Traction Podcast
00:03:16 · Roy Luo, Lobo
[00:03:16] S1: You know, I try to eat clean, exercise, nothing too special. I hate to try and rely just on genes, but I'm told that it's a blessing to look young. So let's see how long it lasts. [00:03:26] S2: The venture space is a very hard one. Right? You're always out. You're always talking to entrepreneurs. It can be high stress. What sort of exercise and nutrition routine are you on that keeps you playing the lung in? [00:03:39] S1: It's funny. I think it's just like my dietary preferences. I I eat a lot of seafood, veggies. Like, I... I'm not big into carbs, actually. People think I'm weird. I'm like Yeah. Bread, stuff like that. Not... I don't drink any soda, not a lot of sugar. The life of this role, I think we're traveling quite a bit too. So if anything, I've been told that my superpower is I can take these micro naps. And so if I'm on a plane or I'm on a car, I can capture these in. So I can still do red eyes at this age and be fresh for board meetings or other meetings or conferences and things like that. [00:04:13] S2: Sleep is huge. A lot of people, like, focus on diet and then nutrition... Sorry, diet and nutrition, and then exercising, and they go hard on exercise, but they ignore that sleep is so important, the recovery part of it. Awesome. I wanna get into your backstory, man. You took a traditional path into venture and growth investing. What drew you to this space, and how did your time starting out in capital markets and real estate shape your perspective?
00:04:41 · Roy Luo
[00:04:41] S1: Oh, totally. No. It's funny, but I actually started my career originally thinking I would go into medicine. I worked in capital markets as a way to just get some work experience and earn a buck to be able to pay for medical school, actually. I was in New York at Goldman Sachs at the time, and I learned through different walks of life, people I met that eventually I didn't think that medicine was necessarily a path that I would wanna pursue long term for a career. And so my first job out of school was really a means to an end, and that end wasn't really the goal for me anymore. And so I explored real estate a bit because I was on a self discovery journey in terms of where my passions really lied. And very quickly, I found myself working hard, learning a lot. But when I would leave the office, my brain would turn off on work, and I would think about other things. And I learned through that process that my passions really were in discovering different world industries, professional categories. And very quickly, the theme was that technology was showing up everywhere. And having a deep understanding of any business, any category, any end market allows you to really appreciate how technology is impacting those industries. And I would go to drinks. I would catch up with friends. And I found myself just thinking about tech no matter where I went. And that was the after office hours energy was being spent. So having realized that, I knew that in order to have a true long career and something that you're really interested in, you need to pursue your passion. And so through that, I actually moved into a role in technology investing, and it's been... I've been doing that ever since. And I love it. Yes. I get to learn about all all the things around me in the world and and how tech is impacting it.
00:06:28 · Lobo
[00:06:28] S2: So you were at TCV after Goldman. And then after TCV, you've been at Iconiq. Right? These are both... For for our audience that doesn't know, maybe summarize for us what kind of funds are is Iconiq, TCV, and what makes an interesting company and stage for your fund to invest in?
00:06:51 · Roy Luo
[00:06:51] S1: Totally. So TCV was a great place to to get started for me. I think there are some really smart investors and smart people there, and I learned so much during my time there. And they're an older firm. They were started in '95, and I think they just had a lot of institutional knowledge that they were able to impart upon all the folks that have gone through that system. And through that, you learn a lot not only about how to work with founders and what makes a good investment and how to invest in technology, but you also learn a lot about yourself. And what I quickly learned was what does the world really need when it comes to partners in terms of building new disruptive technology businesses? And I had met people at Iconiq during my time at TCV and really discovered that I think there are a lot of smart people, great people, great partners out there in this world, but the platform that Iconiq has been able to build is very special, very unique. And to be able to have the opportunity to join that team and then create this and extend it to the technology landscape is a very special and privileged position to be in that I'm very grateful for every day. Our community, we have access and ecosystem of really special people across all walks of life. And when you think about what we can do for our portfolio companies, I humbly say I'm a conduit as a partner to be able to bring the power of our community to other founders and leaders of businesses. And when you can do that with the top leaders of Fortune 500 businesses or places like Microsoft or retail businesses like Nike or Adidas, that's pretty cool, and it's pretty unique. And to be able to be a part of that, even a small part of that, I think is a huge privilege. And so that was a big driver for me to be able to join this community, join this platform. I love the people that I work with. And we're hopefully continuing to do what we do and invest in some of the best businesses out there.
00:08:46 · Lobo, Roy Luo
[00:08:46] S2: And and the kind of funds that TCV and even Iconiq are, you guys are not like the typical Silicon Valley venture early stage investors. You're not doing pre seed. You're coming at what? Like a series a or like more maybe series b growth capital. Right? [00:09:02] S1: Yeah. The word growth is a little odd, I would say. And so I know we have the name as Iconiq Growth, but we'll do anything as early as Series A, Series B, a lot of Series As and Bs. Our funds are quite large, and we can go all the way up to pre IPO and IPO rounds as well. And we actually have a great track record of being supportive public market shareholders as well, and we bought in the open market in businesses to support them in the public as well. The scope, I would say, is unusual in terms of how wide we go in terms of stage and maturity of business. And so the way we maintain focus is we focus at that top thin layer of just best of breed businesses, best leaders, best products in strategic categories. You're right. We don't necessarily do seed investments. We're definitely looking for best founders with product market fit, but that can still extend into the earliest of days in businesses. [00:09:54] S2: Your thesis specifically has been fintech. Is that because of your Goldman Sachs and real estate investing background, or how did that come about?
00:09:54 · Lobo, Roy Luo
[00:09:54] S2: Your thesis specifically has been fintech. Is that because of your Goldman Sachs and real estate investing background, or how did that come about? [00:10:04] S1: Sort of. When I was still at Goldman, this is gonna sound silly, but I had this idea of, like, effectively what was Venmo before Venmo had really started taking traction. And obviously, it's this huge big thing, and I think everyone in the world had some idea around Venmo. But I just naturally had an idea around how commerce needs to be digitalized. And over the past decade plus, that obviously has happened in space across many different forms, but that's always been a driver for me. And in particular, I think financial services or financial products are literally everywhere you look. And when you think about different end markets, end verticals, we could talk a little bit about how in vertical software in particular, all roads lead to financial services products. Right? There's so many vertical software businesses out there that have embedded finance as part of their offering at some part of their journey. And I think it's true that ultimately financial products are everywhere you look, and technology is a great way to bring forth financial products in a more cost effective, efficient way. And that changes how transactions and commerce work all over the world. [00:11:16] S2: I did a great podcast a couple years ago with Matt Harris from Bain, and it was every company is a fintech company.