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Welcome to the Deal podcast.
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Uh, my name's Josh, and on today's conversation, we're gonna have a, a chat with Theo, who was a, a friend, actually hit the fields with Chase Kenner, one of our, uh, team members here.
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And we're gonna talk about the world of vc, the world, uh, that, that that kind of happens in venture capital if you don't know what VC is and, and what the deal is behind that.
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So, Theo, welcome to the show, man.
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Thank you, Josh.
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I'm, I'm really excited to, to talk here about venture capital in general and our unique flavor of, of how we approach the industry, help founders and, and, uh, and eventually do well by our investors.
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So, um, I'm amped for the conversation today.
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Yeah, man.
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Me too.
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All right, so you used to play football with Chase, and that's how you and I got to know each other.
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But you said that there was, uh, chase was pretty good back in the day and he had a specific way of kind of commanding the field.
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Give us an insight as to, you know, who Chase is behind, you know, mergers and acquisitions.
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Yeah, I, I had the pleasure of knowing Chase.
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Uh, playing, playing high school football down in, down in south Louisiana with Chase.
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Uh, which, you know, the reputation for that is, is pretty big time.
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Ball Chase was, you know, what, what the kids we call today a unit.
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I mean, he was a, a Awo guy and, um, he was our, our, uh, middle linebacker.
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Uh, when I was a, a freshman and sophomore playing, uh, playing defensive end.
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And so he had to call the strong side on the, on the offense.
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And so his calls were, you know, left or right, was the strong side, but the cues were lucky and Ringo, but he had this really deep growling voice, so he was Ringo lucky and it was, it was.
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It's, it still rings in my head all the time.
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Anytime I see him pop up on LinkedIn or hear anything about, or see a picture of his family on social media, um, that voice, it, it, it still rings in my head.
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I remember it.
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It was like none other.
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Yeah.
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That's so good.
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I could see him doing that.
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Like, I texted him as soon as you and I were chatting like lucky and he's like, what?
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He's like, how in the world?
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You know, like, how in the world do you know these things?
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So yeah.
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Thanks for the ammunition, dude.
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Uh, so how does, how does one go from.
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Football in Lafayette, Louisiana, or, uh, you know, where you guys were to venture capital, where you guys are investing in space.
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Wow.
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Uh, well, uh, new Iberia, Louisiana, um, which is, uh, right south of Lafayette.
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And there, there at a, at a very high level, um.
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Early on that in that part of Louisiana is highly entrenched in industrial work and agriculture work, and to bridge that gap between the 20 years between the two, most people don't realize that the space economy that consists of satellites and um, rockets.
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Is highly tied to the industrial value chain that we know of.
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Manufacturing, pipes, valves, metals, materials, as well as serving the agriculture industry in a lot of ways, understanding the fundamentals and having the lived experiences of.
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Walking into the shop floors to see my dad growing up, um, and walking around the sugarcane fields in New Iberia, Louisiana.
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Um, and later on, working in those industries to invest in farmland and timber across the world, um, gave me a, has given me a very unique perspective on the technologies needed to serve those industries.
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And, you know, there's a lot in between, which I know we'll get into here, but.
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Having that lived experience and that basic understanding of not only the customers, but the underlying people who work in those industries.
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Like my father, like, you know, probably some of Chase's, um, uh, relatives and friends has given me a very unique vantage point into high tech space technology that I think is pretty unique compared to some of my peers in the venture capital industry.
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Wow, man.
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So you went from sugar cane fields and football in New Iberia to investing in space like that is such a fascinating story.
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Now, a lot of people have such a hard time when they grow up in a, in a small, small place or small city.
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I grew up like in Ocala, right?
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So Ocala, Florida, not many people know it, but it's like the horse capital of the world, right?
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So, but you know, like if I would've mentioned like.
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Investment banking people would be like, what is that?
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I wouldn't know what that is.
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Right.
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So like, sometimes we have to get out of where we were to kind of explore and find out who we are as a deal maker.
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So walk us through, how did you get involved in venture capital specifically?
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Yeah.
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So, um, before my current firm, I'm a, I'm a partner at a firm called Creations vc, and one of our three partners.
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Um, I, I, I went to Salesforce ventures, uh, where, uh, I, I led the portfolio development team there and Salesforce Ventures is one of the most prolific software in, in B2B SaaS investors in the world.
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500 companies, $6 billion portfolio.
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Um, it gave me a lens into that world that you can only get by sitting in the seat.
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Yeah.
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Um, we invested in the biggest companies, um, from the biggest cybersecurity companies such as Wiz to also the biggest AI companies like philanthropic.
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So right now everyone's talking about Claude and, you know, all these things like these, these are companies that.
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I not only utilized their tools today, but I was beneficial.
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I was, I, I had the benefit of being in the room, meeting the founders, all those types of things.
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Um, you know, before how I got into, into that and venture capital dates back to, uh, I was working for a big corporate.
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And I, I got interested in blockchain, so I was like, Hey, we should do some blockchain stuff.
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And everyone thought it was interesting, but the corporation was so large that implementing such a novel technology was really difficult in that time I said, Hey, I really want to be on the innovation side of what's going on in the world.
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And I went work for a startup that was doing something very similar to democratizing access to financial products.
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Yeah.
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It just so happens that their startup was actually run by a fellow Louisiana native.
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Uh, but it was in New York City, and I was able to work at that firm, learn a ton, and also start to put some of my own capital at risk in venture capital.
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So I was able to, uh, tell people, you know, the funny thing is I just said, I started telling people I'm an angel investor.
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I had never made an angel investment in my life, but I just started saying I'm an angel investor.
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And I asked people like, Hey, would you take this $5,000?
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Right.
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And that started my angel portfolio.
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Right.
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Man, it's so
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good.
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And I think there's no better way to learn how to be a deal maker than to be a deal maker.
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And it, and it sounds kind of silly, but it's like if you are able to put your own time and capital at risk.
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By investing in something, by doing a deal, by contributing to a deal.
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Even if it means just contributing your analysis and your unique perspective, you're gonna automatically be bought in, you're gonna learn more, you're gonna pay attention to the small signals, and that's what I use as the ammunition to really dive into the industry and become a lot better.
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Um, and then eventually ended up at Salesforce Ventures and, you know, identified a very unique part of the industry.
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Of the venture capital industry and of the high tech industry that I thought would propel humanity for the next 50 years.
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And that I wanted to play a central part on in that space technology.
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And so that, that's how I ended up there.
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Um, and maybe the, the larger backstory was around, I did get my MBA in finance from Rice University, um, after work going to LSU and working for the athletic foundation there for a few years.
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I just knew I was interested in business and I wanted to get a business degree.
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Yeah.
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And a mentor said, if you want business degree, fantastic.
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If you want to amp it up a little bit, you need to understand the language of finance.
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And in the process I fell in love with finance and, and investing.
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So
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interesting.
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So you were actually working in athletics.
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What were you doing?
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Yeah, I was raising money for, uh, LSU Athletics.
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Knocking on doors and, and a donor
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development falling in.
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Darling baby.
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Yeah.
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Oh man.
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I didn't know this about you, but I like it, Theo.
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So donor development is, was your role, right?
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Yes.
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Yes,
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exactly.
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Okay.
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Oh my gosh.
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So that parlays so much into the world of vc.
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Talk to us about, you know, talk to us about the business model of vc because not many people realize, like, you, you have this founder who's raising money and, and going knocking on doors all day.
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And little do they know, VC groups are doing the exact same dang thing.
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So talk to us about the VC
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model.
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Oh, it is such a funny thing, um, to be in the position of a vc.
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Where you're both raising capital for your own fund and distributing capital into companies.
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So our business model is such that we go out to potential investors, um, individuals, families, sometimes institutions such as pension funds or endowments.
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So think, you know, the LSU endowment is like, you know, an example of something like that, and we go out and say, Hey, we have this really compelling idea.
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To invest.
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We think it's gonna produce this types of returns for you.
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And they'll say, great.
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We'll give you, uh, a million dollars.
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Right.
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So let's just use wrong figures for, for sake of making it easy.
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Yeah.
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And then we take that million dollars.
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And maybe 10 different individuals and families and institutions give us a million dollars.
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So now we have $10 million and it's, but that's a million isn't for us.
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It's still for them.
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We're just stewards of that capital.
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Yeah.
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And then we disperse that capital across 30 or 40 startups.
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And the bet with that, especially early stage startups, which means we're investing in companies that are very young, sometimes in their first or second years of.
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Of, of being alive as a business, um, sometimes later, but you know, generally very early.
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Uh, we then will give each of those companies a hundred thousand dollars, $200,000, $500,000.
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And with the understanding that with new businesses, the stats say that only one out of 10 will be successful.
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And so.
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The, this is a very highly complex financial instrument that sometimes feels like a scratch off lottery ticket, but you try to do as much diligence as possible to understand what technologies will be very useful to the world.
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What founders are ready to be nimble if they come into trouble?
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Troubled scenarios.
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Understanding that when one of those companies becomes extremely valuable, um, it will make up for all the companies that that failed along the way.
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And it's a very unique process, um, where we're trying to spur entrepreneurship in a given industry.
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We're trying to capture a certain trend, and in the process of that.
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One of those companies becomes worth $5 billion and maybe we've made 200 times our money.
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Right.
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So that a hundred thousand dollars right.
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Becomes $20 million.
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Mm-hmm.
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Yeah.
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And um, and the nice thing about that is then we can return, you know, we raise, let's say we make, uh, $20 million.
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We raise $10 million.
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So now our investors get their initial 10 back, and then they get, um, they get the, the returns on that capital over $10 million, which is another 10.
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We can talk fee arrangements, but that's a different scenario, right?
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But, uh, that's a different conversation.
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But fundamentally what we're doing is.
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We're using capital to invest in entrepreneurship, to spur entrepreneurship.
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Eventually allow those founders and executives and team members of that company to do well for themselves and their families to put out a new solution that's gonna advance the world in humanity in some way.
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And we're also feeding that money back to our investors who may be, once again, individuals, families, or even your pension system.
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So for any of the listeners who get pensions.
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We, we help invest in, um, invest the capital that continues to feed and feed your pension fund and send you your checks every month.
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Yeah, I think what people, um.
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Hopefully learn on this episode is, you know, like there's different stages, different, you know, different, different, uh, models for different stages, right?
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You have that that super early when you were even saying, Hey, I'm, I'm an angel investor, and one day you just had to turn the switch of your own identity and say, you know what?
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I am, therefore I will do.
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And I think a lot of people go, I can't wait to become an angel investor.
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I can't wait to become a.
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Whatever, but you flip that switch and you say, no, I am.
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And then you started to find opportunity, then you became, got into venture right?
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And you, you built this out.
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I didn't know where I came up with that, that just hit me.
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But like when I, when you get into venture capital and what I, what I hope people see here is, you know, what you guys have to become really good at, and you and I have discussed this in the back, uh, in the past of sniffing out a good opportunity early on before other people see the value.
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Sometimes even before the founder has hit traction or marketplace fit.
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That's hard to do, and that takes discipline and you have a, a disciplined approach on valuations, on how to value what your investment is.
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Walk us through that, because that, I think that is art and science and magic.
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Right?
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Kind of walk us through how that works.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I, I consider venture capital to be the, the blend of art and finance.
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Okay.
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Um, most finance, you have financial statements to go through and you decide based upon.
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A clean income statement and balance sheet, what something is worth.
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Um, as the company gets smaller, you have less and less information.
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In venture capital, in early stage venture capital, we have almost no information.
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I mean, we are looking at industry trends.
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We are, the founder is trying to create something from scratch, and so the one thing that we know is that.
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There are different parts of what something is worth.
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We're trying to project out the future, what something is gonna be worth in the future.
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We're taking bets before there's even an industry for some of these technologies.
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Mm-hmm.
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And so we generally have a valuation paradigm where we say super, super early stage companies, you know, up to $10 million valuation is where we sort of capped that at.
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Mm-hmm.
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Now.
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Someone could say, oh, great, like I have a new idea.
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Can you value my company at $10 million?
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Well, the questions that I would ask is, do you have ip?
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Have you done any specific research on an energy technology or a metal or type of metal?
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Or a type of manufacturing that is completely novel and that you've applied for a patent and have a patent pending, or you have a patent because there's inherent value in that asset.
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That is an asset, right?
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We see it as an asset.
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And then next we see how fast is this industry gonna grow?
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Um, and then we look at what, uh, what the industry beyond us.
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So we, we may be the first investors in a company, but we need to be really cognizant of what the next investor.
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Believes is their standard valuation for a company that has a hundred thousand in revenues or a million dollars in revenues because we can't exceed that target because then they would not be able to raise money in the next route.
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They would run outta money, they would go outta business.
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So it's a very relative thing where we have to say, some companies that we believe are worth $3 million when they first start off.
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There are some companies that we believe are worth.
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Five to $6 million when they start off.
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There are certain companies that have $500,000 in revenues.
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We may say, we could see that this company is worth about $10 million.
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It is a very relative thing.
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Now, when we project that out, we're also projecting out how big can the company be in five years?
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Mm. Sometimes those companies can only be we, we believe.
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Based upon res market research transaction multiples, um, what, what public companies are paying to acquire strategic assets.
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Some of those companies can, we think a hundred million dollars at most.
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$300 million at most.
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Now that sounds like a massive number.
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I mean, it's a massive number, but you have to think about, these are companies that are being purchased by companies that are worth $20 billion or they're worth.
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$200 billion.
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So a company being worth a hundred million dollars is not as substantial.
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Them paying a hundred million dollars acquisition price does not feel as substantial.
00:17:56.263 --> 00:18:08.775
We take that into account, so if you're building a technology in an industry where the juggernauts are worth $500 billion, we know that what their willingness to pay for an acquisition may be.
00:18:09.013 --> 00:18:14.714
We take that into account, and so it's a little bit of this analytical of understanding.
00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.849
The actual valuation multiples in the market.
00:18:18.329 --> 00:18:24.898
Also, sort of having, you know, a very gut feeling about how fast an industry can grow.
00:18:25.349 --> 00:18:39.599
And then saying like, back to the tangible part, what does this company have that's actually tangible, that is valuable towards something is worth something In the absence of revenues, if you have a patent that produces something that's tangibly.
00:18:39.974 --> 00:18:42.555
That can tangibly be traded, which means it has value.
00:18:42.763 --> 00:18:43.095
Right?
00:18:43.513 --> 00:18:48.375
And so we, we go across these tangible and intangible aspects of the business.
00:18:48.375 --> 00:18:50.204
It makes it really tough, right?
00:18:50.204 --> 00:18:51.105
It makes it really tough.
00:18:51.404 --> 00:19:02.023
But, um, this is also Josh, why it's meaningful for, uh, investors like us to have a different viewpoint.
00:19:02.180 --> 00:19:02.599
Mm-hmm.
00:19:03.099 --> 00:19:07.694
You can, you can be the best financial statement analyst out there.
00:19:09.180 --> 00:19:11.369
That will not help you in our industry.
00:19:12.450 --> 00:19:16.950
It helps if you have a very specific vantage point through a lived experience.
00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:17.130
Mm-hmm.
00:19:17.369 --> 00:19:28.890
Whether it's just your life or whether it's a professional experience that allows you to see the world and what may be happening and a trend that may be happening before other people see it.
00:19:29.789 --> 00:19:35.549
And that lens of the, and that leads you to a better gut feeling.
00:19:36.253 --> 00:19:44.565
And a viewpoint that you say, I may take a bet on this company and I may say they're worth $5 million when someone else says they're worth $3 million.
00:19:44.773 --> 00:19:47.115
But I see the world differently than those other investors.
00:19:47.384 --> 00:19:54.944
And so that is, you know, that's, that's, it's, it's not a perfect science whatsoever, but it's a lot of art.
00:19:54.944 --> 00:19:56.055
It's a lot of gut.
00:19:56.234 --> 00:19:59.444
Um, and it's a lot of lived experience baked into our valuations.
00:20:00.404 --> 00:20:00.825
Wow.
00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:07.319
You're the second vc, um, that has mentioned trusting your gut specifically.
00:20:07.410 --> 00:20:07.740
Right?
00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:10.950
So Vic Pucci the third, we interviewed him probably five years ago.
00:20:10.950 --> 00:20:10.980
Uh.
00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:13.799
Decent sized vc.
00:20:14.369 --> 00:20:17.490
He was all about, look, you could look at spreadsheets all day long.
00:20:17.490 --> 00:20:19.169
You could look at this, but trust your gut.
00:20:19.169 --> 00:20:31.559
So you're number two, Theo, who has mentioned that specifically, um, when it comes to trusting your gut, that's based on life experiencing discernment, maybe some things that you're studying part of your trusting your gut.
00:20:31.589 --> 00:20:32.309
'cause it's not just.
00:20:33.105 --> 00:20:33.704
Theo's gut.
00:20:33.704 --> 00:20:35.503
'cause you, you might be hungry for the day, right?
00:20:35.805 --> 00:20:38.865
And your guts telling you to go get some, go get some food right now.
00:20:38.865 --> 00:20:39.105
Right?
00:20:39.105 --> 00:20:40.394
Like, I'm hungry right this minute.
00:20:40.394 --> 00:20:46.634
My gut's telling me to go eat and I want to eat a lot, but, uh, I love to eat, man.
00:20:46.964 --> 00:20:56.144
But when it comes to your gut instinct, you're talking to, you know, you, you have a very specific way you guys do due diligence where you talk to a ton of academics.
00:20:56.220 --> 00:21:03.990
Yeah, I don't think a lot of, first of all, I don't think academics get, you know, the, the honored do in the world of deal making.
00:21:04.049 --> 00:21:05.849
But man, I'm super grateful for them.
00:21:06.029 --> 00:21:10.740
Walk us through your due diligence kind of process and how you approach academics.
00:21:11.849 --> 00:21:12.809
Yeah, definitely.
00:21:12.809 --> 00:21:21.900
So, um, one, we keep, uh, uh, um, uh, a long list of very astute.
00:21:22.424 --> 00:21:25.394
Academic researchers, PhDs at universities.
00:21:25.694 --> 00:21:25.814
Mm-hmm.
00:21:26.054 --> 00:21:29.054
Um, on our call list as well as industry experts.
00:21:29.054 --> 00:21:36.344
So maybe some of them have a PhD or a master's degree in aerospace engineering and they worked at Boeing or something like that.
00:21:36.344 --> 00:21:37.214
Maybe they're retired.
00:21:37.874 --> 00:21:48.013
Um, one, it is invaluable to think that I have en enough information about a very specific technology.
00:21:49.273 --> 00:21:53.894
That I can answer every question about it and I can know all the history about it, right?
00:21:54.164 --> 00:21:56.503
So leaning on people, that's the first thing we do.
00:21:56.503 --> 00:22:00.734
So we, we have special relationships at universities like Georgia Tech.
00:22:01.304 --> 00:22:13.335
Um, we have special relationships at universities like Ben Gian, um, and Teknion University in Israel, um, where we really dig in on technologies, right?
00:22:13.513 --> 00:22:17.204
So sometimes those academics are actually the founders of these businesses.
00:22:17.579 --> 00:22:20.730
Because they formed the technology within their business.
00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:23.640
Other times they're just great resources for us.
00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:29.730
Maybe they're, uh, an advisor to the company or an advisor to other similar types of businesses.
00:22:29.730 --> 00:22:37.500
Maybe they've even, they're a PhD that they just spent their life, uh, focused on data communications in the space industry.
00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:38.250
Mm-hmm.
00:22:38.759 --> 00:22:44.759
Um, getting a full 360 view of that, including a customer view.
00:22:45.704 --> 00:23:02.325
Our potential customer view is one of the first things we do because we work at, with such high tech companies that sometimes there's, there, there's technology chasing a solution, right?
00:23:02.384 --> 00:23:05.565
There's no solu like or technology solutions chasing a problem.
00:23:05.654 --> 00:23:05.954
Sorry.
00:23:06.494 --> 00:23:07.035
And
00:23:07.109 --> 00:23:07.934
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:23:07.994 --> 00:23:09.194
Because they're chasing a problem.
00:23:09.194 --> 00:23:13.640
There's not enough problem that exists for revenue, so we go and try to say.
00:23:15.013 --> 00:23:16.904
Who are the potential customers here?
00:23:17.474 --> 00:23:20.865
And let's go find out what problems they actually face.
00:23:20.865 --> 00:23:27.644
And can we verify the problem that the academic researcher has tried to solve through their research and their technology?
00:23:28.335 --> 00:23:32.444
And so we, we talk to academics, we also talk to industry practitioners.
00:23:33.253 --> 00:23:47.263
We put together invest pretty large scale investment memos that touch on the market dynamics we touch on, um, um, the actual underlying product and its tech and its technical specifications.
00:23:47.595 --> 00:23:57.674
Once again, a lot of, a lot of that is driven by our, uh, network of industry experts who help us understand some of these very niche and nuanced technologies.
00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:05.250
We walk through the economics of the industry today and how the economics might change if that product enters the market.
00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:14.939
We, we, we try to mock up how could, like if this company, um, is successful, what will be its exit opportunity?
00:24:14.969 --> 00:24:25.559
So we think about will it IPO, will it be sold to a strategic, will they end up licensing technology to someone later on, we think through staff.
00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:27.329
We think through milestones.
00:24:27.390 --> 00:24:31.769
So we say, if this happens, then this happens, then this happens, then this happens.
00:24:32.549 --> 00:24:52.440
One of the nice things about putting that all into a very long investment memo, sometimes 15 pages, 20 pages of single line writing, is that we now have a document we can go back to when something goes right or wrong and, and then we say, my gut told me yes.
00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:55.319
I wrote down on this investment that my gut told me yes.
00:24:56.565 --> 00:24:59.204
Did the result end up correct?
00:24:59.625 --> 00:24:59.775
Mm-hmm.
00:25:00.105 --> 00:25:02.174
Now I have data points on my gut.
00:25:02.835 --> 00:25:03.075
Yeah.
00:25:03.855 --> 00:25:11.835
And so that, so most people think gut is just like, Hey, I just have this feeling, or whatever.
00:25:11.984 --> 00:25:16.964
But your gut can actually be a uh, uh, actually measured.
00:25:17.369 --> 00:25:20.549
If you mark down every what?
00:25:20.579 --> 00:25:23.398
What does your gut say before I say yes or no to this investment?
00:25:23.730 --> 00:25:28.500
What does my gut say now, two years down the line, I'm gonna go back and look at all my decisions.
00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:33.329
I'm gonna say which ones worked out, which ones didn't, and I'm gonna say, what does my gut say about this?
00:25:33.329 --> 00:25:40.079
And if my gut was right most of the time, then you sort of know you can trust your gut more and more in that process.
00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:43.589
But having gut using your gut does not.
00:25:44.023 --> 00:25:50.565
Um, separate, having a strong analytical framework for what a business is and what it could be.
00:25:50.835 --> 00:25:54.045
Um, and so that's, that's how we embrace it.
00:25:54.284 --> 00:26:03.315
The gut is the last thing that come once we've had all the information, um, but because most of the time these decisions are not clear cut.
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:07.888
Yeah, like very few times are they very clear cut because you're taking a bet on the future.
00:26:08.339 --> 00:26:12.509
And if I knew the future, um, you know, I would just go buy a bunch.
00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:17.128
I would go buy a Powerball ticket and, uh, and you probably wouldn't hear from me again, Josh.
00:26:17.513 --> 00:26:17.804
Yeah,
00:26:18.154 --> 00:26:19.125
yeah, yeah.
00:26:19.378 --> 00:26:25.049
Man, you And I'd be hanging out on the beach somewhere looking at space and going, Hey, we're gonna be there in a few years.
00:26:25.049 --> 00:26:26.039
Let's, let's go for it.
00:26:26.398 --> 00:26:27.029
Exactly.
00:26:27.388 --> 00:26:28.529
Man, it's so good.
00:26:28.648 --> 00:26:40.319
Um, I think it was, I'm not trying to name drop or anything, but I think Ja, Jason, uh, Calis wrote that in one of his books where he or David Rose, one of the guys who writes about Angel Invest and he says, take, keep a deal log.
00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:46.349
Like what does your gut say about this, whether you're investing or not, what does your gut say about this?
00:26:46.378 --> 00:26:52.259
And then when you hear of an IPO or a failure, go back to your log and be like, Ooh, I was way off and here's why.
00:26:52.259 --> 00:26:54.179
Or man, I should have invested in.
00:26:55.200 --> 00:27:00.628
Blockchain and you know, crypto back in 2012 when I had an opportunity, you know, like those kind of things.
00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:04.980
Jason Calas, I read the, the book Angel.
00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:05.220
Yeah.
00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:08.190
It was one of the first books I read on the venture capital industry.
00:27:08.609 --> 00:27:12.420
Um, once again, when you're putting your own money in, you start to dive in, you start
00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:12.930
to read books
00:27:12.930 --> 00:27:14.039
very quickly, very quickly.
00:27:14.609 --> 00:27:22.559
Um, and, and, and I remember, I mean, some of the things he talked about were also like having, like trusting your gut.
00:27:23.204 --> 00:27:26.174
Spreading your bets out, having the relationships.
00:27:26.325 --> 00:27:37.125
I mean, so much of the book and so much of the industry in, in general, I've had to learn there's so much that is not just based on a financial statement.
00:27:37.694 --> 00:27:37.785
Right.
00:27:37.815 --> 00:27:40.484
And this is where the art part comes in.
00:27:40.694 --> 00:27:49.694
Um, and this is where, you know, you asked me earlier, like you coming from a place like New Iberia.
00:27:50.805 --> 00:27:53.805
And people who come from other small towns, right?
00:27:53.805 --> 00:28:05.355
Like yours, like it sometimes is intimidating because you think the people in New York City or San Francisco or Seattle, they have all the answers, right?
00:28:05.355 --> 00:28:05.414
Yeah.
00:28:06.285 --> 00:28:06.855
And.
00:28:07.994 --> 00:28:22.814
I can see why that said, but sometimes not being in those environments and not coming from those environments where everyone feels like they have all the answers, you actually have a better, uh, lens because you're more inquisitive.
00:28:23.549 --> 00:28:23.759
Right.
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.640
So you assume you don't know as much, you're more inquisitive.
00:28:27.150 --> 00:28:44.640
Um, you can connect with people in a different way, and you can bring a vantage point that maybe someone else overlooked because you know they don't have, once again, some of the lived experiences you have and the ability to say, yeah, in my gut, I think this is a little different than the way you're looking at it.
00:28:45.089 --> 00:28:46.200
Um, so yeah.
00:28:46.454 --> 00:28:46.574
I mean,
00:28:47.595 --> 00:28:48.494
it's so true.
00:28:48.704 --> 00:28:49.484
It's so good.
00:28:49.784 --> 00:29:00.105
Uh, you talked about, um, you know, like people from small towns might, you know, measure up and how they look at people in New York or you know, San Francisco for sure.
00:29:00.105 --> 00:29:01.365
You know, that definitely hits me.
00:29:01.365 --> 00:29:07.454
You know, like when I go to New York at a conference and I'm seeing people and I'm like, and they're like, yeah, I'm a, I'm on Wall Street.
00:29:07.454 --> 00:29:09.194
I'm like, man, you must be smart.
00:29:09.194 --> 00:29:11.474
And then I talk with them like, they're not that smart, you know?
00:29:12.334 --> 00:29:24.724
And I'm not the smartest guy here, but what, what I'm saying is, you know, like every place you have, man, that's where you were born, that's where you, you know, you grow and you probably learned a, a work ethic work.
00:29:24.724 --> 00:29:26.704
You know, walking around on the sugar cane fields that.
00:29:27.554 --> 00:29:33.974
Many people will never experience or, uh, some type of how to communicate with others that people miss out.
00:29:33.974 --> 00:29:41.174
So I, that's why I love about cultures that blend in, in industries that blend, um, like the melting pots of these areas.
00:29:41.564 --> 00:29:46.034
Um, before we jump into the, the VC kind of model.
00:29:46.174 --> 00:29:57.875
Further, um, you know, what was one of the biggest things in terms of mindset, mindset shift did you have to evolve into to become a, you know, GP of a, a VC group?
00:29:59.914 --> 00:30:00.753
Oh, yeah.
00:30:00.753 --> 00:30:09.994
Um, it's, um, uh, complete ownership of.
00:30:10.859 --> 00:30:15.180
The business and the, the consequences or rewards of those decisions.
00:30:15.390 --> 00:30:16.049
Yeah, for sure.
00:30:16.049 --> 00:30:27.210
And, and that means, right, and um, that means how do you view risk and how do you mitigate risk?
00:30:27.930 --> 00:30:30.119
How do you manage risk for others?
00:30:30.569 --> 00:30:32.940
Risk of the investments and risk of your business?
00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:38.789
And this is something I specifically learned during my time at.
00:30:39.239 --> 00:30:44.369
TIAA and Nuveen, which are massive organizations.
00:30:44.369 --> 00:30:48.539
I mean, Nuveen manages over a trillion dollars of capital, right?
00:30:49.605 --> 00:31:00.585
Um, and while I was there, you know, I was part of the, the alternative investments team with a focus on farmland, investments, timber investments, and agribusiness investments.
00:31:01.394 --> 00:31:07.095
So, very quickly I tried to go to Wall Street, but I still ended up, uh, being around farmland.
00:31:08.055 --> 00:31:08.325
Yeah.
00:31:09.075 --> 00:31:16.664
And one of the things that TIAA is basically a a, an insurance or retirement.
00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:18.839
Fund business, right?
00:31:18.839 --> 00:31:27.720
They, they manage the retirement monies of teachers and university employees and nurses at charity hospitals and such.
00:31:29.130 --> 00:31:32.339
They have a view on risk, which is a hundred years.
00:31:33.089 --> 00:31:38.339
So their view on risk is not, Hey, um, I, I need to get my money back in two years.
00:31:38.430 --> 00:31:41.700
It is broadly, I need to manage a pool of capital in a way that.
00:31:42.390 --> 00:31:53.339
Over the course of 50 to a hundred years, it continues to grow, it continues to compound, and we can continuously pay these people their, their, uh, their, uh, their pensions and, and, and such.
00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:53.789
Mm-hmm.
00:31:54.480 --> 00:32:01.799
How that crafted me is it gave me a lens on risk that a lot of people don't get if you don't work at an institution of that size with that mission.
00:32:02.339 --> 00:32:05.424
And so, you know, as I thought, think about.
00:32:06.134 --> 00:32:12.105
What it took for me to evolve it's thinking through risk in a way that says we have to take some risk.
00:32:12.375 --> 00:32:27.644
We, and, and risk means like we have to invest in things that have a probability of losing money, but what is the probability of losing that money and how do we make sure that when it does make money, it's substantially higher than the risk profile of it.
00:32:27.765 --> 00:32:27.855
Mm-hmm.
00:32:28.095 --> 00:32:30.404
And so as a business owner and as an investor.
00:32:31.605 --> 00:32:40.875
Being a GP of a fund, managing the risk of my underlying investors because they've trusted me with their personal capital or their family's capital or their institution's capital.
00:32:41.565 --> 00:32:49.875
Um, and, uh, managing the risk to make sure that my business isn't well-funded enough because my venture capital firm is a business.
00:32:49.994 --> 00:32:52.875
Most people don't see it as an entrepreneurial venture, but it is.
00:32:53.025 --> 00:32:58.214
And so that business has to be well funded enough, uh, in order to actually continue to operate.
00:32:59.023 --> 00:33:01.634
Because you're still managing other people's money, right?
00:33:01.634 --> 00:33:04.454
And so they want to know, are you gonna be around in 10 or 20 years?
00:33:04.784 --> 00:33:08.894
Uh, and to, to continue stewarding my capital over time.
00:33:09.314 --> 00:33:11.355
That was a biggest mindset shift.
00:33:11.503 --> 00:33:12.914
But it doesn't happen overnight.
00:33:12.914 --> 00:33:14.684
It took a decade to get there.
00:33:14.684 --> 00:33:14.744
Yeah.
00:33:16.440 --> 00:33:27.059
Um, and also knowing when you know enough about a topic, when you know enough about something to actually take, take some, take a risk that other people may not be willing to take.
00:33:27.454 --> 00:33:27.744
Yeah.
00:33:27.750 --> 00:33:34.470
Um, and so it's the broad spectrum of how do you manage risk, both personally within yourself, within your business, within your investors' capital.
00:33:34.769 --> 00:33:38.490
That took a, it took a long time to really build that mentality up.
00:33:38.490 --> 00:33:39.690
It doesn't happen overnight at all.
00:33:40.109 --> 00:33:42.029
No man mindset shifts take.
00:33:42.569 --> 00:33:43.859
Sometimes take decades.
00:33:44.250 --> 00:33:48.779
Um, it's the hardest thing to, to change is the, is the mind.
00:33:49.500 --> 00:33:49.589
Yeah.
00:33:49.619 --> 00:33:50.490
Uh, super
00:33:50.490 --> 00:33:50.609
hard.
00:33:50.609 --> 00:33:53.039
And, and 1, 1, 1 other, one last thing that I'll say please.
00:33:53.279 --> 00:34:04.019
The biggest mindset shift from New Iberia to managing a fund and living in New York for, for a while in between all there is that, you know, back home in Louisiana.
00:34:04.874 --> 00:34:06.013
We do a handshake deal.
00:34:06.013 --> 00:34:07.094
We trust everyone.
00:34:07.153 --> 00:34:07.423
Right?
00:34:07.423 --> 00:34:17.623
Because we're from a small town, you sort of know everyone, you know their history, you sort of know who to trust, familially, um, and the, there's a saying called trust but verify.
00:34:17.778 --> 00:34:18.199
Mm-hmm.
00:34:18.278 --> 00:34:29.443
And so leaving a lot into, uh, leaving a lot more into that verify, um, that that's a big lifetime shift coming from a small town and doing deals that.
00:34:29.929 --> 00:34:35.088
You know, managing millions of dollars and doing deals where you're transacting with hundreds of millions of dollars.
00:34:36.108 --> 00:34:44.148
The handshake deal you, you know, I trust because we're doing the deal, but I placed a lot of emphasis on verification.
00:34:44.148 --> 00:34:48.739
That was a big shift between New Iberia to New York in my life.
00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:50.688
Man, paper.
00:34:50.898 --> 00:34:54.108
You know, paper and signatures keep everybody's memory sharp.
00:34:54.108 --> 00:34:54.168
Yeah.
00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:56.119
And even that still goes wrong.
00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:56.599
Right.
00:34:57.108 --> 00:34:57.648
I love that.
00:34:57.889 --> 00:34:58.188
Yeah.
00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:08.309
Yeah, I love the idea of a, you know, a world that I could live in where a handshake, you know, works and there are some people out there that I trust with my life and my money.
00:35:08.969 --> 00:35:14.728
Um, but trust and verify because those people could still get hit by buses.
00:35:15.795 --> 00:35:15.974
Yes.
00:35:16.005 --> 00:35:16.335
Right.
00:35:16.514 --> 00:35:22.065
And their partners might not feel the same way, or their kids might not remember the deal that they had with dad or mom.
00:35:22.965 --> 00:35:30.764
Man, it's such good, and all it takes is you get burnt one time and then you're like, oh, I'm sorry we're buddies, but let's put this on paper so we can remember.
00:35:30.764 --> 00:35:31.155
Right.
00:35:32.534 --> 00:35:32.684
Oh man.
00:35:32.684 --> 00:35:35.715
It says the deal maker who's gotten burnt, you know, a few times.
00:35:37.125 --> 00:35:41.894
Hey, it's part of the, it, it's part of what it, what it takes to, to become a good one, right?
00:35:41.894 --> 00:35:42.255
Like,
00:35:42.255 --> 00:35:42.885
yeah.
00:35:43.534 --> 00:35:48.005
You, you got, you gotta take a few losses and a few hits, uh, to, to learn.
00:35:48.005 --> 00:35:48.905
To learn what to do.
00:35:49.445 --> 00:35:49.985
For sure.
00:35:50.014 --> 00:35:58.204
My, my mentor says, uh, experience or wisdom is, or wisdom in experience is for people who can't learn from other people, right?
00:35:58.565 --> 00:36:06.664
So if you, if you have to make, touch the stove to realize that it's hot, then you're not smarter than you, you know, than the guy who watches you do it and avoids the stove.
00:36:07.184 --> 00:36:08.414
Um, yeah, man.
00:36:08.414 --> 00:36:13.574
Let, let's get into, you know, the, a little bit of the business model and the deal of, you know, investing.
00:36:13.574 --> 00:36:21.074
So we raise some money, we deploy it across, you know, maybe 10 companies and, you know, one of those companies starts taking off.
00:36:22.094 --> 00:36:22.753
And we go, cool.
00:36:22.753 --> 00:36:24.164
Hey, this has an opportunity.
00:36:24.164 --> 00:36:27.554
So we start looking for strategic acquirers, right?
00:36:28.335 --> 00:36:31.815
So kind of walk us through for that one company, right?
00:36:31.815 --> 00:36:35.565
You start to see potential and you start to look for acquirers.
00:36:35.923 --> 00:36:36.909
Like talk to us through that.
00:36:37.755 --> 00:36:40.034
Process or what does that look like?
00:36:40.454 --> 00:36:48.644
You know, because that ultimately, that funds the, the mission and it funds the LPs pockets and, and ultimately they're on a skyrocket chase.
00:36:48.644 --> 00:36:51.884
So let, let's go for it, but walk us through what that looks like.
00:36:52.364 --> 00:36:52.844
Josh.
00:36:52.844 --> 00:36:58.844
I think that's, uh, a great question because most people assume that all that just happens, right?
00:36:58.844 --> 00:37:03.224
A company is, uh, doing well, you know their name and you just think.
00:37:03.673 --> 00:37:06.855
They exit and everyone gets paid and it's all good.
00:37:06.855 --> 00:37:07.213
Right?
00:37:07.304 --> 00:37:07.903
It's a lot of work.
00:37:07.934 --> 00:37:12.344
Um, but fundamentally, when we see businesses.
00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:18.929
I told you when we wrote an investment memo, we have a view on how much that company can be worth or valued at.
00:37:19.230 --> 00:37:19.500
Mm-hmm.
00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:29.369
Um, so one of the things that we do is as we see a company approaching that valuation, um, we start to have a conversation with them, right?
00:37:29.699 --> 00:37:31.440
Hey, what are your plans?
00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:32.010
Right?
00:37:32.130 --> 00:37:35.760
As the, as a vc, we're minority investors in these businesses.
00:37:36.059 --> 00:37:36.239
Mm-hmm.
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:41.099
But our, the founders and the CEOs of these businesses also rely on us.
00:37:41.759 --> 00:37:45.539
For certain types of perspective because we see so many of these businesses.
00:37:45.838 --> 00:37:51.989
So as the company is approaching that, we start to say, Hey, we kind of think this is what you may be worth.
00:37:52.108 --> 00:37:53.190
What do you think?
00:37:53.668 --> 00:37:56.338
And most of the time they say, no, we're gonna be a bill.
00:37:56.338 --> 00:37:58.108
We're gonna be a $5 billion business.
00:37:58.648 --> 00:38:06.239
And we, one of the things that we have a conversation with our founders are saying like, Hey, we actually think you're gonna be strategically acquired.
00:38:06.898 --> 00:38:08.398
We think this is the range.
00:38:09.179 --> 00:38:09.869
And.
00:38:10.634 --> 00:38:27.519
If we play out the scenario, this is how much money you're gonna make, if you hit that range, that generally changes the conversation, Josh, because until you understand how an exit might change your family's life and your kids' life mm-hmm.
00:38:27.795 --> 00:38:37.485
And allow you to make strides in your community and have the impact you wanna make over the long term, if you're a 40-year-old who still has a lot of life left to live.
00:38:38.295 --> 00:38:41.864
You just kind of think my company's gonna be worth is gonna be the biggest company in the world.
00:38:41.864 --> 00:38:43.094
It's gonna be worth as much Amazon.
00:38:43.364 --> 00:38:51.585
But if someone says, Hey, if you sell the company for $200 million, you know you're gonna see a hundred million of that flow to your pocket.
00:38:51.795 --> 00:38:53.324
That becomes a different conversation.
00:38:53.594 --> 00:39:01.304
So once we get the buy-in around what we think the company could be worth, that the founder may be interested in the exit around that.
00:39:01.905 --> 00:39:05.324
What we'll do is actually talk to investment banks.
00:39:05.655 --> 00:39:11.144
So we have, we have a few investment banking partners that we go to and we say, this is our read of the market.
00:39:11.144 --> 00:39:12.195
This is what we believe.
00:39:12.494 --> 00:39:14.445
This is this company's financial profile.
00:39:15.255 --> 00:39:16.215
What do you think?
00:39:16.635 --> 00:39:16.724
Mm-hmm.
00:39:17.144 --> 00:39:17.385
Right?
00:39:17.385 --> 00:39:21.405
Because eventually they, they have ties into all the capital markets.
00:39:21.434 --> 00:39:24.284
All the acquirers are, are their clients.
00:39:24.945 --> 00:39:26.565
They know what their clients are thinking.
00:39:26.925 --> 00:39:32.474
So we, we, we leverage our investment banking relationships at the big investment banks.
00:39:32.864 --> 00:39:43.994
Um, and then we also go to some other friends who we may know in the private, in the later stage private equity world, um, who may be looking to buy a company and tack it on to another company.
00:39:44.505 --> 00:39:44.894
And so.
00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:47.759
We, we sort of ask them the same questions.
00:39:48.269 --> 00:39:51.840
Um, so this is, you know, essentially what you might call a presale, right?00:39:51.840 --> 00:39:55.500
Or just like fishing for information and getting early buy-in.00:39:55.829 --> 00:40:02.590
And to the extent that we have that, then we can either engage with a bank or if we have, we engage directly with a buyer, we can say, Hey, I.00:40:03.150 --> 00:40:04.710
You're, you're, you're a potential buyer.00:40:04.769 --> 00:40:06.420
We'd love to introduce you to the company.00:40:06.719 --> 00:40:09.690
We love to, you know, potentially see if there's something there.00:40:09.869 --> 00:40:12.750
Maybe start a light quiet diligence process.00:40:13.110 --> 00:40:13.710
And we do that.00:40:13.710 --> 00:40:18.030
We don't blast it out to the market that we're looking to sell the business in venture capital.00:40:18.389 --> 00:40:20.760
Um, we, we try to have curated conversations.00:40:20.760 --> 00:40:22.230
This is also one of the benefits.00:40:22.653 --> 00:40:27.514
Of a VC who has been across different segments of the capital markets.00:40:27.514 --> 00:40:30.065
We know different people, we know different acquirers.00:40:30.364 --> 00:40:35.164
We know heads of corporate development at publicly traded businesses that would be interested.00:40:35.554 --> 00:40:43.235
We keep a tab on all those publicly traded companies that might be interested in enhancing their technology capabilities at any given time.00:40:44.525 --> 00:40:46.175
And then from there on.00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:48.778
Every process starts to look different.00:40:49.019 --> 00:40:54.000
It may be a six month process, it may be a 12 month, 18 month process.00:40:54.360 --> 00:41:01.860
And then at some point, if that happens, a deal can get announced and in the public and, but that doesn't mean the deal is done.00:41:02.429 --> 00:41:07.739
That doesn't mean the deal is done and the founder walks away with a hundred million and the employees walk away with 5 million a piece.00:41:08.009 --> 00:41:14.309
It means that there's a term sheet in place and the basic diligence has been done, but.00:41:15.179 --> 00:41:17.460
There's still approvals that this thing has to go through.00:41:17.460 --> 00:41:19.530
Maybe there's a financing contingency.00:41:19.530 --> 00:41:24.750
Maybe there's, you know, a a m and a committee contingency for a publicly traded business.00:41:25.110 --> 00:41:31.739
Um, and even if the deal does actually get done and signed and said, we're, we're acquiring you.00:41:32.219 --> 00:41:32.820
Um.00:41:33.150 --> 00:41:40.320
Now you have a transition period because no one says, Hey, I'm gonna buy this really interesting energy technology.00:41:41.070 --> 00:41:41.130
Yeah.00:41:41.130 --> 00:41:41.969
Here are the keys piece.00:41:41.969 --> 00:41:42.030
Yeah.00:41:42.329 --> 00:41:43.170
Here are the keys.00:41:43.469 --> 00:41:46.139
Like, no, there's a, there are people who manage that.00:41:46.139 --> 00:41:53.429
There are people who build it, the CEOs know the customers, and so there's a transition period that can take sometimes up to 36 months.00:41:53.670 --> 00:41:53.730
Yeah.00:41:53.730 --> 00:41:54.960
Just to transition that.00:41:55.380 --> 00:41:58.800
And maybe money is vested and paid out later.00:41:59.039 --> 00:41:59.760
All those things.00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:00.239
And so.00:42:01.034 --> 00:42:08.594
Those terms are also important because maybe a founder will get a hundred million, but they only get 20 or 30 or 40 million upfront.00:42:08.804 --> 00:42:10.784
Sounds like champagne problems, right?00:42:10.784 --> 00:42:10.875
Mm-hmm.00:42:11.173 --> 00:42:20.594
But like if you have six 60% of your, your net worth still outstanding that some people will say, I don't want to do this transaction.00:42:20.594 --> 00:42:21.884
I will wait for another.00:42:21.884 --> 00:42:22.784
Some people may say.00:42:23.340 --> 00:42:25.559
I'm fine with waiting just on a shorter timeline.00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:29.610
These are all variables that are very people centric and need centric.00:42:29.969 --> 00:42:33.929
Um, but it's, it's an entire, I mean, it's a such a fun process.00:42:33.960 --> 00:42:34.050
Mm-hmm.00:42:34.289 --> 00:42:43.320
Because you get to really show, you get to really like paint this picture of what the future is, what the future can be, how a capability will help an acquirer.00:42:44.278 --> 00:42:47.489
And then you have to thread the needle on the people in the transaction.00:42:47.489 --> 00:42:59.250
And so we, we, we enjoy that process and, and we enjoy creating those win-win win outcomes that allow the company to win the management team to personally win in that transaction.00:42:59.250 --> 00:43:03.119
'cause that's not always the case and, and our investors to win.00:43:03.958 --> 00:43:08.759
And if we get all those three threaded, we consider that a successful exit transit transaction.00:43:09.690 --> 00:43:11.519
Bro, you are so cool.00:43:11.664 --> 00:43:12.869
I, I want you that Oh,00:43:12.869 --> 00:43:13.829
stop, stop.00:43:15.090 --> 00:43:27.030
Uh, I don't have a man crush here, but I'm just saying like, it is so cool, like, hearing you break down the, the business model of venture capital and, and how the different processes and stages go and, and how you.00:43:27.454 --> 00:43:29.014
You know, how you evolved in your career.00:43:29.014 --> 00:43:31.445
We're so pumped to have you on this podcast show.00:43:31.864 --> 00:43:42.934
Um, you know, tell the people here, the listeners in what, what kind of, what kind of things are you interested in, you know, taking a look at from a VC perspective and maybe where could people go to find you?00:43:44.474 --> 00:43:48.255
Um, we, so we focus on what we call dual value space technology.00:43:48.255 --> 00:43:51.554
So it's space, but it's not necessarily rockets.00:43:51.554 --> 00:43:56.025
It's all the things that go into rockets and space and satellites.00:43:56.295 --> 00:43:57.704
So four categories.00:43:57.704 --> 00:44:02.385
It's data, um, data infrastructure around it.00:44:02.684 --> 00:44:04.905
It's energy technologies around it.00:44:04.905 --> 00:44:10.335
So advanced energy, re sometimes people call it renewable, but new types of energy technology.00:44:11.025 --> 00:44:13.755
Metals and manufacturing technology.00:44:13.934 --> 00:44:17.175
That could be a new material, a new way of manufacturing a product.00:44:17.625 --> 00:44:28.965
Um, and then defense, um, which is a very small segment for us, but a, a fairly important one because the space world, uh, was a, has initially or traditionally been.00:44:29.324 --> 00:44:31.635
Um, a very defense heavy industry.00:44:32.085 --> 00:44:39.554
Um, and so we're, we're looking, we're always looking for companies in that we look across the United States, Israel and the uk.00:44:39.974 --> 00:44:50.594
Um, and we have companies all over and, and partners, um, across all those geos, uh, you can find me on LinkedIn, uh, Theo Williams ii.00:44:51.568 --> 00:44:59.938
I also have a blog Substack called The Frontier is here where I break down certain technologies and break down their day-to-day use cases.00:45:00.298 --> 00:45:10.634
Um, also talking some market views, some very tangible market views for those who are in space tech or industrial tech to understand customer implications, uh, of their products.00:45:12.179 --> 00:45:22.349
And you can look us up on our website, www dot creations vc, uh, www uh, w.creations.vc.00:45:22.469 --> 00:45:22.800
Sorry.00:45:22.889 --> 00:45:26.969
Um, and, um, you can always reach out, reach out to me.00:45:26.969 --> 00:45:29.190
I'm always happy to talk about these topics.00:45:29.489 --> 00:45:35.579
Um, and I always love talking about Louisiana people, so if you're one of my Bayou people and you want to talk about industrial tech, let me know.00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:36.719
Yeah, man.00:45:36.929 --> 00:45:38.460
What food do you miss the most?00:45:41.025 --> 00:45:43.635
Oh, what food do I miss the most?00:45:43.724 --> 00:45:43.875
Um, I00:45:43.875 --> 00:45:45.045
just had a king cake.00:45:45.105 --> 00:45:46.664
That was my first time having a king cake.00:45:47.804 --> 00:45:48.074
Proud00:45:48.074 --> 00:45:48.945
love king cake.00:45:49.275 --> 00:45:50.954
Just had a MeSHs king cake.00:45:51.255 --> 00:45:51.585
Ooh,00:45:52.034 --> 00:45:54.105
um, uh, love it.00:45:54.344 --> 00:45:58.065
Uh, it's a, I know sometimes the New Orleans folks say it's not real king cake.00:45:58.364 --> 00:46:04.664
We love it in the 3, 3, 7, um, and the food that I miss most.00:46:04.755 --> 00:46:07.514
You know what I miss most fried catfish.00:46:08.010 --> 00:46:08.340
Ooh.00:46:08.880 --> 00:46:18.659
Because in back down in south Louisiana in the Bayou, you get wild caught, fresh catfish that just got brought in on the boat.00:46:18.690 --> 00:46:30.449
Um, and maybe this is a new Iberia thing, but they bring it in on the boat in the morning and grandma goes to the fish market and buys it, uh, in the, uh, uh, uh, in the, in the morning after the boat comes and we fry that thing up.00:46:30.809 --> 00:46:34.445
I miss that so much because it's so hard to get good quality catfish anywhere.00:46:35.144 --> 00:46:36.463
There you have it guys.00:46:36.463 --> 00:46:41.199
If you have any fresh fried catfish, send it over to Theo right now.00:46:42.960 --> 00:46:43.289
I love00:46:43.289 --> 00:46:44.278
it everyone.00:46:44.278 --> 00:46:46.559
Thanks for listening into The Deal podcast.00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:50.699
Today we talked about investing in space and space technologies.00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:53.548
As always, reach out to our guests and say, thanks for being on the show.00:46:53.548 --> 00:46:57.750
Find a way to connect with them and talk deals and and talk about what they're they're working on.00:46:58.019 --> 00:47:04.528
Now, if you have a specific deal or deal type and you'd like to talk about it here on the show, head over to the deal podcast.com.00:47:04.590 --> 00:47:07.440
Fill out a quick form at the top and maybe get you on the show next.00:47:07.650 --> 00:47:09.630
So then we'll talk to you all on the next episode.00:47:09.809 --> 00:47:10.409
Love you guys.00:47:10.409 --> 00:47:10.829
Cheers.
