James Currier

He said, well, if you guys are still going to do this NFX thing, I would do it with you. And so Stan and I just glanced at each other like, let's do it. And we thought we would love to have a foot in Israel, but it was mostly about spirit and soul. It was about karma.

He said, well, if you guys are still going to do this NFX thing, I would do it with you. And so Stan and I just glanced at each other like, let's do it. And we thought we would love to have a foot in Israel, but it was mostly about spirit and soul. It was about karma.

14.

14.

Okay.

Okay.

And then we started up in June of 2015.

And then we started up in June of 2015.

We had a bunch of capital ourselves, right? Because we'd all built and sold businesses successfully.

We had a bunch of capital ourselves, right? Because we'd all built and sold businesses successfully.

A lot of businesses. So we had plenty of capital ourselves to use. And, you know, it's better to use your own and screw yourself than to screw somebody else while you're learning. And then we had a bunch of venture firms who wanted our deal flow. And so they put in a little bit of money into our fund as well. Greylock, CRV, Shasta, and Mayfield. Great funds, great guys.

A lot of businesses. So we had plenty of capital ourselves to use. And, you know, it's better to use your own and screw yourself than to screw somebody else while you're learning. And then we had a bunch of venture firms who wanted our deal flow. And so they put in a little bit of money into our fund as well. Greylock, CRV, Shasta, and Mayfield. Great funds, great guys.

And they had known us for years and invested in our companies and been successful and whatnot. and supported us in this. But again, it was the vibe. It's like, do you trust the person? Do you love the person? Do you believe in the person? And we just got that community together and then we got going.

And they had known us for years and invested in our companies and been successful and whatnot. and supported us in this. But again, it was the vibe. It's like, do you trust the person? Do you love the person? Do you believe in the person? And we just got that community together and then we got going.

And then when we went out to raise a bigger venture fund of the first fund was 150 million, Pete Flint had joined us and Pete had built and sold Trulia for three and a half billion. And so between the three of us, we had built and sold 10 companies worth over 10 billion. And that's twice as much as Horowitz and Andreessen when they started that fund. So the fundraising wasn't too difficult.

And then when we went out to raise a bigger venture fund of the first fund was 150 million, Pete Flint had joined us and Pete had built and sold Trulia for three and a half billion. And so between the three of us, we had built and sold 10 companies worth over 10 billion. And that's twice as much as Horowitz and Andreessen when they started that fund. So the fundraising wasn't too difficult.

It's the daily constant battle between negativity and positivity. So I originally never wanted to be a venture capitalist because I'd worked at Battery Ventures. And Battery is a negative investing firm, which is why I think their returns are the highest and most consistent of almost any venture firm in the world. They will only invest when they can't not invest.

It's the daily constant battle between negativity and positivity. So I originally never wanted to be a venture capitalist because I'd worked at Battery Ventures. And Battery is a negative investing firm, which is why I think their returns are the highest and most consistent of almost any venture firm in the world. They will only invest when they can't not invest.

They will only invest when they've gone down all the risks and checked them all off. And there's no reason not to exist. Oh, fuck. We have to, excuse my language. Oh, crap. We have to invest. We don't have any excuses not to. And that's just a very negative process. And it makes you very negative as a person. And that's not a great way to live.

They will only invest when they've gone down all the risks and checked them all off. And there's no reason not to exist. Oh, fuck. We have to, excuse my language. Oh, crap. We have to invest. We don't have any excuses not to. And that's just a very negative process. And it makes you very negative as a person. And that's not a great way to live.