Approach
Four principles govern what we own, and a process with stated timings governs how we get there. Both are written down because a founder deserves to know what they are entering before they enter it.
Diligence happens at the level the business actually turns on — the code, the silicon, the power contract, the unit economics. If we cannot independently verify the advantage, we pass. We would rather miss a good company than hold one we do not understand.
A small number of positions, each large enough to matter, held across rounds. Concentration is only defensible when there is real work behind every name, so we size the firm around how many companies we can genuinely know.
Our mandate runs from formation through growth. When a thesis proves out, we can keep funding it rather than handing the company to the next fund and hoping the terms are fair.
These five areas are one thesis, not five mandates. The AI buildout is an energy problem. Defense autonomy is a software problem. Private-market scale is an operations problem. Companies in one area routinely need something from another, and we are positioned to see both sides of that trade.
Fundraising is expensive for a founder in time and attention. We publish our timings so that cost is predictable.
Everything that arrives gets read by a partner, not screened by an analyst. You get a reply either way. A no at this stage comes with the reason, which is usually mandate fit rather than a judgement on the company.
We will have read your materials before the call, so we start at the technical question rather than at the overview. Expect to be asked what would have to be true for the business to fail.
We speak with your engineers, your customers, and the counterparties that gate you — the utility, the contracting office, the regulator, the auditor. We will tell you who we intend to contact before we do it.
A written memo and a clear answer. If we pass, you receive the reasoning in full. We do not hold companies in an indefinite process or ask for free optionality while we decide.
One email is enough to begin. There is no form to complete and no warm introduction required.