Today I'm launching Asylum Ventures, a new venture firm dedicated to the creative act of building companies.
Asylum's first $55 million fund is an embodiment of my belief that founders are artists, not assets.
In 2007, I was a trader at Lehman Brothers. It sucked. I didn’t know it then, but Lehman’s bankruptcy in ‘08 was a gift, and I left in search of a calling.
A year later, I was fortunate to stumble upon a young, passionate group of creative misfits that folks were calling “founders.”
Founders felt more like artists than assets, more obsessives than executives.
I was in love with their fringe eccentricity, extraordinary craftsmanship, and wild ambition.
For the next 15 years, I dedicated my life to founders in New York, first at betaworks, and then with three funds at Notation Capital with my partner Alex Lines.
We did well serving founders. But a lot has changed.
The startup ecosystem has gone from cottage industry outsider to institutional insider.
Simultaneously, the creative act of making startups has turned into a credentialing factory, and the environment today feels eerily similar to the one I left on Wall Street.
I’ve always believed the best founders have more in common with artists than executives.
They’re obsessive about new and beautiful things, they're compelled to bring creation into the world, and they're often misunderstood for very long periods of time–even lifetimes.
Our belief is that building businesses is its own form of creation–its own form of art.
We look for founders that are building the unique, the misunderstood, and the courageous.
When my partners Jonathan (Love) Wu, Mackenzie Regent and I sat down to think about what we stood for, we we tried to answer the question:
What if we treated founders like artists rather than assets on a balance sheet?
We think it means:
A firm that’s small by design, making a handful of investments per year, eschewing board seats and administrative control.
A team of partners moving mountains to help when asked and otherwise getting out of the way.
A place where true craftspeople can tune out the noise and focus on making something truly great.
A source of calm, trust, and support for founders manifesting beauty through one of the hardest things you can do: starting a company.
The fund is raised and we're actively meeting founders.
If this sounds appealing to you, reach out at [email protected] or from our website asylum.vc.
Finally, we're hiring an analyst or associate who is obsessive about supporting founders. If you want to join a small team dedicated to the art of venture rather than the business of banking, contact us at [email protected].
Read Erin Griffith's coverage from the New York Times here:
https://lnkd.in/eyy-xqMR
