Paula Volent is the recently named Chief Investment Officer for Rockefeller University’s $2.5 billion endowment. Paula previously oversaw Bowdoin College’s endowment for twenty years as it grew from $450 million to $2 billion during her tenure and generated returns at the very top of the industry. Bowdoin’s Investment Committee Chair, Stan Druckenmiller, describes Paula as an innovative, outside-of-the-box thinker, an aggressive risk taker, and a workaholic whose passion is unlike anyone he has ever seen. Paula is also one of my oldest friends in the business from our time crossing paths at Yale in the mid ‘90s. Our conversation covers Paula’s unique career path from art conservation to endowment management and the transferable lessons she learned along the way. In the process, we discuss her approach at Bowdoin and plans for Rockefeller University.  Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

Paula Volent – Star Endowment Manager’s Next Act at Rockefeller University (Capital Allocators, EP.219)

Allocator and asset management expert, Ted Seides, conducts in-depth interviews with leaders in the institutional investing industry. Guests include Chief Investment Officers from leading allocators, asset managers, strategists, thought leaders, and many more. Our mission is to learn, share, and help implement the process of premier investors. Learn more and join our community at capitalallocators.com.

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On today’s show, we’ll discuss another empty room – an opportunity ignored by most investors because they either don’t want to or can’t participate. We’ve shared conversations under this theme about a range of forgotten opportunities from specific emerging markets to biotech. Previous episodes are available under the mini-series or topic search at capitalallocators.com. This time around, we discuss a room that was overflowing two years ago, has been abandoned since, and might be coming back once again - crypto and blockchain technologies.   My guest is Chris Dixon, a general partner at a16z and one of the leading voices and investors in the space. Chris recently published a book entitled Read Write Own, which explains the history, thesis, features, and importance of blockchain technology in his classic framework-driven, non-technical style.   Our conversation covers aspects of the book, including the history of the internet, rationale for blockchains, and tokenomics. We then turn to what’s happened in the ignored space since the fall of FTX across stablecoins, NFTs, DeFi, Bitcoin ETFs, regulation, and the devotees still involved in the space. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Chris Dixon - Empty Rooms: Web3 After the Fall (EP.380)

Chris Dixon is a General Partner at a16z where he leads Crypto investing, overseeing the largest pool in the space at $7 billion across four dedicated venture funds and a team of eighty professionals. Chris is one of the leading voices in the crypto ecosystem and topped the Forbes ‘Midas List’ as the most successful venture capitalist in the world in 2021. He was a guest on the show last year, and that replay is available in the feed.    Our conversation covers Chris’ framework for web3, network effects, venture economics, and institutional adoption. We turn to some of the areas he is most excited about deploying capital, including the creator economy, infrastructure, DeFi, gaming, and decentralized content creation. We close with how a16z supports portfolio companies in crypto, and Chris’ thoughts on the current market downturn.    A full list of a16z investments can be found here - https://a16z.com/investments/.    Learn More  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list  Access Transcript with Premium Membership 

[REPLAY] Chris Dixon – Frameworks and Investing at Scale (EP.258, Crypto for Institutions 2, EP.05)

Chris Dixon is a General Partner at Andreesen Horowitz, where he focuses on the a16z Crypto Funds.  Before joining Andreesen in 2013, Chris co-founded, built and sold two technology companies and was a prolific seed investor, founding member of Founder Collective, and personal investor.  At various spots along the way, Chris was an investor in BuzzFeed, Uber, Venmo, Hotel Tonight, Coinbase, and Oculus, among many others.     Our conversation covers Chris’ early interest in computers and business, and lessons from starting companies and angel investing.  We then turn to his activities since joining Andreesen Horowitz, discussing new computing platforms, a brief history of centralized and decentralized computing, development of blockchain technologies, potential killer apps, token basics, and investor perception.      Chris Dixon is a General Partner at Andreesen Horowitz, where he focuses on the a16z Crypto Funds.  Before joining Andreesen in 2013, Chris co-founded, built and sold two technology companies and was a prolific seed investor, founding member of Founder Collective, and personal investor.  At various spots along the way, Chris was an investor in BuzzFeed, Uber, Venmo, Hotel Tonight, Coinbase, and Oculus, among many others.     Our conversation covers Chris’ early interest in computers and business, and lessons from starting companies and angel investing.  We then turn to his activities since joining Andreesen Horowitz, discussing new computing platforms, a brief history of centralized and decentralized computing, development of blockchain technologies, potential killer apps, token basics, and investor perception.     Learn More  Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list  Access Transcript with Premium Membership  

[REPLAY] Chris Dixon – The Future of Blockchain at a16z (Capital Allocators, EP.172)

Shiloh Bates is the Chief Investment Officer at Flat Rock Global, an alternative credit manager specializing in the junior tranches of CLOs. Last year, Shiloh published CLO Investing, a comprehensive review of the structure, payoff rules, and historical performance of CLOs.  Our conversation covers Shiloh's twenty-five years spent in and around the space, an overview of the market, the characteristics of CLOs, the attractiveness of CLO equity relative to other credit opportunities, and Flat Rock’s approach to investing in CLO equity and BBs. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Shiloh Bates – CLO Investing at Flat Rock Global (EP.379)

Nigel Dawn is the global head of Private Capital Advisory at Evercore, where he leads the secondaries business he started a decade ago. Under Nigel's leadership, Evercore had become the market leader in transaction volume and is involved in approximately 30-40% of all secondaries market activity . Our conversation covers Nigel's observations on the growing secondaries market, including its history, rationale for LPs and GPs, incentives, critiques, other liquidity options, and advice for both sellers and buyers of GP interests. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn  Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

Paula Volent – Star Endowment Manager’s Next Act at Rockefeller University (Capital Allocators, EP.219)

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