Cyan Banister

We can all create magic in the world for other people and for ourselves if you think about a situation and you act in that moment.

We can all create magic in the world for other people and for ourselves if you think about a situation and you act in that moment.

Yeah, so I think when I first started investing, I made a lot of mistakes. We hear about the wins, but you don't hear about the losses because you're really tuning your antenna in the beginning. My first check ever obviously ended up being a wild success, but there was lots of checks after that that did not. You have to accept those failures as a lesson.

Yeah, so I think when I first started investing, I made a lot of mistakes. We hear about the wins, but you don't hear about the losses because you're really tuning your antenna in the beginning. My first check ever obviously ended up being a wild success, but there was lots of checks after that that did not. You have to accept those failures as a lesson.

As you go forward and then internalize those lessons. What did I do wrong? What did I not see? It wasn't out of my control. Did I still do the right thing, but then it was the wrong timing, et cetera, et cetera. And then you hone that into your gut feeling so that when the next time comes around, you can make hopefully a better decision. Now I've been at this hundreds of companies.

As you go forward and then internalize those lessons. What did I do wrong? What did I not see? It wasn't out of my control. Did I still do the right thing, but then it was the wrong timing, et cetera, et cetera. And then you hone that into your gut feeling so that when the next time comes around, you can make hopefully a better decision. Now I've been at this hundreds of companies.

I was at Founders Fund, obviously was on the investment committee there, have seen many, many, many deals. My antenna is getting better and better and better. I think my job now is to teach future generations how to trust their gut. So when I left Founders Fund, I joined Lee Jacobs at Long Journey Ventures. And he's a decade younger than me. He's just starting out and hitting his stride.

I was at Founders Fund, obviously was on the investment committee there, have seen many, many, many deals. My antenna is getting better and better and better. I think my job now is to teach future generations how to trust their gut. So when I left Founders Fund, I joined Lee Jacobs at Long Journey Ventures. And he's a decade younger than me. He's just starting out and hitting his stride.

He's been at it for a while, but his early investments are starting to bear fruit. For example, he was a seed investor in Loom and Loom just exited. So he had his very first exit. So he's got his first story right now, which is really, really exciting. Hopefully help him and inspire him to, one, I have no doubt he's going to be wildly successful. Same thing with Ariel.

He's been at it for a while, but his early investments are starting to bear fruit. For example, he was a seed investor in Loom and Loom just exited. So he had his very first exit. So he's got his first story right now, which is really, really exciting. Hopefully help him and inspire him to, one, I have no doubt he's going to be wildly successful. Same thing with Ariel.

I just want them to follow their North Star in the end, which is what causes do you care about where as you are successful, you can make a real dent in them. In the beginning, it was about making the money and continuously deploying the money and the causes that I was supporting through the actual companies themselves. But now I'm starting to think about all my actions.

I just want them to follow their North Star in the end, which is what causes do you care about where as you are successful, you can make a real dent in them. In the beginning, it was about making the money and continuously deploying the money and the causes that I was supporting through the actual companies themselves. But now I'm starting to think about all my actions.

How do they help the bigger whole? So sometimes you'll see me doing things with companies that we have very small investments in, and you'll see me putting a lot of time into it. even though I know that the returns aren't going to be huge because it doesn't really matter. That person's out there doing something incredibly important. It's not about opportunity costs.

How do they help the bigger whole? So sometimes you'll see me doing things with companies that we have very small investments in, and you'll see me putting a lot of time into it. even though I know that the returns aren't going to be huge because it doesn't really matter. That person's out there doing something incredibly important. It's not about opportunity costs.

I'm a firm believer in whatever you put out in the universe comes back to you. You know, if you do good things, good things come back. It's just how it works. So what's changed for me is just being more methodical about my time, how I'm spending it, who I'm spending it with, what kind of vibrational energy is around me. Am I lifting up the vibrations of the world around me?

I'm a firm believer in whatever you put out in the universe comes back to you. You know, if you do good things, good things come back. It's just how it works. So what's changed for me is just being more methodical about my time, how I'm spending it, who I'm spending it with, what kind of vibrational energy is around me. Am I lifting up the vibrations of the world around me?

Are they lifting me up and so forth? And that's all I want to focus on because I just want to make a venture firm that's going to be around long after I'm dead. And my spirit is inside of it somehow. It lives in the values. It lives in the discussions that we've had. And so I believe that our thesis around investing is the combination of the three of us. But my spirit is definitely in there.

Are they lifting me up and so forth? And that's all I want to focus on because I just want to make a venture firm that's going to be around long after I'm dead. And my spirit is inside of it somehow. It lives in the values. It lives in the discussions that we've had. And so I believe that our thesis around investing is the combination of the three of us. But my spirit is definitely in there.

Founders Fund has a spirit. It comes from Luke Nosek, who was one of the original founders of Founders Fund. he dared to disrupt the venture industry to create the first truly founder-friendly venture firm. And this is not about being value-add, by the way. It was about not ever firing a founder and removing them from their company. That's it.

Founders Fund has a spirit. It comes from Luke Nosek, who was one of the original founders of Founders Fund. he dared to disrupt the venture industry to create the first truly founder-friendly venture firm. And this is not about being value-add, by the way. It was about not ever firing a founder and removing them from their company. That's it.