One of the best pieces of investment advice I’ve ever received is simple: learn to withstand short-term pain for long-term gain. Some of the best investments I’ve made required patience, conviction, and the ability to stay with a thesis when it wasn’t popular. You have to manage your own emotions, trust your process, and give great ideas enough time to compound. That long-term mindset has shaped the way I invest more than anything else.

There’s really nothing like watching a company you believed in go public. I still remember what it felt like to see one of our IA Ventures investments return roughly 5–6x net. Moments like that stay with you, not just because of the numbers, but because of all the people, decisions, and hard work that went into getting there. That’s what makes investing so rewarding for me: finding something special early, believing in it, and getting to watch it grow.

The best founders I’ve backed usually have one thing in common: they’re frustrated enough to want to change something. Maybe they had a terrible experience with a product, or they watched their first venture underperform and became determined to do it better the next time. That kind of conviction can be incredibly powerful when it’s paired with the ability to execute.

This is going to be 🔥. Great topics with great panelists getting real. If you're around #AnnArbor or the #Detroit area and are interested in venture capital, entrepreneurship and and latest changes in sports business, you should stop on by. @latifperacha @MichiganRoss @UMengineering @UMich @fredwilson @dickc @mckenneytrey1 @SylaSwords @thacoachmike @KBA_GoBlue #GoBlue

The Constructive Cap Table: Founder Dynamics I’ve been writing about the venture capital business for a long time, but I’ve never delved deeply into perhaps one of its most important - and most interesting - dimensions: the relationship between founders. In more than two decades of investing, I feel like I’ve seen it all. I’ve had two founders at each other’s throats shortly after the wire cleared for their seed round. I’ve seen Series A founders fall out of love with each other, with one or both threatening to take down the company. And I’ve watched the founders of a very large and rapidly growing business put the Board in the middle of a high-stakes disagreement over strategy, one whose seeds had been sown years earlier. As an investor with tens of millions of dollars at stake, not to mention the jobs of the tens, hundreds or thousands of people committed to the company and its mission, the stress of managing these conflicts is hard to convey. But if you're doing it right it’s all part of the job. As a partner to founders, especially at the earliest stages, there are steps you can take and discussions you can initiate to identify potential problems and establish structures that support a healthy founder dynamic, regardless of whether the relationship ultimately works out. But make no mistake: these conversations are hard and often uncomfortable. That’s precisely why they matter. The best time to discuss how a founder relationship might end is when everyone is still excited about how it is beginning. Before the money arrives. Before the titles harden. Before the company becomes valuable. Before disagreements about strategy become referendums on loyalty, competence or control. Think of it as a founder prenup. Nobody gets married expecting to get divorced. But clarity created during periods of trust can prevent confusion - and destruction - during periods of stress. Several questions are especially important: Who is actually in charge? Two founders can be equal partners economically without having equal authority over every decision. Someone ultimately needs to be accountable. Ambiguity may feel collegial at inception, but it becomes dangerous when the company faces a financing, a pivot, an acquisition offer or a genuine crisis. Are roles based on today’s needs or tomorrow’s aspirations? Founders frequently divide responsibilities based on convenience, personality or who originated the idea. But the responsibilities required to build the company may change radically as the organization grows. Founders need to discuss whether they are committed to particular titles or committed to placing the right people in the right seats. Those are not the same thing. What happens if one founder stops performing or simply stops wanting it as badly? Startups are brutally demanding. Life circumstances change. Energy changes. Ambition changes. One founder may continue operating at maximum intensity while another pulls back. If equity, authority and expectations remain fixed while contributions diverge, resentment is almost inevitable. Vesting helps, but vesting alone is not enough. The founders should understand what happens if someone leaves, is removed from an operating role, or wants to remain involved on substantially different terms. How will disagreements be resolved? “Working it out” is not a governance system. Founders should determine which decisions require consensus, which belong to the CEO, which should involve the Board and what happens when the founders reach an impasse. The objective isn’t to eliminate disagreement. Healthy disagreement is essential. The objective is to keep disagreement from becoming organizational paralysis. Can the founders talk honestly about power, money and recognition? Many founder disputes appear to be about product, hiring or strategy. Underneath, they are often about something more personal: Who receives credit? Who has the stronger relationship with investors? Who is becoming the public face of the company? Whose judgment carries more weight? These questions may sound petty when the company consists of two people and a pitch deck. They feel considerably less petty when billions of dollars and thousands of careers are involved. This is where investors can help, but only if we earn the right. The constructive investor doesn’t manufacture conflict or play founders against one another. Nor do we paper over visible tensions because addressing them might jeopardize the financing. Our job is to ask the uncomfortable questions early, help translate assumptions into explicit agreements and create a governance structure capable of absorbing stress. That may include thoughtful vesting arrangements, clearly defined roles, explicit decision rights, regular founder check-ins and a process for addressing conflict before it reaches the Board. In some cases, bringing in a coach while the relationship is healthy can be far more valuable than hiring one after it has begun to fracture. None of these mechanisms can guarantee harmony. Founders are human. Companies evolve. Success changes people, and pressure reveals things that optimism can temporarily conceal. But the goal isn’t to guarantee that founders remain together forever. The goal is to give the company the best chance of surviving if they don’t. This is what I mean by a constructive cap table. A cap table is not merely a spreadsheet showing who owns what. It is a map of incentives, relationships, expectations and power. If those elements are aligned, the cap table can become an important source of resilience. If they are not, it can embed conflicts that may remain dormant for years before exploding at precisely the wrong moment. The uncomfortable conversation you have before investing may be the conversation that saves the company five years later. And if founders, or investors, are unwilling to have it, that itself is important information. #vc #founders #governance @gamechangersvc

If you happen to be in Ann Arbor this Friday, my panel at our 5th Annual Venture Summit is going to be 🔥. The topic couldn't be more timely, the panelists are the best and the venue is A+. Oh, and @umichbball's own Trey McKenny is joining as well! RSVP here: luma.com/7wbk5o9d?tk=GKATOu&… @KBA_GoBlue @thacoachmike @SylaSwords @mckenneytrey1 @KyleChurchUMich @MichiganRoss @UMengineering #GoBlue

Sports brands are losing athletes. Stars like Mbappé, Federer, and Curry build their own brands directly with fans. It's time for sponsorship to shift to partnership & equity. #gcv #gamechangers #gamechangersventures #AthleteBranding #SportsMarketing #FutureOfSports

Is there a bigger privilege in life than waking up to this? @UMich @UMichFootball #GoBlue #motherland #annarbor

The sports world is shifting from renting to owning its most valuable asset: fans. Athletes, leagues, and teams are now building their own brands and products, moving from endorsements to equity. #gcv #gamechangers #gamechangersventures #SportsBusiness #Ownership #AthleteBrands

College football teams are spending over $50 million, yet 94% of athletic departments lose money. The arms race is accelerating, blurring the lines with pro leagues, but without the controls. #gcv #gamechangers #gamechangersventures #CollegeFootball #NIL #SportsBiz

NVIDIA's data is the real moat, creators own the audience, and Telefónica is re-aggregating distribution. Big shifts in sports tech and media! #gcv #gamechangers #gamechangersventures #SportsTech #Media #Data #Creators #Distribution

It has been a fun, exciting and productive time building together this past year, Simon. The best is yet to come! 🚀 @gamechangersvc

The economics of sports are rapidly shifting. Florida State faces massive debt, demanding a CEO-like AD, while Tottenham Hotspur creates enterprise value by internalizing fan engagement. #gcv #gamechangers #gamechangersventures #SportsBiz #NIL #AD

Cosm offers a unique way to experience NFL games, but is it the future? Explore advanced 3D visualization that could redefine live event viewing. Plus, Apollo's move into NFL team investments signals growing institutional interest. #NFL #SportsTech #Investment #FutureOfSports

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we look back at the powerful sports moments that united a nation. From Mike Piazza's game-winning homer to President Bush's first pitch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. #gcv #gamechangers #gamechangersventures #neverforget #SportsMoments #PatTillman #MikePiazza

Today's topics: 1. Financial Times sat down with Ian Charles and Doc O'Connor of Arctos (25 big-five US teams plus NASCAR, Formula One, and European soccer) on sports teams becoming platforms. 2. Franchises aren't just teams anymore. Full-stack control and the entertainment district around the club are how you lift core franchise value and capture the ecosystem. 3. Arctos professionalizes franchise development by transferring learnings across the portfolio, institutional asset management plus data science. 4. Why these assets are valuable: a fixed share of league/central revenues as the platform, and a local live entertainment business as the upside. 5. The last three major sports transactions were powered by AI-created wealth. Scarcity plus that wall of liquidity can keep valuations seemingly decoupled from fundamentals. 6. Exporting pro commercialization into college is dangerous if done wrong. Football and basketball soak the revenue while Olympic and women's sports get cut, and any antitrust/media-rights riches need to spread across the whole D1 ecosystem. Hope you have a great day. Talk soon. #gcv #gamechangersventures #arctos #sportsbiz #privateequity #collegesports #entertainmentdistricts #ai

Today's topics: 1. Underdog is suing eight states over CFTC regulation versus state gaming laws, same fight as Kalshi but with DFS licenses, because they see prediction markets (not daily fantasy) as the future revenue engine. 2. IG acquisition docs: 14% of Underdog's handle from sports prediction markets in 2025, climbing to 54% by mid-2026, and IG modeled prediction markets at 99% of revenue. If CFTC rules win over state OSB, massive changing of the guard. 3. LIV filed Chapter 11. The Scott O'Neil / BC Partners kick save wasn't in the cards. Upside-down unit economics and an inverted LTV to CAC, because the product wasn't good enough to stick. 4. Hyrox acquired by L Catterton and management for $700M. Started in Germany, exploded globally. Connected communities that believe in the format can be monetized in myriad ways. Hope we see some great tennis later. See you tomorrow. #gcv #gamechangersventures #underdog #predictionmarkets #kalshi #livgolf #hyrox #usopen