1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Jon Staenberg, Managing Partner at Staenberg Venture Partners (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What are those areas of personal interest to you currently?

Jon Staenberg: Gaming is one of these massive categories. If you are not in it or if you are not a participant, then you don’t know how large and exciting it is. My generation doesn’t get that this is changing the world in so many ways.

I invested in a company called Manticore. It’s a Stanford guy that I got to know. I saw his passion. I got to know him over time. I had no idea about the gaming industry, because I am not a gamer. I love sports. I am a ticket stub collector and the whole NFT thing is interesting to me.

Anyway, I saw his approach and passion. I made the bet on him because I need some exposure to this category. I mention sports because e-sports is part of this category. This is an example of a passion of mine.  I am working with somebody who brings that kind of thoughtfulness, depth, and passion in a category where I am not going to be incredibly smart. I can relate to it.

Another huge category that I am excited about but cannot spend the time on is space and aviation. There are the obvious ones around space, but there are a lot of great relatively unknown ones. I invested in a classmate who is doing interesting things around the weather and gathering data around weather from satellites that previously weren’t being shared or aggregated in the way he is doing it. They are growing fast. The weather is changing rapidly in the world. 

I have another friend that has made me rethink how transportation, especially around small airports and hybrids, is going to change everything. It does not matter where you live. How will the world change? Think about that. What is the infrastructure required for that? I invested in an interesting cargo drone company that will produce drones that can carry 500 pounds, relieving some of the supply chain and emergency situation in a way that we have never been able to before.

Again, there are so many exciting things. I feel like a kid in a candy store because there has never been a time like this. I have a 13-year-old daughter and I keep thinking, “When she graduates from college, I don’t even know how to prepare her for that moment in 10 years.” It is going to be so radically different in 10 years. 

Sramana Mitra: When you do angel investment directly, what size checks are you writing these days?

Jon Staenberg: It is all over the map. I don’t have a particular check size. I don’t have unlimited wealth and it is all from my account. I tend to do smaller check sizes. I also try to think about how I am adding value. That is a more appropriate question. I did mention that when you asked me about my criteria.

Someone asked me yesterday saying, “What do you do all day?” I am involved in so many different things. I work hard not to lose my super-connector superpower. I want to make sure that I am an obsessive walker. I average 25,000 steps a day. The only way that you could possibly do that is if you take walking meetings. At least three to five of my walking bouts are while calling people that I haven’t spoken to for a while. I would read about a cool article online and just reach out.

I remember in 1998 when I first moved to Seattle to work for Microsoft. Out of the blue, I called Howard Schultz. I said, “You don’t know me, but I think Starbucks is pretty cool. I would love it if you would have a coffee with me.” We had coffee together. I just never lost that. My value ad is me wanting to be that person on the table where you could say, “Hey, could you do this introduction for me?”

I encourage people to use LinkedIn and to see who I am connected to. I am super respectful of using that power to not bother people. I filter and curate. Hopefully, at the end of the day, I have some pattern recognition around boardroom behavior and what makes a good startup. I am an insatiable podcast listener. I am always learning. I can add value that is important than the check size.

This segment is part 3 in the series : 1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Jon Staenberg, Managing Partner at Staenberg Venture Partners
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