We back people first, then companies

Most investing language leads with the company. The market, the model, the margins. The people come later, one input among many. At Peoples Ventures we do it the other way around. People first, company second.

The order isn't sentimental. It's practical. Markets move, models get rebuilt, and the plan you funded is rarely the plan that works. What carries a business through all of that is the character of the people running it. How they decide when it's hard. How honest they are about what's broken. How they treat people who can't do anything for them. That doesn't show up in a deck. It shows up over time, which is why we take our time.

Putting people first changes what we do. We spend longer getting to know someone than the process needs. We'll pass on a good company run by people we don't trust yet, and wait years for the right person. The money is the easy part. Being someone an operator actually wants in the room a decade later is the part that takes work.

I was raised to believe people aren't a means to a number. I want us to invest like we believe it. Here's to backing good people, and letting the companies follow.