Hussein Kanji

I don't know if it's worsened, but I think we've gone to an era where people are writing checks and then letting things play out. There's a great transcript oral history. I do a lot of reading, right? So there's an oral history that the Computer History Museum does in California.

And they've gone back and interviewed all of the good and the great in our industry, like the founders of our industry, like the early venture capitalists. They did these oral histories, like eight to 12 page PDFs that you can kind of read. And if you read those transcripts, the way venture looked in the 60s and 70s and 80s and 90s looked really different than it does in like 2024.

And they've gone back and interviewed all of the good and the great in our industry, like the founders of our industry, like the early venture capitalists. They did these oral histories, like eight to 12 page PDFs that you can kind of read. And if you read those transcripts, the way venture looked in the 60s and 70s and 80s and 90s looked really different than it does in like 2024.

And they've gone back and interviewed all of the good and the great in our industry, like the founders of our industry, like the early venture capitalists. They did these oral histories, like eight to 12 page PDFs that you can kind of read. And if you read those transcripts, the way venture looked in the 60s and 70s and 80s and 90s looked really different than it does in like 2024.

Back in the day, Dave Marquardt was the only investor. He was at August. He was the only investor in Microsoft. Very few people know this. In the early days of Microsoft, Microsoft was structured as a partnership, not an ink. It was not a company. It was a partnership. And there was weird tension between Bill and Paul. And so they needed a third party to come in and clean it up.

Back in the day, Dave Marquardt was the only investor. He was at August. He was the only investor in Microsoft. Very few people know this. In the early days of Microsoft, Microsoft was structured as a partnership, not an ink. It was not a company. It was a partnership. And there was weird tension between Bill and Paul. And so they needed a third party to come in and clean it up.

Back in the day, Dave Marquardt was the only investor. He was at August. He was the only investor in Microsoft. Very few people know this. In the early days of Microsoft, Microsoft was structured as a partnership, not an ink. It was not a company. It was a partnership. And there was weird tension between Bill and Paul. And so they needed a third party to come in and clean it up.

And his firm complained that he was spending a lot of time helping these two kids out. They're all in their 20s at this point. The industry is really young, like it even is today, helping these kids out. He did that work for about a year before he got invited into Microsoft. He ended up owning 10% of Microsoft.

And his firm complained that he was spending a lot of time helping these two kids out. They're all in their 20s at this point. The industry is really young, like it even is today, helping these kids out. He did that work for about a year before he got invited into Microsoft. He ended up owning 10% of Microsoft.

And his firm complained that he was spending a lot of time helping these two kids out. They're all in their 20s at this point. The industry is really young, like it even is today, helping these kids out. He did that work for about a year before he got invited into Microsoft. He ended up owning 10% of Microsoft.

And I got a lecture from my COO when I did this with another one of our companies where we did a next generation AI law firm that runs as a law firm. And obviously, if you're running as a law firm, there's a whole bunch of stuff that you have to do beyond the tech. And I was giving this free advice to the founder. We own 20% of this business. The company's on fire. It's doing really well.

And I got a lecture from my COO when I did this with another one of our companies where we did a next generation AI law firm that runs as a law firm. And obviously, if you're running as a law firm, there's a whole bunch of stuff that you have to do beyond the tech. And I was giving this free advice to the founder. We own 20% of this business. The company's on fire. It's doing really well.

And I got a lecture from my COO when I did this with another one of our companies where we did a next generation AI law firm that runs as a law firm. And obviously, if you're running as a law firm, there's a whole bunch of stuff that you have to do beyond the tech. And I was giving this free advice to the founder. We own 20% of this business. The company's on fire. It's doing really well.

But I spent like a year problem solving, troubleshooting, getting on the whiteboard. Every time you had an issue, come over to the office and we'd like sit down and do it. And my CEO was like, what are you doing? Like, your time is really valuable. We got a whole portfolio that you're supposed to be working on. And you're like, you're like brainstorming with this guy. It's fun.

But I spent like a year problem solving, troubleshooting, getting on the whiteboard. Every time you had an issue, come over to the office and we'd like sit down and do it. And my CEO was like, what are you doing? Like, your time is really valuable. We got a whole portfolio that you're supposed to be working on. And you're like, you're like brainstorming with this guy. It's fun.

But I spent like a year problem solving, troubleshooting, getting on the whiteboard. Every time you had an issue, come over to the office and we'd like sit down and do it. And my CEO was like, what are you doing? Like, your time is really valuable. We got a whole portfolio that you're supposed to be working on. And you're like, you're like brainstorming with this guy. It's fun.

But like, and sometimes you have to do those kinds of things in order to buy the goodwill to actually be able to write the check. We ended up coming into a deal at nine. The company's on a million pound run rate right now. A month. This work pays itself back. But I think the industry did all of these things in the 80s and 90s. And we've gotten so much bigger now.

But like, and sometimes you have to do those kinds of things in order to buy the goodwill to actually be able to write the check. We ended up coming into a deal at nine. The company's on a million pound run rate right now. A month. This work pays itself back. But I think the industry did all of these things in the 80s and 90s. And we've gotten so much bigger now.

But like, and sometimes you have to do those kinds of things in order to buy the goodwill to actually be able to write the check. We ended up coming into a deal at nine. The company's on a million pound run rate right now. A month. This work pays itself back. But I think the industry did all of these things in the 80s and 90s. And we've gotten so much bigger now.

We're like, honestly, is it worth the time to do this for like a million, two million, three million, 10 million? Like you're much better off raising a five, six, seven billion dollar fund and putting 50 to work.