Venture capital operated in Word until hedge funds brought Excel modeling
Thomas Laffont · FULL INTERVIEW: Thomas Laffont’s Journey From Hollywood Assistant to Legendary Tech Investor · Apr 7, 2026 · at 29:12
Thomas Laffont, co-founder of Coatue, discusses bringing public market financial modeling and deep research rigor into venture capital.
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“And that was an industry that was really done in Word, and we were Excel thinkers. So that was kind of a very different kind of mindset that we were bringing to the table.”
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