Private company deals

Yesterday, I wrote about how I’m accumulating a larger cash position in the next few months in order to prepare for a a worsening economic situation. One exception to that strategy was an investment in a private company that I had been eyeing for a few years.

This was the first new investment I had done all year long as the markets have been slowly on a downturn. I have largely been sitting idle on the public markets. My overall position the last 6 months have been defensive. But on the private market side, I saw these investments as longer time horizons so I was okay with the pricing uncertainty due to the markets.

With this investment, I have now put a good amount of money to work in 3 different startups ranging from Series B to F. Each of these investments come with widely different theses.

The first company was a Series B that I invested in last year had the potential to be a game changer in a growing industry. It was a rich valuation which I acknowledged, but I saw it was an opportunity to potentially 10x in the next 5-10 years.

The second company was a Series B that I invested in earlier this year. It was an amazing opportunity to gain exposure to an earlier stage company in the space industry. Furthermore, the Founders and backers were hard to bet against in this industry.

This latest investment is the latest stage company that I have invested in at the Series F. It was just too good of an opportunity in an industry that my current portfolio had no exposure in (purposely not discussing the industry due to confidentiality reasons). The company is led by a repeat founder that has sold a company for over a billion dollars in an adjacent industry.

I’m excited about these initial investments as I continue to build out my personal private company portfolio. Given the uncertain times, I feel a lot better putting my money to work in companies that are expected to exit in 3+ years and are well capitalized.