Alex Harstrick and Jonathan Bronson are the co-founders of J2 Ventures.  J2 is an early-stage venture capital firm built at the intersection of the private sector and defense tech.

A common question we often get is “how do you get out of the gate, raise money, and launch”.  Every firm is different but there are common ingredients, so I turned to Alex and Jon to learn how it all came together for them.

We discuss raising capital which began with what they call “tin cup” fundraising, finding first institutional checks and when to cut off low-signal LP meetings before they drain time and opportunity. 

From there we cover selection of service providers, team hiring, retention, and why they treat every ODD process as a form of free consulting. 

Whether you’re contemplating your first fund or trying to sharpen a differentiated thesis in a noisy market, this conversation offers a candid look at what it really takes to launch a firm from zero. 

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David Li is the CTO at Washington University Investment Management Company, where he’s led a lean, data‑driven build of the endowment’s tech stack. David’s path runs from Harvard Management Company to independent consulting to WashU, bringing a builder’s mindset to the role.
For those not familiar with WashU’s concentrated, co-invest heavy approach, Ted sat down with CIO Scott Wilson a while back, and that conversation is replayed in the feed.
David shares how a modular architecture with Snowflake at the center gives his team cleaner data, faster changes, and less technical debt; and how clear governance and practical security can make for efficient workflows.
We also get into AI adoption in the endowment world - where to use “walled gardens,” and how to spot tools that look great in demos but fall down on data quality.

For emerging and seasoned institutions, David shares concrete advice on buy‑versus‑build, vendor selection, and running pilots that surface issues early, plus how to set expectations and give business owners real responsibility so technology actually matches how investors see their portfolios.
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Scott Wilson is the CIO at Washington University of St. Louis, where he oversees a $10 billion endowment. Scott joined Wash U three years ago from Grinnell College, where he learned a completely different style of endowment investing than is practiced by others.
Our conversation covers Scott’s upbringing, early Wall Street career in equity research and derivatives across New York, London and Tokyo, and his leap to Grinnell. We then turn to his applying the Grinnell model at Wash U, transitioning an endowment model portfolio to a concentrated book. We touch on hedge funds and frontier markets and turn to the process of underwriting individual ideas and managers in the context of a concentrated endowment portfolio.
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Bill Krueger is the CTO at Yale’s Investment Office.  Bill’s unconventional path spans defense contracting, tech consulting, and a 13-year run at Bridgewater Associates before landing at Yale.
Bill shares how to operate in a radically transparent culture, tighten feedback loops between decisions and outcomes, and managing the messy realities of growth, bureaucracy, and leadership.  Those experiences shaped Bill’s views on trust, talent, and where technology truly differentiates.
We turn to Bill’s move to the LP side at Yale where his mandate is to modernize and innovate.  He explains his approach to enhancing infrastructure while partnering with key stakeholders; why he favors deep vendor partnerships over a large in-house tech team, and his views on taking a pragmatic approach to AI and the limits of traditional data lake thinking in an allocator context.
For GPs and LPs, Bill offers actionable advice on avoiding the speed-versus-quality trap, staying close to the work as a practitioner, and designing tech and data foundations that can scale over time.
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Graeme Faulds is the CEO of Bipsync, a leading provider of modern research management software.

Graeme spent 15 years as a private markets investor before building and selling his first fintech company, then ultimately stepping into the CEO role at Bipsync in 2023.

Bipsync works with clients across the investment management industry, from allocators like endowments, foundations, pension funds, and family offices to GPs including hedge funds and private equity managers, helping investors capture, structure, and leverage collective intelligence at scale.

For those familiar, we had Annie Kerns and Blake Fischer from UVA’s endowment on a previous episode to discuss how and why they selected Bipsync and that replay is in the feed.

In our conversation, Graeme explains why organizing unstructured research has been Bipsync’s focus for more than a decade and how that foundation underpins everything they’re doing with AI. We talk about what’s real versus hype in AI, what a “good” data strategy and governance model actually looks like, and how roles are shifting as allocators hire more technical talent to design schemas, own data quality, and use tools like Bipsync’s Toro directly into research workflows.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Today’s Sponsored Insight highlights ⁠Bipsync⁠, the research management software that helps asset owners and managers optimize pre- and post-investment decision making.

We spoke with Annie Kerns and Blake Fischer from the University of Virginia Investment Management Company, known as UVIMCO. Annie leads investment operations and Blake oversees technology at the $14 billion endowment.

Annie and Blake offer a detailed case study on how investment technology decisions are made, the importance of sound research processes across the organization, and how Bipsync has fueled efficiency and collaboration at UVIMCO.

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Eric is the Chief Technology Officer at GCM Grosvenor, a global leader in alternative investments. Eric’s career path has taken him from starting as an ethical hacker at Deloitte, to leading technology and product innovation in fintech before playing a transformative role at GCM Grosvenor.
I spent time with Eric unpacking how product management and automation are redefining technology’s impact on private markets. We discuss his CTO role, the shift to a product-driven strategy at Grosvenor, and how generative AI and data platforms are reshaping everything from client reporting to investment operations. Eric shares practical lessons on business alignment, trust building, and accelerating change in our industry.
We also talk about Grosvenor’s approach to team enablement, talent development, and creating an innovative culture, including their firm-wide hackathon. For emerging managers and seasoned professionals alike, Eric offers actionable advice on technical strategy, partner selection, and what it takes to deliver differentiated technology today.
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Ryan Eisenman is the CEO and co-founder of Arch, a tech platform redefining how allocators manage their private investments through what he calls the “Schwab for private markets”.

Ryan shares his journey on how he met his co-founders, early challenges in selling to family offices, and the product’s evolution from automating K-1s to serving as a seamless digital hub for every private investment an LP holds.

We explore Arch’s rapid growth to over 500 clients, their client-obsessed culture, why he sees being in-office is a competitive advantage and how they have expanded into capital call fraud detection and enhanced workflows.

We wrap by discussing trends in private markets, their approach to organic versus inorganic growth and why he believes the future of private markets will look more like public market platforms - with integrated, user-friendly digital solutions.

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John Polis is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Star Mountain Capital.  John’s career path has led him to play a pivotal role in transforming Star Mountain in private credit in the lower middle market.

I spent time with John unpacking how data and technology can meaningfully shape investment management operations. We discuss his dual role, the build over buy approach of Star Mountain’s tech stack, and how AI is transforming their investment and portfolio management processes. John shares lessons learned on team enablement, upskilling with AI, and designing platforms to scale.

We also talk about Star Mountain’s approach to training, talent development, and maintaining that edge. For emerging managers and seasoned professionals alike, John offers practical advice on technical strategy, data readiness, and staying true to your business plan in a competitive landscape.

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Chester Dawes is the COO and CFO at Palistar Capital, an alternative asset manager focused on investing in the future of mission critical digital infrastructure.

Launching and growing a private equity firm is not easy. I enjoyed sitting down with Chester to discuss how his experience going from ‘big four’ accounting to industrial to private equity gave him a sense on how to navigate large and small firms from an operational perspective.  

We discuss a wide range of topics from using Six Sigma for operational improvement, when to bring in the HR function, standing up affiliates to provide operational leverage, and how the cadence and requirements of portfolio company data has changed over time.

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