Neil Mehta

Some portion of the money you give me is going to go into these ideas and the rest is going to go into ideas like this. I was very much in the latter camp. I was describing what we were seeing at companies like Palantir, which is one of our first investments, tiny amount, flip card. kind of called oil rooms, coupon. I was starting to say, look, these are the kinds of ideas we're seeing.

Some portion of the money you give me is going to go into these ideas and the rest is going to go into ideas like this. I was very much in the latter camp. I was describing what we were seeing at companies like Palantir, which is one of our first investments, tiny amount, flip card. kind of called oil rooms, coupon. I was starting to say, look, these are the kinds of ideas we're seeing.

This is what I like to be investing in. Invested the minimum sum of money in these businesses today. I'd like to invest a lot more tomorrow. It was driven by really three things. It was driven by the teams. It was driven by the quality of the businesses that I thought those companies were building. And it was driven by returns math.

This is what I like to be investing in. Invested the minimum sum of money in these businesses today. I'd like to invest a lot more tomorrow. It was driven by really three things. It was driven by the teams. It was driven by the quality of the businesses that I thought those companies were building. And it was driven by returns math.

And my view was, this is the beginning of a 20-year, 30-year opportunity ahead of us. And I articulated that over the course of maybe 30, 40 minutes. And how much of that was...

And my view was, this is the beginning of a 20-year, 30-year opportunity ahead of us. And I articulated that over the course of maybe 30, 40 minutes. And how much of that was...

Yeah, it was. At that point, we were at well over a billion smartphones being shipped. Yeah. Facebook was already a big company. Alibaba was a big company. This was like 2011, 2012 kind of thing. Cloud and mobile were obviously going to be pretty large.

Yeah, it was. At that point, we were at well over a billion smartphones being shipped. Yeah. Facebook was already a big company. Alibaba was a big company. This was like 2011, 2012 kind of thing. Cloud and mobile were obviously going to be pretty large.

And so somewhere in that presentation were penetration curves of cloud and penetration curves of mobile and how there's 10 to 15 plus years opportunity here. There's nothing about AI. There's a little bit about FinTech, what we were seeing in China on FinTech and how that might be irrelevant for other parts of the world. I think Brazil and India and Europe were in there in that context.

And so somewhere in that presentation were penetration curves of cloud and penetration curves of mobile and how there's 10 to 15 plus years opportunity here. There's nothing about AI. There's a little bit about FinTech, what we were seeing in China on FinTech and how that might be irrelevant for other parts of the world. I think Brazil and India and Europe were in there in that context.

But it was really across consumer internet fintech and application infrastructure software and the opportunity to build new platforms that would become future S&P 500 companies. Is it true at that time that you deleted your personal email? Yes. I do not, to this day, have a personal email, which probably is a compliance issue somewhere. But yes, I just have a Green Oaks email.

But it was really across consumer internet fintech and application infrastructure software and the opportunity to build new platforms that would become future S&P 500 companies. Is it true at that time that you deleted your personal email? Yes. I do not, to this day, have a personal email, which probably is a compliance issue somewhere. But yes, I just have a Green Oaks email.

I really felt at the time, and I feel this today, that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was lucky enough to figure it out pretty early and nothing was going to stop me from doing it.

I really felt at the time, and I feel this today, that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was lucky enough to figure it out pretty early and nothing was going to stop me from doing it.

So I was at a Kane Anderson in LA buying software companies and I had a great mentor. And I think about him as a great boss named Adam Fisher, who was at D.E. Shaw. He ran a small group there, which was financed by a parent company called OPG. It's in New York. And then I moved out to Hong Kong. And when I got out to Hong Kong, this is like 2007. And you moved there on a whim.

So I was at a Kane Anderson in LA buying software companies and I had a great mentor. And I think about him as a great boss named Adam Fisher, who was at D.E. Shaw. He ran a small group there, which was financed by a parent company called OPG. It's in New York. And then I moved out to Hong Kong. And when I got out to Hong Kong, this is like 2007. And you moved there on a whim.

I moved there on a whim. This is a great story. Adam called me and he's like, hey, you know, I want you to come join me. I was like, great. You know, I'm happy to do it. Wrapping up here, probably another six months and we can start to talk about it. He said, no, no, I mean Monday.

I moved there on a whim. This is a great story. Adam called me and he's like, hey, you know, I want you to come join me. I was like, great. You know, I'm happy to do it. Wrapping up here, probably another six months and we can start to talk about it. He said, no, no, I mean Monday.

And I was like, well, I probably need to figure it all out, but I guess I could just be in the office in New York on Monday. He's like, well, I need you out in Hong Kong on Monday. And I was like, wow, that's fast. And I got out there and it was like, we were looking for office space. It was not well organized. We were figuring it all out from scratch. And it was an amazing time to be out there.

And I was like, well, I probably need to figure it all out, but I guess I could just be in the office in New York on Monday. He's like, well, I need you out in Hong Kong on Monday. And I was like, wow, that's fast. And I got out there and it was like, we were looking for office space. It was not well organized. We were figuring it all out from scratch. And it was an amazing time to be out there.