I didn't get selected for the Yale Prospect Fellowship, what's next?

It's not often you come across a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We hear the stories of people who've worked hard their entire lives and never had their big break or, inversely, people who have reached the mountaintops of success and attribute their ascension to luck. My estimation is that both things can be true, and for the most successful of all of us, these are two key ingredients. Hard work and consistent preparation create opportunities for one to be luckier when the timing allows. How often do we hear of the moments in between those peaks of greatness? And how does one maintain resilience in waiting for those moments to arise? I'm not sure if I have all of the answers, but I will share my personal testimony of one such moment. I believe it is important for people to see the winning highlights but also understand the difficult nuances in between those moments as one climbs the ranks in life. This is a first for me. I prefer to share the tidbits of achievements, shying away from speaking publicly about the frequent challenges and lessons. Wins sell; losses are rather hard for one to come to terms with. And most people, including myself, don't particularly enjoy losing. But it takes 1,000 losses to produce a win, and I've never been one to stop because of a loss. If anything, experiencing an outcome that is not favorable has always increased my tenacity and inspired me to find new ways of reaching the same goal. This is important in anyone's personal journey, but especially those of an entrepreneur.

A few months ago, Yale's Investment Office announced a first-of-its-kind program to find the next generation's best emerging fund managers. With a storied historical record of investing in some of the modern financial titans we all know and aspire to be like, this was yet another example of Yale continuing to display their forward thinking and leadership. Unlike most programs that exist to support new fund managers, this one was particularly special. Yale's requirements for applying were simple: backing people, not track records; partnering with the most promising individuals to hone their investment approaches and be given access to the office's vast resources and network; no progress yet needed on the fund. Highly competitive, the program only accepts 5 people for their inaugural cohort. The best part — not only does Yale agree to teach you, help you build a world-class network, open doors that only Yale can — they also back you financially. The 5 Fellows will receive up to $2M in working capital upon completion of the 8-week intensive programming, and up to a $25M initial anchor investment, with potential for another $25M in follow-on funding. That's a $52M opportunity to start your fund. For anyone who has been working diligently on a thesis, this would be an immediate signal to the market and surely result in the successful closing of other Limited Partners as well. This is certainly one of the best opportunities anyone interested in raising and deploying funds could receive. The application process was straightforward: a few short answer questions, followed by a resume submission, and a video on why you are the right person to lead this fund and be a part of this program. No other details were provided on what Yale would be searching for.

It's unclear at this time why Yale would launch a program like this. But there are a few reasons that come to mind: 1. Competitive advantage on investing in the best opportunities being built by the next generation. By partnering with and backing potentially younger, more innovative, and broad-thinking managers, Yale is almost guaranteeing that they will uncover niche opportunities with outsized return potential. There is a mass consolidation going on in the asset management industry, particularly in Venture, as large firms become larger, and LPs continue to shore up their commitments in them. With the lack of diversification from funds, inevitably there will be opportunities missed from new and exciting technologies being built by founders that aren't able to access such networks. 2. In recent years, other endowments that have capital allocation mandates have demonstrated more competitive return profiles from their investments. Besides Harvard, Yale boasts one of the largest AUMs for an endowment in the U.S., which may make it harder to perform, but nonetheless, still a leader. A program like the Prospect Fellowship gives Yale yet another edge to win valuable talent and firms that may be interested in raising capital from another endowment or institution. 3. Branding — a move like this makes Yale stand out from the crowd. Something of this magnitude, regardless of performance of the managers, marks Yale as a true global leader for innovation. This is the Investment Office putting their money where their mouths are and supporting the change they might want to see. These are just speculations, but it'll be interesting to see what Yale announces once they've chosen their top 5.

As for the reason I was not selected to move forward in the process, that has not been disclosed. As anyone can imagine, the influx of applications and outreach that Yale received during this time was in the thousands, from people all over the world. After waiting for a few weeks to hear back, it was clear the team had received much more interest than they could've imagined. Prior to receiving my rejection email, I traveled to New Haven on my own accord. I managed to set up a meeting with someone from their Venture team, courtesy of a great friend in my network. I was even able to get a message in front of the CIO. The communication was world-class. Every step of the way, I felt appreciated and seen. I even received individual follow-up messages from the team on their appreciation and belief in my thesis and was invited to apply next year. I didn't feel like these messages were for pageantry; the intent seemed authentic. It felt like showing up and showing face in tandem with sending off my application was the least I could do to position myself for acceptance. As great as I believe my thesis and strategy are, I understand that they may not be a fit for everyone. The best thing I can do is articulate them clearly so that those who want in can be a definitive yes, and those that are not interested can be a swift no. It will be interesting to see who makes up the cohort for this Prospect Fellowship. What their investment theses are, what work experience they have, what parts of the world they live in, what their background and demographics are, who make up their networks, where they went to school, how much progress they've made on their ideas... In any case, these would just be observations, but general assumptions and deductions might be made from these observations — that's the crux of pattern recognition, no?

The thesis I'm working on is one I've been researching for several years now but namely focuses on sourcing and investing in technologies solving for inefficiency gaps across the U.S. and emerging regions. I will share more later in another post, but timely for several reasons. Deal consolidation in the U.S. is becoming cannibalistic. The best firms are continuing to invest in the same founders, coming from the same places, all in the same networks. Their performance is down year over year, and the data is all public. VC as an asset class is not performing well. This is due to not finding as many great companies that are solving big enough problems and being adopted fast enough by customers in the market. From a geopolitical lens, as U.S. immigration policies begin to tighten, it will be harder for international citizens to reach the U.S., regardless of where they come from or what they bring. Oddly enough, when analyzing the data on the last decade's unicorn founders, I uncovered that a little over 50% of them were first/second generation Americans or immigrants. Seems counterintuitive for us to not source the best talent from around the world, right? So it's clear the deals we're seeing in the U.S. are becoming less valuable, which is negatively affecting firms' performances, and we may have a talent crisis beginning to arise. As the U.S. looks to stay ahead and competitive in the global innovation economy, it's important that we reach people in their home regions. Understanding the cultural nuances and implications of their everyday lives, supporting them by helping to formalize companies being built that are ultimately solving the most critical problems around the globe. There are organizations in these regions already doing incredibly valuable work; the obstacle is capital injection. The vision of the firm is to increase economic development in emerging regions by investing in the best entrepreneurs that will then redistribute opportunities locally, reap the benefits of competitive global financial returns at exit or acquisition events, spread American interests and recruitment efforts with strategic intention, and be a true global partner for the next generation's best founders and talent creating more frictionless pathways to the U.S. and other global markets. As I said before, I'll share more in detail about how this works, but this is to give you a quick snippet of what I'm working on.

I spoke with a friend the other day, and she asked me why does this matter so much to you? And I told her my life story. About growing up and being a first-generation college student, maturing and adapting through ongoing socio-economic and racial challenges, having to code-switch and adjust everything about who I am and what I aspire to do in order to receive crumbs of opportunities that I've had to make the most of. I must admit though, even I have experienced certain privileges that many others may not have. I am grateful for everything I've been able to accomplish, all the mentors, friends, teammates, colleagues, and associates. Everyone and anyone who I've had the chance to interact with that has taught me so much and helped me become a better version of myself. But it's always been more than an uphill battle, and I've never complained about the journey; I simply understand what it's taken and what it will take to truly succeed. She paused for a moment, and then said to me... "So you're uniquely qualified to take on this opportunity because you know what it's like to be disadvantaged. Most people in the industry you work in, while navigating challenges, don't necessarily have the added disadvantages you've had, and that is why you connect so easily with founders in emerging regions. It's also clear why you see the opportunity to build new pathways for outsized outcomes; you're noticing a gap in the market, and you have the personal drive to solve for it." I had to thank her because I think she gave me the personal pitch I've been working on for some time now. But she was right. I've spent the better part of the last decade building companies, investing in people and businesses, creating new pathways and opportunities, and helping others succeed — all people, but especially those from underprivileged backgrounds. Emerging founders. It's only right I build on the evolution of that work and look to partner with and support the best emerging technology regions around the globe.

So what's next? The work continues. There have been a few quiet wins we’ve already earned. There will be a myriad of no's. But there will also be many that say yes. The people who continue to say yes will accelerate this process and in so doing, support the beginning of a new era in asset management and capital allocation. This, I'm very excited about, and I cannot wait to share more when the time arrives.