Neil Mehta

And so we're like, this is not a country we want to be operating. So it took that experience of building this insurance company where like, there's no winning here. It taught us a lot. about the kinds of founders we want to partner with, the kind of markets we want to be in, the way we want to spend our time. It costs us real time and money and years.

And so we're like, this is not a country we want to be operating. So it took that experience of building this insurance company where like, there's no winning here. It taught us a lot. about the kinds of founders we want to partner with, the kind of markets we want to be in, the way we want to spend our time. It costs us real time and money and years.

We haven't lost that zeal of wanting to build something really special.

We haven't lost that zeal of wanting to build something really special.

I have friends that. sometimes complain about their LPs or the updates they have to do or the conversations they have to have. You just love this stuff too much. They might make different decisions if they didn't. Many have structured their lives in such a way where I really enjoy the people that we spend. I have a WhatsApp chat with my alpaca. I mean, I talk to them a decent amount.

I have friends that. sometimes complain about their LPs or the updates they have to do or the conversations they have to have. You just love this stuff too much. They might make different decisions if they didn't. Many have structured their lives in such a way where I really enjoy the people that we spend. I have a WhatsApp chat with my alpaca. I mean, I talk to them a decent amount.

I talk to some of my investors. They're like friends of mine. I get to do this with people I really love and admire and respect. they've oftentimes, our best ones have given us courage when we might've even lacked a little bit of it. I think about them as partners and shareholders in our business. And I think there's three reasons why. I think the first is I enjoy them.

I talk to some of my investors. They're like friends of mine. I get to do this with people I really love and admire and respect. they've oftentimes, our best ones have given us courage when we might've even lacked a little bit of it. I think about them as partners and shareholders in our business. And I think there's three reasons why. I think the first is I enjoy them.

That's like the most obvious one. I really do. If they never invested another dollar with Green Oaks, I'd still be good friends with most all of them. And that's becoming increasingly true every year at Green Oaks. The second is... We're competitive. We're deeply competitive. And it really bothers us if we're not amongst the best returning investment opportunities for our LPs.

That's like the most obvious one. I really do. If they never invested another dollar with Green Oaks, I'd still be good friends with most all of them. And that's becoming increasingly true every year at Green Oaks. The second is... We're competitive. We're deeply competitive. And it really bothers us if we're not amongst the best returning investment opportunities for our LPs.

I remember there's a table that came out in 2021, and it had the endowments by return. And I was really proud of the fact that for the three or four top ones, we drove some real performance for them. But that matters to me.

I remember there's a table that came out in 2021, and it had the endowments by return. And I was really proud of the fact that for the three or four top ones, we drove some real performance for them. But that matters to me.

I'm sure we have tons of critics. I actively try to seek it out. So I think I can apply that to some of it. Yeah, although you feel free to add in. I just had a dinner where I met a bunch of young people. I asked them this specific question. I said, what are the most negative things you can say about Green Oaks? And I'll give you each comment because I thought all of them were valid.

I'm sure we have tons of critics. I actively try to seek it out. So I think I can apply that to some of it. Yeah, although you feel free to add in. I just had a dinner where I met a bunch of young people. I asked them this specific question. I said, what are the most negative things you can say about Green Oaks? And I'll give you each comment because I thought all of them were valid.

So the first was Green Oaks, wildly successful early, but as of late, what have they done? And I think that's such a healthy attitude, frankly. You're only as good as your next day. And my pushback was, it takes time. The stuff you're judging us on 10 years ago, there's stuff you would judge us on in another 10 years that we did today, but it just doesn't show. So that would be the first.

So the first was Green Oaks, wildly successful early, but as of late, what have they done? And I think that's such a healthy attitude, frankly. You're only as good as your next day. And my pushback was, it takes time. The stuff you're judging us on 10 years ago, there's stuff you would judge us on in another 10 years that we did today, but it just doesn't show. So that would be the first.

The second would be some higher priced rounds that look like really crazy on the outside. They don't make any logical sense. Why did you do them? We have some logic for why we did them, but we could be wrong. Benny and I as founders, we've pushed our organization really hard. One of the other pieces of feedback might be like, are you pushing too hard? We can't always hire while we can fire fast.

The second would be some higher priced rounds that look like really crazy on the outside. They don't make any logical sense. Why did you do them? We have some logic for why we did them, but we could be wrong. Benny and I as founders, we've pushed our organization really hard. One of the other pieces of feedback might be like, are you pushing too hard? We can't always hire while we can fire fast.

We run a very tight team. We're reasonably intense in the way we run that team. You can make an argument that you should not run at this intensity level. You could run at 70% of this intensity level and things would be just fine. I just don't think we'd be that happy if we did it. So it probably is the right feedback, but I don't value it that much.

We run a very tight team. We're reasonably intense in the way we run that team. You can make an argument that you should not run at this intensity level. You could run at 70% of this intensity level and things would be just fine. I just don't think we'd be that happy if we did it. So it probably is the right feedback, but I don't value it that much.