The Next Chapter: A Note For Our LPs & Community ⚡️💸
It's a bittersweet moment. We are tying the final bow on deploying our first $8M dollar fund; Atlantis.
It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since launch.
Dare I say, the timing of how the fund has unfolded has been perfect. We've met our targets of deploying into ~25 companies in ~3 years to the tee.
Given the way we structured our fund, our management fees will be significantly reduced going forward. In simple terms, this means Aidan and I have received our last official paychecks from Atlantis.
All of our mentors have been pushing us to raise Fund 2 to keep HyperGuap going and be able to pay ourselves. The classic VC playbook.
Despite a rockstar portfolio, and numerous requests from LPs to invest in another fund ....
I have decided against launching HyperGuap's 2nd Fund.
Why? I love investing, but I'm not sure I love being a VC. As my friends and family know, I'm quite the free-spirit and am looking forward to exploring my next big move, unchained by the past.
Atlantis was my first time being a GP, and deploying tens of millions of dollars ($35M+ total with SPVs and the fund), and I want to watch my seedlings grow. I feel like a patient farmer who needs to take care of the sprouts I've planted, before starting on a new forest.
Don't get me wrong. It's a bummer to think I won't be meeting and scheming with the world's smartest founders anymore. Not to mention doing it with one of my best friends, and a rising star in the venture capital industry; Aidan (
@MrGoldBro)
I'm so proud of the portfolio we've built, founders we collaborated with, and videos we made.
Bittersweet is really not strong enough of a word to wrap it all up.
So to sum up the news, Aidan is moving on. He began working with HyperGuap in 2020 and spent over a year working for free. Then, we launched Atlantis and have spent the past 3 years building our first venture capital fund. It's been an honor to create one of (what I think is) the dopest VC brands in the world, with Aidan. But alas, we are getting old and working for free won't be paying anybody's bills, lol.
The only reason I considered raising a Fund 2 now, was so I could retain Aidan and his awesome talent. But alas, that is not reason enough.
So what does this mean for the founders in our portfolio and our LPs?
Not much. I'm laser focused on working with the founders in the Atlantis portfolio and helping them maximize their potential. I am moving from the 'deploying' stage to 'supporting' stage.
We are incredibly hyped and bullish on the portfolio we've built, and hope you all are excited as we are about the future, with Atlantis' startups leading the charge.
Aidan and I will both continue to provide our biannual fund updates. We look forward to scheming with all you LPs then :)
Additionally, I will continue doing one-off SPVs through HyperGuap and the baller 1,000+ member syndicate we have built.
This is not the end, but merely goodbye for now.
Eventually, I may come around to Fund 2.
But it must pass a very high-hurdle .. be a good enough investment for me personally to bet on massively. Atlantis was one of the biggest personal investments Aidan and I ever made. I write this letter as both a GP and LP.
If I launch Fund 2 .... I will be deploying a boatload of my own cash into it.
I want to give a shoutout to you amazing LPs for believing in us. I can't wait to keep sharing updates with you all, from the awesome Atlantis portfolio companies.
Also I'd be remiss without mentioning the founders who trusted us. THANK YOU. It was a privilege to get so much time with so many iconic entrepreneurs who we admire. I hope you like HyperGuap enough to let us invest in your next companies ;)
Two 'kids' in their late 20s with "no venture experience" dare I say finessed their way into some of the greatest startups around. It's been an honor to scheme with you all, and get to know many of you as friends.
It's time to end this sappy note.
Invest in the future you believe in ⚡
Gali (
@Gfilche )