87 Capital is a technology investor that backs smart people building wonderful internet businesses.
Even more, 87 Capital is a den for data-driven dreamers. For founders that recruit like their hair is on fire. And for learning machines.
If that's you, let's talk.
87 Capital is designed so we can spend time together—if you want to. Not you with the firm. Not you with the partnership. You and me.
Text. DM. WhatsApp. Telegram. Whatever. Let's communicate in the way you prefer. What do I prefer? Not once every 90 days in a stale board meeting.
We'll get plenty done asynchronously. When we get off the phone I hope you'll think "I'm glad I called Sam." Let's aim for something deeper keeled, though.
I'll count laughs. And meals—with our backyard as a favorite kitchen. There's room for you (and yours) at our family table. Come on over.
I'm trying to compound capital and wisdom and trust. I can only help you with your life's unwritten chapters if I know where you want the story to go. What are we really after here? What would success look like?
Of course then I'll be curious to imagine your big dreams, to think hard on what's likely to make them come to life, to find incredible people to help you, and to learn as we go.
Just 87 votes separated the election winner & loser in one of my favorite books.* But deciding who won depends on what counts.
One candidate won the election and (later) even the Presidency. The other won back his life's work and (later) a family.
We're looking for Winners.
That's not just who won.
*Means of Ascent by Robert Caro
What's the inside view? What works? Be realistic. Evidence based. Bayesian. Know the odds and know what drives them.
Life's hard when you can't count—it's only a little easier when you don't. So create a culture where everyone's encouraged in the search for truth.
Then change the odds. Color outside the lines. Build something new. Reason up from first principles, not just down from what other schleps did.
Ask what changes at a couple more orders of magnitude. Or just what if? What if you put all your wood behind just one arrow?
I love dreamers.* I am one.
* like 5 books in 50 years kind of dreamers
It does. It depends on it. Everything.
Your first few employees compound. So do the ones you've yet to hire. Scout them. Evaluate them. Listen to them. Serve them. If you're lucky, they'll lead you to more.
Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. — Rumi
Try stuff, then iterate. Ask dumb questions and listen to the answers. Tack.
Befriend some people you'll never meet—even the eminent dead are buried just barely in books. Plug into networks where your ideas can bump into someone else's.
These aren't some trite playbook for how to make your startup a success. Building an enduring company is hard. Instead, these are markers for people I want to spend time with.
These relentlessly resourceful types succeed—the evidence is everywhere. The companies they conjure up are memory machines for those that join in. They make for stunning colleagues that I'd love to partner with. To serve. To befriend. And I learn a ton from them.
I'm Sam Hinkie, 87 Capital's founder. I spent a decade+ chasing a dream only I could see. That's been documented plenty.
But I've spent decades earning trust with my tribe. Plus a lifetime of non-consensus investments. In focus. In strategy. In technology. In people. Chasing folks that I pinch myself to get to work with. And trying everyday to be clear thinking enough so that when they asked, I could deliver for them.
87 Capital continues that tradition.
