Neil Mehta

And then we staple them together and we go up and down here. And we had some amazing investors who joined us. Who was in that 50? Oh, gosh. Henry Kravis was one of our first investors. What an amazing... I should talk about a couple of them because you always hope to get to a point in your life where you get to pay it forward. One of our first ones was Henry Kravis.

And then we staple them together and we go up and down here. And we had some amazing investors who joined us. Who was in that 50? Oh, gosh. Henry Kravis was one of our first investors. What an amazing... I should talk about a couple of them because you always hope to get to a point in your life where you get to pay it forward. One of our first ones was Henry Kravis.

And Henry, we went to go see him at his old office at KKR. And we walked in, we didn't know we were supposed to wear ties. I maybe wore a suit jacket, but I was dressed probably something like this, what I wear every day for 15 years. And we walk in and Henry's in a tie and he walks into his conference room, it's breakfast. And he looks at us, he's like, nobody told you about the dress code. Yeah.

And Henry, we went to go see him at his old office at KKR. And we walked in, we didn't know we were supposed to wear ties. I maybe wore a suit jacket, but I was dressed probably something like this, what I wear every day for 15 years. And we walk in and Henry's in a tie and he walks into his conference room, it's breakfast. And he looks at us, he's like, nobody told you about the dress code. Yeah.

I felt terrible. He was a legend to us already. And he sat down and he listened to every word. He asked incredible questions. At the end of it, it's like, I'm in, committed. I'm going to invest with you at Green Oaks. And then he offered a number of other introductions, which we'll come to in a second. But not only that, about six months later, he came out to Green Oaks.

I felt terrible. He was a legend to us already. And he sat down and he listened to every word. He asked incredible questions. At the end of it, it's like, I'm in, committed. I'm going to invest with you at Green Oaks. And then he offered a number of other introductions, which we'll come to in a second. But not only that, about six months later, he came out to Green Oaks.

He came to our office just for our team to meet Henry Kravis. I remember he came into our bullpen and he's like, I hope you guys are making me some money and walked away. Just to do that for a young team, a young fledging organization that looked up to someone like Henry Kravis. By the way, the best part about that story, I'm not the only one that has that story.

He came to our office just for our team to meet Henry Kravis. I remember he came into our bullpen and he's like, I hope you guys are making me some money and walked away. Just to do that for a young team, a young fledging organization that looked up to someone like Henry Kravis. By the way, the best part about that story, I'm not the only one that has that story.

I think there's a few thousand people that have that story about Henry, which is just incredible. What was your pitch to him? What was the original Green Oaks pitch? Yeah. I'd have to get back to some of the hard things we've gone through to That was one of the good things. So when you're 27 years old, There's two ways you could walk into a meeting like that.

I think there's a few thousand people that have that story about Henry, which is just incredible. What was your pitch to him? What was the original Green Oaks pitch? Yeah. I'd have to get back to some of the hard things we've gone through to That was one of the good things. So when you're 27 years old, There's two ways you could walk into a meeting like that.

You could walk, well, maybe on a spectrum. One of the spectrum is I'm 27. I'm really smart. I don't know what I'm going to do, but just trust me, I'm going to figure it all out and make a lot of money. The other way is I have a set of ideas. And these are ideas that I think are really interesting.

You could walk, well, maybe on a spectrum. One of the spectrum is I'm 27. I'm really smart. I don't know what I'm going to do, but just trust me, I'm going to figure it all out and make a lot of money. The other way is I have a set of ideas. And these are ideas that I think are really interesting.

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.