I often write in generalizations to expose patterns and provoke thinking. There are always exceptions — and they’re welcome in the comments.
What I do for work
Until recently, I was one of five founding Partners of the NATO Innovation Fund. I had moved from Berkeley to Amsterdam in 2023 to help reshape direct investments and fund commitments into European deep tech startups and funds with a high potential for dual-use. I was asked to put investment and advisory activities from my family office on hold during that time. At the end of May 2024, I resolutely decided to resign. Though a challenging choice, it felt imperative at this time. Various complex factors informed my decision, and I am confident that pursuing new professional endeavors that align with my long-term aspirations and personal values is in my best interest. My respect for the colleagues in Amsterdam and the brilliant minds with whom I’ve had the privilege to collaborate remains profound. Their presence and intellect will be greatly missed.
What I do for fun
I live in Berkeley, CA. We love being outside. When we don’t take hikes or visit museums or the library, you will find me in my backyard trying to advance my woodworking skills or fixing my historic race cars (aka buckets-of-bolts). I am in a machine shop every day, building high-performance race engines for historic race cars and manufacturing CNC parts of aerospace and defense. As soon as the roads are dry you might catch me downhill skateboarding the Berkeley hills or the many great South Bay spots near San Jose or Palo Alto (please pick up more hitch-hiking downhill longboarders up the hill — you never know, maybe it’s a VC).
What’s up with the pictures?!
For blog posts up to 2023, they are all close-ups of my woodworking hand tools I am using to build stuff. I love the feeling of them, the brass knobs and ductile iron. I enjoy the maintenance necessary to do great work. Planes constantly need sharpening and adjustments, as do the saw blades, gauges, chisels, etc. Sometimes slack is a good thing, sometimes it’s not. Minute adjustments 1/1000th of an inch make all the difference for truing up boards for gluing, working around knots and reading the grain. Every mistake amplifies over time. A lot can be learned from listening to your tools.
For blog posts 2025 and after, they are close-ups of the CNC machine shop where I build historic race engines and defense and aerospace parts — a production-first mindset in a product-first world. My passion for precision and critical thinking continues.
I think there are a lot of parallels between my professional work and my hobbies.
Disclaimer
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My posts contain information and views as of the date indicated and such information and views are subject to change without notice. I have no duty and assume no obligation to update this data or information, nor to advise on further development related to data or information. Any returns expectation or models provided for educational or illustrative purposes are not intended as, and must not be regarded as, a representation, warranty, or prediction that any investment or hypothesis would achieve any particular rate of return over any particular time-period, nor that any investors or third parties mentioned will not incur losses. I make no representation and it should not be assumed that past investment performance is an indication of future results. Moreover, wherever there is the potential for profit there is also the possibility of loss.
Sometimes I quote data or information from various sources and try my best to get them right. Certain information contained herein concerning economic trends and performance is based on or derived from information provided by independent third party sources. I believe that such information is accurate and that the sources from which it has been obtained are reliable. However, it cannot guarantee the accuracy of such information and has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of such information or the assumptions on which such information is based. Moreover, independent third party sources cited in these materials are not making any representations or warranties regarding any information attributed to them and shall have no liability in connection with the use of such information in these materials.