough is providing critical market infrastructure to the alts space and what the future of investing into funds looks like with Passthrough.We discuss:* Why there needs to be innovation around fund closings.* How data matters in the fund closing process.* How creating an investor passport can lead to efficiencies across the alts space.* How Passthrough is the “narrow waist” of the alts space — building the connective tissue for funds and LPs to complete closings and then use that data in all sorts of places and sit on top of platforms like iCapital, CartaX, AngelList, Republic, and others. In a sense, Passthrough is a solution for the alts space in a similar manner to how WalletConnect is the connective tissue between wallets and DApps in the crypto ecosystem.Fund closing is generally a painful process for everyone involved — LPs have to manually input data into subscription documents, which means they often miss questions or err in their answers. Much of this data is unstructured, hidden within PDFs, meaning that funds can’t use this when LPs re-up to following funds or to other funds. Fund managers have little visibility into the raise and timing for closings.Tim is building a product with Passthrough that gives fund managers one of their most valuable assets — time — back and provides for a great user experience with fund closings. Passthrough automates the fund closing process by digitizing subscription agreements, turning them into a custom, TurboTax style workflow.We were lucky enough to use Passthrough for our investment into Lowercarbon Capital and we never knew how easy a fund closing could be after using Passthrough. Passthrough’s fastest sub doc completion on record is said to be 6 minutes and mine wasn’t that far off.The process is simple, automated, and efficient since Passthrough collects relevant data on LPs so that it's easier and quicker to subscribe for the next fund.Tim has a great background to be building Passthrough. He was previously the Head of Go-To-Market for Investor Services at Carta and also worked on a number of large strategic accounts. He also spent time as a Partner at Pilot Mountain Ventures and started his career at JP Morgan in PE fund services, so he's seen the lifecycle of a fund investment from all angles.He's a sharp, thoughtful, and focused founder who is building a product that many GPs and LPs already love.This was a fascinating conversation about bringing technology to automate the alts space that I’m excited to see play out over the coming years in the space. Thanks Tim for coming on the AGM podcast.You can listen to this podcast with Tim on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a special guest on an important topic that is core to why alts are going mainstream – community.We have community builder extraordinaire Max Rothery, the VP Community at Finimize. Max is responsible for engaging and serving Finimize’s 1 million global audience. Finimize is building the world’s largest finance community of investors globally – and building community are they doing.In 4 years, they reached over 1 million subscribers, 60 thousand per year attend member organized events, and Finimize was recently acquired by 197 year old Abrdn plc, formerly Standard Life Aberdeen, a FTSE 100 investment firm with over 464B GBP AUM that’s the UK’s largest active asset manager.Max brings a wealth of experience in community building and digital transformation to the table as he builds community. He previously led innovation and digital transformation for Societe Generale’s private bank. He also brings a unique perspective from the creative industry to bear as a founder of an independent production, publishing, and recording company.Max and I had an absolutely fascinating conversation on the underpinnings of community and how to build an engaged community in financial services businesses. His thoughtful views on how to build community serve as a playbook for how to successfully build a thriving and engaged community. We talk about everything from how community gives companies a way to scale trust and relationships to how to enable the community to self-regulate itself to taking me back to my days studying international relations as we discuss the parallels between nation-building and community building.Thanks Max for such a rich conversation that we can all learn from on how to build community.You can listen to this episode of Alt Goes Mainstream on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, or Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a guest who helps us bridge the gap between the past, the present, and the future.Ethan Kurzweil, a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, who is leading BVP’s crypto efforts and the BessemerDAO, comes onto the show to help us make sense of the evolution from the Web2 to Web2.5 to Web3 world.Ethan and I had a fascinating discussion. We talked about: * The evolution of venture capital and private markets. * Bessemer’s thesis on Web3.* Why Bessemer decided to start a DAO and how they are innovating on portfolio services by building out a community. * How Web3 gives people the primitives to fulfill on the premise of decentralization and ownership.Bessemer is a storied venture fund that got its start back in 1975 after spinning out of Bessemer Trust. Fast forward to today, they are one of the best technology investors on the planet investing into industry defining companies like Shopify, Twilio, PagerDuty, DocuSign, LinkedIn, Twitch, Yelp, Wix, Sorare, and many more.Ethan brings a fascinating perspective to the world of Web3 and consumerization of private markets investing given that he spent the early days of his career at early metaverse company Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, and working for Dow Jones, where he managed the turnaround of the international editions of the Wall Street Journal.Ethan then went on to join Bessemer, where he’s a Partner investing into developer platforms, data infrastructure, digital consumer applications, and consumer facing crypto. He’s invested in the likes of PagerDuty, Intercom, Twitch, LaunchDarkly and crypto companies like Sorare, TRM Labs, and Fold.Thanks Ethan for the fascinating conversation on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.You can listen to this episode with Ethan on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a fascinating conversation about how soccer is a compelling alternative investment. We talk with Justin Papadakis, the COO & Chief Real Estate Officer of the United Soccer League. The USL is the largest and one of the fastest growing professional soccer organizations in the United States. Justin and I had a fascinating conversation about how sports and investing are emerging in large part because of the collision of culture and finance.We discussed:* How soccer is such an underrated investment opportunity.* How the USL has seen a rise in team valuations from the hundreds of thousands to some teams valued in the $60-70M range — with a big opportunity to increase revenues through various revenue streams that include media, player transfers, sports betting, stadium related revenue, real estate related revenue.* How the intersection of sports and real estate factors into the investment thesis for sports teams.* How the transition to OTT media can positively impact sports league and team revenue.* How more more professional investors and funds are now becoming involved and investing into sports teams and what this means for the development of sports as an investable asset class.* How women’s soccer is a sleeping giant and what the USL is doing to help make it an investable opportunity.* How democratizing access to sports ownership through crowdfunding and DAOs — and the power of community — can play a role in the sports investment landscape in the future.In his current role, Justin oversees numerous departments that are critical to the league’s success, including expansion, stadium development, digital media, emerging technology, finance, and human resources.Justin combines a real estate background, having worked six years at a REIT, with his soccer playing and sports management experience as he navigates building a league that is expanding in leaps and bounds. He holds a JD from Cleveland Marshall College of Law and earned a dual degree in public policy and economics from Duke University, where he also served as a goalkeeper on the Blue Devils soccer team.Thanks Justin for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast to talk about how the beautiful game is continuing to grow thanks to the world of investing.You can listen to this episode on your favorite podcasting site (links below):Listen on Spotify here.Listen on Apple Podcasts here.Listen on Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today, we have a guest on Alt Goes Mainstream who lives at the intersection of culture and finance as sports is increasingly becoming an investable asset class.Angel City FC Co-Founder & President Julie Uhrman and I had a fascinating conversation about how sports and investing are merging together – and how that’s informed how she’s building Angel City FC.Julie and team have been innovative in the way that they’ve engaged fans, players, and investors. We discuss: * How ACFC has used entertainment to have an impact.* How athletes are building their own platforms on and off the field - and what that means for player, fans, and teams.* How new types of investors — both professional funds and celebrities — are leveraging their platforms for impact to help sports teams build a differentiated brand and business.* How ACFC is taking lessons learned from innovations in technology, community-building, and Web3 to engage fans and create new revenues for sports clubs.* How mission and capital can co-exist together as sports becomes a compelling alternative investment.Julie is a serial entrepreneur and force of nature who is bringing her deep expertise in gaming, media, and entertainment to build our her most ambitious project yet — Angel City FC, the expansion professional women’s soccer team in her native Los Angeles.And build is what she and the team have done.In a mere two years, Julie and team have built one of the most recognizable and successful brands in women’s football — without yet having a team on the field.They’ve done an incredible job of creating purpose driven content and engaging fans across various social media channels.They’ve secured a top tier front of kit sponsor in DoorDash and have achieved record season ticket sales in the NWSL.They’ve built a true fan community to the point where ACFC has passed the “tattoo test” — some fans have gotten inked!And they’ve brought on a diverse, talented group of investors whose life and work aligns with Angel City’s mission as the club looks to make a positive impact in the community and on women’s soccer.It’s no surprise that Julie has been able to build up ACFC in such a short time.She was most recently the President of Media for PEI, where she oversaw the company’s media offerings across all verticals. Prior to PEI, she served as the EVP & GM of Over-The-Top Ventures for Lionsgate, building and managing the company’s multiple streaming franchises. She also founded and was CEO of OUYA, a pioneering Android-based game console for the living room which raised a record-breaking $8.6M in crowdfunded capital on Kickstarter and VC funding from Kleiner Perkins and Alibaba before selling to Razer in 2015.She’s deservedly been given a number of awards for her work, including being named to the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company and one of the most Creative 50 by Ad Age.Thanks Julie for coming on the AGM podcast to share the story of your pioneering work at Angel City FC. We look forward to watching ACFC continue to grow on and off the pitch.You can listen to this episode on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

“Our aim is to create the biggest entertainment brand in the world, starting with sports … we are building a cult brand around NFT collectibles and we are bringing usage value for them in the fantasy game and the physical world.” - Nicolas Julia, Sorare.Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have a fascinating discussion about the intersection of culture and finance with Nicolas Julia, the Co-Founder & CEO of Sorare.Nicolas founded Sorare to build the next entertainment giant. His NFT platform, Sorare, is enabling people to own their game and live at the intersection of work and play – they can play fantasy soccer and trade digital collectibles – and, at times, earn money while doing so.We covered a number of topics, including:* The merging of culture and finance.* How Sorare is building a next generation entertainment brand across multiple sports and geographies.* How NFTs are integral in on-ramping the next 100M-1B users to crypto.* What it means for investors / users to own their in-game assets — and how it changes how they make decisions playing games and investing into NFTs.* How Sorare is building the critical market infrastructure across the lifecycle of a trade for NFTs.* How sports leagues view NFTs as a new revenue stream and fan engagement tool.* The game within the game — how players are playing games within the game of football.* How the beautiful game — soccer cards — and NFTs are a sleeping giant in the US.* How women’s sports can benefit from the world of NFTs and how bringing on an Advisor like world-class tennis star Serena Williams can help achieve that.Nicolas has built Sorare into an astronomical success in a short period of time. He grew a team smaller than a starting 11 on a football pitch to hundreds of millions in sales and a record-breaking $680M Series B led by SoftBank in September 2021 that followed a $50M Series A led by Benchmark in January 2021 as NFTs boomed last year.Sorare was an integral part of the NFT market growth as they enabled people to play fantasy soccer and collect / trade NFTs of professional soccer players. They are building a critical piece of market infrastructure for the NFT and sports world by leveraging crypto rails to enable an incredible consumer experience revolving around sports and collectibles.Thanks Nicolas for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. It was a pleasure to have you help us understand the future of entertainment, NFTs, and sports and how everyone can own their game (and thanks Brian O’Hagan and Kiana Davari for some great questions to ask Nicolas on the podcast!).You can listen to this episode on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

“What I’ve come to realize is that investing literally shapes the world that we have. It is effectively at the highest of levels, allocating resources, whether financial or human capital, to things and teams that build the future that we all live in. Investing builds the world.” - Ian Lee, Syndicate.Today we discuss the topic of a revolutionary new construct – DAOs – and how it can change investing for the better.Today’s guest is Ian Lee, the Co-Founder of Syndicate.Ian combines a background in financial services with a prescient view on the future with what he's building at Syndicate.We discuss: * How Syndicate is doing to investing what YouTube did to film and media.* How Web3 enables community ownership where Web2 didn’t and how investing will become more community driven.* How DAOs are a social financial technology coordinating social and financial capital seamlessly and natively on the internet.* How DAOs are unlocking participation from all sorts of communities who historically haven’t had access to investing.* Why Crypto Covens is one of his favorite NFT projects because it’s changing the face of investing. * And how we are in the middle of a multi generational shift of decentralizing and democratizing investing - and how Syndicate’s Web3 Investment Clubs enable that to happen.Ian has been a serial founder, he's worked in the Office of the Global Chief Innovation Officer at Deloitte, he's run the Lab Network and Acceleration Fund at Citi Ventures and was Head of Bitcoin & Blockchain at Citi before co-founding IDEO's CoLab Venture fund, where he led their crypto efforts and made over 80 investments in the crypto space.Most recently, he's founded a ground-breaking company, Syndicate, which is a decentralized investing protocol and social network that is creating the infrastructure for DAOs to run efficiently and effectively. Syndicate is creating the infrastructure and mechanisms for much more efficient, digitally native human coordination.DAOs have similar properties as corporations, but they are significantly faster and cheaper to set up and run because code governs the decisions and actions taken.It's hard to put into a short paragraph how profound the creation of Syndicate could be for the formation and governance of organizations and Ian's background lends itself incredibly well to both understanding how things worked in a Web2 (and financial services) world and how they can work better in a Web3 world.Ian and I had a fascinating conversation about his desire to make investing more inclusive and impactful – and how DAO structures can enable that.Thanks Ian for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. It was a pleasure to have you help us peer into the future of investing. You can listen to this episode on Spotify here, Apple Podcasts here, and Transistor here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com

Today on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast we have Web3’s wizard with words. Jarrod Dicker, Partner at TCG, where he focuses on crypto investments that are enabling the consumerization of crypto.Jarrod is an expert at the intersection of crypto / NFTs and the media world. He was both an entrepreneur and investor in the media world prior to joining TCG.We had a fascinating discussion about the transition to the Web3 world. We covered:* Whether or not everyone is now an investor and everything is now investable.* How social credentialism and the idea of time as an investment is key to Web3.* We ended the podcast with some of Jarrod’s famed Web2 // Web3 tweets because he truly is a wizard with words and is a translator for the world of Web3.There are few people in the crypto space whose content I enjoy reading more than Jarrod's. His Tweets and writing (on Mirror.xyz, where he's an investor) are incredibly prescient and speaks to his knowledge of the crypto space.He joined TCG, the famed consumer investor (Twitter, Barstool, Crunchyroll, Hodinkee, Headspace, Dapper Labs), to invest into companies and protocols that create the onramps for consumers to the cryptoeconomy.They've invested in the likes of Zed Run and Dapper and Jarrod's thought leadership and experience in the media and content worlds should help them continue to access the best.Prior to TCG Crypto, he was the CEO of Po.et, a decentralized media tech company, where he was a pioneer in bringing blockchain to the media and advertising space. He formerly led innovation at The Washington Post, where he was responsible for building out their research, experimentation, and development team and running all of their innovation / commercialization efforts as VP of Commercial.He also held similar roles at RebelMouse, Time, and HuffPo. Jarrod is one of the most prescient thinkers on how Web3 will change content, content creation, and creators relationships with their community.I’m excited to see how he builds out TCG and the types of investments they make into the infrastructure building out Web3 so that crypto truly goes mainstream.Thanks Jarrod for coming on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. You can listen here on Spotify, here on Apple Podcasts, and here on Transistor. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com