The Exchanges

Q I'm asking a question, and it's like, when we invest in Founder's State, often I double-click hard on, like, what drives you? What fundamentally is the reason that you're doing what you're doing? When you look at sending 300 to 400 emails to individualized bloggers, what was the drive for you in the beginning?

A I think we just wanted our music to be heard, and I think it's been very beneficial for us as we understand Both of us are very social, and we understand the power of relationships, and acknowledging people, and the importance of any music project, or any business in general, the importance of partnerships, and that it takes a whole village to get you there, and I think that was probably the first thing that we did, of really just acknowledging the people that we mutually needed each other to help each other. They needed stuff to post, and we needed them to post us, and just acknowledging the human side of it, that we're all people that are just huge fans of music, and treating the relationship like that, instead of like, here's a blank promo email, and you should post this, because this is how great I am, which is unfortunately the approach of most labels at the time.

AI assessment note: “I think we just wanted our music to be heard”

Q you finding allocations? Because I'm finding personally just allocations are getting squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, and I'm always happy to admit that I'm getting squeezed harder than ever, and I'm fighting back, and sometimes I win, sometimes I don't. How are you finding the allocation squeeze? And although it's so great to have the Chainsmokers involved, are you finding actually you're still getting attention on the allocations you want?

A Yeah, I mean, it is. It's the most competitive time ever to be in VC, as we've recently learned as we're new to the space. But yeah, it seems that there are more and more firms that are investing early stage, which is where we're focused. And we look for signaling to see that there are like other great established VCs that are getting involved, but due to the size of our fund and the check size that we write, we're not leading rounds. Typically, we're not taking up the lion's share of a lot of these rounds. And so we're looking to find not only a good partnership with the founder, but also with usually the leading firm that sees our value add and is interested in working with us and having us participate alongside them.

AI assessment note: “due to the size of our fund and the check size that we write”

Q you finding allocations? Because I'm finding personally just allocations are getting squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, and I'm always happy to admit that I'm getting squeezed harder than ever, and I'm fighting back, and sometimes I win, sometimes I don't. How are you finding the allocation squeeze? And although it's so great to have the Chainsmokers involved, are you finding actually you're still getting attention on the allocations you want?

A Yeah, I mean, it is. It's the most competitive time ever to be in VC, as we've recently learned as we're new to the space. But yeah, it seems that there are more and more firms that are investing early stage, which is where we're focused. And we look for signaling to see that there are like other great established VCs that are getting involved, but due to the size of our fund and the check size that we write, we're not leading rounds. Typically, we're not taking up the lion's share of a lot of these rounds. And so we're looking to find not only a good partnership with the founder, but also with usually the leading firm that sees our value add and is interested in working with us and having us participate alongside them.

AI assessment note: “due to the size of our fund and the check size that we write”

Q I'm asking a question, and it's like, when we invest in Founder's State, often I double-click hard on, like, what drives you? What fundamentally is the reason that you're doing what you're doing? When you look at sending 300 to 400 emails to individualized bloggers, what was the drive for you in the beginning?

A I think we just wanted our music to be heard, and I think it's been very beneficial for us as we understand Both of us are very social, and we understand the power of relationships, and acknowledging people, and the importance of any music project, or any business in general, the importance of partnerships, and that it takes a whole village to get you there, and I think that was probably the first thing that we did, of really just acknowledging the people that we mutually needed each other to help each other. They needed stuff to post, and we needed them to post us, and just acknowledging the human side of it, that we're all people that are just huge fans of music, and treating the relationship like that, instead of like, here's a blank promo email, and you should post this, because this is how great I am, which is unfortunately the approach of most labels at the time.

AI assessment note: “I think we just wanted our music to be heard”

Q look at Now's Adventure Fund with Mantis, when you look at, obviously, the incredible journey with the Chainsmokers, it's like building these ancillary products and building this kind of megacorp at the top. I guess my question is like, how do you think about the empire that you're building, and what does that look like to you in 20 years, given the multiple different components that do benefit each other?

A Yeah, I think all of them will become more focused. I think the balance between all of those things and making everything work together more efficiently, I guess what it is, is like, when you started music, We just did music as hard as possible. Like I said, a 180 shows a year. Every show that we did, we'd have pre-party and after-party, and, like, we'd spend the daytime going to every radio station and doing interviews and all of that, and I hope that we can transition to a healthier balance where maybe there's a little bit less of that, a little bit less touring. We're investing in companies that, like, I think our thesis will narrow, of course, like I'm sure every fund does, as we learn more and we invest in more companies and we have more experiences. And then I'm really excited about our TV and film production company. Our first movie's in theaters now, and it's focusing on mental health, It's a coming of age story about a kid with schizophrenia, and it's a beautiful, beautiful film, and that's a theme, not schizophrenia, but mental health is a central theme in a lot of our music, too, and so that was a really great, beautiful ways of, like, how we found another medium to express things that are important to us, and I hope that all of our businesses really find that synergy with each other in the years to come.

AI assessment note: “I hope that all of our businesses really find that synergy with each other”

Q It's not on schedule, but I'm too intrigued. How do you deal with the nerves? I used to get super nervous for board meetings, which is obviously very different to like playing at Vegas to sold out stadiums, but like, how do you handle the nerves and the pressure?

A Tequila is a good one, but obviously before a lot of meetings, It's not appropriate, but I think we both learned this from being on stage and how unpredictable a crowd can be. It doesn't matter if you're going to play a sold-out show. You don't know, like, what the energy in the room is going to be like until you're out there on stage, but I think going out there and being open to feeling everyone's energy and then respecting your power of how you can affect that energy and how you can influence it, I think, has been, like, a really great skill. So, you know, you transition when you're going to speak to someone that's a titan of an industry that you know little about, but you're very interested into just being humble and open and letting them speak and educate you, I think, can calm your nerves.

AI assessment note: “just being humble and open and letting them speak and educate you, I think, can calm your nerves”

Q It's not on schedule, but I'm too intrigued. How do you deal with the nerves? I used to get super nervous for board meetings, which is obviously very different to like playing at Vegas to sold out stadiums, but like, how do you handle the nerves and the pressure?

A Tequila is a good one, but obviously before a lot of meetings, It's not appropriate, but I think we both learned this from being on stage and how unpredictable a crowd can be. It doesn't matter if you're going to play a sold-out show. You don't know, like, what the energy in the room is going to be like until you're out there on stage, but I think going out there and being open to feeling everyone's energy and then respecting your power of how you can affect that energy and how you can influence it, I think, has been, like, a really great skill. So, you know, you transition when you're going to speak to someone that's a titan of an industry that you know little about, but you're very interested into just being humble and open and letting them speak and educate you, I think, can calm your nerves.

AI assessment note: “being humble and open and letting them speak and educate you... can calm your nerves.”

Q That is so kind of you. And this is a more than exciting episode for me, considering I normally interview middle-aged white men on Sand Hill Road. But I do want to start today with a little bit on you guys. So tell me, how did you make your way into the world of startups and investing? And then what was the genesis of the idea with mounting?

A Yeah, I think Alex and I, when we first met in 2012, we obviously really bonded over dance music, but we were also had a lot of entrepreneurial ambitions that I think has really like played a key role in making us successful in addition to our passion for creating the Chainsmokers as a music project. And we kind of always approached our career. I hate to say it this way, but like in the beginning, we kind of growth hacked our first promotional platform. It's really hard when you're an artist that no one knows or cares about and you're starting out in a genre that's Dominated by primarily European talent and these two American kids, and we found our first way into the music industry by remixing indie artists that we love that we found on this log aggregator called Hype Machine. And Hype Machine was kind of like the first viral chart of the internet. And the Hype Machine chart was populated by primarily indie, indie electronic artists that didn't really have a huge presence in EDM or the dance scene, but that was the music that we loved and we grew up on. So we'd reach out to all of them, and we would beg all, like, everyone on the Top Hundred chart if we could do a remix of their song for free. And one out of 50 would say yes, and they'd send us stems, and we'd work our asses off trying to create something that could eventually turn into the Chainsmokers sound, and Alex would go…

AI assessment note: “we also had a lot of entrepreneurial ambitions that I think has really played a key role”

Q look at Now's Adventure Fund with Mantis, when you look at, obviously, the incredible journey with the Chainsmokers, it's like building these ancillary products and building this kind of megacorp at the top. I guess my question is like, how do you think about the empire that you're building, and what does that look like to you in 20 years, given the multiple different components that do benefit each other?

A Yeah, I think all of them will become more focused. I think the balance between all of those things and making everything work together more efficiently, I guess what it is, is like, when you started music, We just did music as hard as possible. Like I said, a 180 shows a year. Every show that we did, we'd have pre-party and after-party, and, like, we'd spend the daytime going to every radio station and doing interviews and all of that, and I hope that we can transition to a healthier balance where maybe there's a little bit less of that, a little bit less touring. We're investing in companies that, like, I think our thesis will narrow, of course, like I'm sure every fund does, as we learn more and we invest in more companies and we have more experiences. And then I'm really excited about our TV and film production company. Our first movie's in theaters now, and it's focusing on mental health, It's a coming of age story about a kid with schizophrenia, and it's a beautiful, beautiful film, and that's a theme, not schizophrenia, but mental health is a central theme in a lot of our music, too, and so that was a really great, beautiful ways of, like, how we found another medium to express things that are important to us, and I hope that all of our businesses really find that synergy with each other in the years to come.

AI assessment note: “I hope that all of our businesses really find that synergy with each other”

Q Now I'm going to give you a choice on the last question. Last question could be option A, what are the next five years hold for you and for Mantis? What do you most want to achieve with Mantis in the vehicle? Or B, the most recent publicly announced investment and why you got so excited? You can choose A or B. Drew, do you want to choose?

A Yeah, sure. I guess A, and I guess that's a scary one to choose now that I'm thinking about it, because there's a lot, if I said I knew where it would be, I would be blind. But you know, I think you kind of, I touched on it earlier, just narrowing our thesis to the point where like the investments we make, the businesses that we have access to, We'll have great synergy with all of the other things that we do and who we are as people. Um, that's my ultimate dream. I think, like, obviously our goal is to be getting into great deals, too, and sometimes you can't control. That takes prioritized because we have to make returns for our investors. It is inherent to who we are as people, but we have a lot to learn, and there's a lot of opportunity to narrow that thesis and just really hone in on the businesses that we think are great and meaningful for not just us in our fun, but society.

AI assessment note: “I guess A... narrowing our thesis to the point where like the investments we make”

Q That is so kind of you. And this is a more than exciting episode for me, considering I normally interview middle-aged white men on Sand Hill Road. But I do want to start today with a little bit on you guys. So tell me, how did you make your way into the world of startups and investing? And then what was the genesis of the idea with mounting?

A Yeah, I think Alex and I, when we first met in 2012, we obviously really bonded over dance music, but we were also had a lot of entrepreneurial ambitions that I think has really like played a key role in making us successful in addition to our passion for creating the Chainsmokers as a music project. And we kind of always approached our career. I hate to say it this way, but like in the beginning, we kind of growth hacked our first promotional platform. It's really hard when you're an artist that no one knows or cares about and you're starting out in a genre that's Dominated by primarily European talent and these two American kids, and we found our first way into the music industry by remixing indie artists that we love that we found on this log aggregator called Hype Machine. And Hype Machine was kind of like the first viral chart of the internet. And the Hype Machine chart was populated by primarily indie, indie electronic artists that didn't really have a huge presence in EDM or the dance scene, but that was the music that we loved and we grew up on. So we'd reach out to all of them, and we would beg all, like, everyone on the Top Hundred chart if we could do a remix of their song for free. And one out of 50 would say yes, and they'd send us stems, and we'd work our asses off trying to create something that could eventually turn into the Chainsmokers sound, and Alex would go…

AI assessment note: “we were also had a lot of entrepreneurial ambitions that I think has really like played”

Q a little bit of a personal one, but when I made the move from like media and podcasting to venture now, I was shitting myself. How do you feel, especially, you know, you said you wrote the first check there into Ember as your first tech check. Like, how do you feel about making the transition? Are you nervous? Are you excited? Like, what do the personal emotions feel like?

A Yeah, I think Alex and I, we've started a number of businesses that are related to the Chainsmokers. We have a TV and film production company. Our first film just came out in theaters called Words on Bathroom Wall, which we're really excited about. We started a tequila company, which is, I think the alignment with the Chainsmokers is pretty clear there. We wanted to create a youthful tequila brand that spoke to our fans and kind of like the internet tequila. And I think the fun is also a business that's inherently linked to like who we are as people. I mean, kind of a couple of the stories that we told you in the beginning of this, we have an insane thirst for knowledge And we have this incredible opportunity to learn about all these different industries and meet all these incredibly smart people, and I think that's another key thing that convinced us that we could do this, which was, as Alex and I said, like, we did, like, a 180 shows a year, and at every one of those shows, summer arenas, 50 were Vegas, then there were festivals all over the world, and every one of those shows has had a pre-party and after-party, and we love hosting. Hospitality is probably 50% of what we do, and through that, we've met so many incredible people in the tech industry, and we've connected a lot of them, and they've been very helpful in guiding us into how we should think about the Space. And I …

AI assessment note: “And so, yes, we are nervous. This is a new space and there's a lot riding on this”

Q a little bit of a personal one, but when I made the move from like media and podcasting to venture now, I was shitting myself. How do you feel, especially, you know, you said you wrote the first check there into Ember as your first tech check. Like, how do you feel about making the transition? Are you nervous? Are you excited? Like, what do the personal emotions feel like?

A Yeah, I think Alex and I, we've started a number of businesses that are related to the Chainsmokers. We have a TV and film production company. Our first film just came out in theaters called Words on Bathroom Wall, which we're really excited about. We started a tequila company, which is, I think the alignment with the Chainsmokers is pretty clear there. We wanted to create a youthful tequila brand that spoke to our fans and kind of like the internet tequila. And I think the fun is also a business that's inherently linked to like who we are as people. I mean, kind of a couple of the stories that we told you in the beginning of this, we have an insane thirst for knowledge And we have this incredible opportunity to learn about all these different industries and meet all these incredibly smart people, and I think that's another key thing that convinced us that we could do this, which was, as Alex and I said, like, we did, like, a 180 shows a year, and at every one of those shows, summer arenas, 50 were Vegas, then there were festivals all over the world, and every one of those shows has had a pre-party and after-party, and we love hosting. Hospitality is probably 50% of what we do, and through that, we've met so many incredible people in the tech industry, and we've connected a lot of them, and they've been very helpful in guiding us into how we should think about the Space. And I …

AI assessment note: “And so, yes, we are nervous. This is a new space”