My first passion was athletics, specifically, a small niche sport called Ultimate Frisbee. I played for the US National team and semi-professionally, but injuries in college forced me to hang up my cleats earlier than planned. That’s when I moved into coaching and realized I loved supporting athletes from the sidelines even more than I enjoyed playing on the field.
Professionally, I’ve worn many different hats. I helped start a craft brewery in Seattle immediately after graduating from college. This experience taught me the level of hustle and determination founders must possess to succeed (and I also picked up some jackhammering skills along the way). I then spent time on the back office side of a large west coast RIA where I developed my skills as an operator and after went to business school at MIT where I met Kenzi and Sandeep while they were starting Symbolic Capital. We found great synergy and so I jumped at the opportunity to join them halfway through my time in grad school to launch Symbolic.
As an investor, I strive to be the best coach I can be for my founders - helping refine their strategy, providing mentorship and support, but ultimately letting them be the ones to execute in the big moments (I write about this in my blog From the Sideline). My ability to do this well hinges on forming deep, trusting relationships with the founders I support and that’s what I strive to do with every company I back.