Hi, I’m Tyler Knight the founder and GP of H.E.N.R.Y Collective, which has quickly become one of the most popular syndicates on AL since making our first investment in June 2021. I originally started HC after discovering two critical insights from 6+ years spent in tech investment banking and venture capital.

Insight #1: Real wealth is created by owning equity and rarely created by salary alone. Additionally, there is a large group of people "H.E.N.R.Y’s " (high earners, not rich yet) who possess disposable income and stand to benefit immensely by investing alongside top-tier VCs in promising startups if they had access.

Insight #2: Deal flow in venture capital generally flows through channels of pre-partner investors who share opportunities with each other. These Analysts, Associates, Principals, etc. see the highest volume of deals and have the best real-time knowledge of who is raising capital. Despite having the most critical asset in VC to trade, access to deal flow, they don’t have any way to monetize it.

H.E.N.R.Y Collective Inception Thesis: Leverage a vast network of pre-partner investors at many of the top VC funds and funds with deep, categorical insights as a wedge into the most sought-after deals by sharing deal by deal carry with the people who introduce me to founders.

HC Syndicate LPs: HC Syndicate 2500 and counting LPs range from public company CEOs to Partners at VC funds to VC-backed founders, etc. who have significant experience investing in startups to small business owners, doctors, lawyers, investment bankers, PE investors, solopreneurs, etc. who are just beginning their Angel investing careers.

The cumulative reach, insights, and experience of HC's LPs is core to my pitch to founders and unlocking the value of the syndicate LPs for portfolio founders is core to HC's differentiated value prop as a cap table asset.

Highlighted Co-Investors in HC Syndicate Investments:

• Angels: Peter Thiel, Justin Mateen, Eric Schmidt, Reid Hoffman, Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, etc.
• VC Funds: Softbank, Andreessen Horowitz, Craft Ventures, Sozo Ventures, Greycroft, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, Kleiner Perkins, Tribe Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Sound Ventures, General Catalyst, Liquid2 Ventures, Draper Associates, Goodwater Capital, Accomplice VC, DFG, B Capital Group, Framework Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, etc.

Four Bullets on HC's Core Strengths:

• #1 - Top-Tier Investment Access: Simply put, by offering VC investors at top funds and venture-backed founders shared carry in deals they introduce us to, HC sacrifices carry at the syndicate level in order to ensure the rolling fund benefits from unparalleled access to the most sought after early-stage funding rounds.
• #2 - Allocation Win-Rate: By offering founders a differentiated value prop as a capital partner, benefiting from the agility of operating as a solo GP, and by writing smaller checks late in rounds with the option of flexing up with the syndicate, the rolling fund’s allocation win-rate will be well above the industry average.
• #3 - HC Platform: With 2500+ LPs including public company CEOs, partners at major VC funds, venture-backed founders, etc., a highly-engaged network of investors + advisors + operators, and a growing cohort of portfolio companies, the flywheel has already begun spinning. A major initiative once the first rolling fund closes will be to unlock the value within the HC network by enabling portfolio company founders to request favors on a private “marketplace” in exchange for micro-equity stakes that reflect the value of the favor. Rolling fund LPs will be invited to the private marketplace which offers the opportunity to get involved in exciting companies while receiving tangible value.
• #4 - Winning Thematic Approach: Discussed in more detail below, I’ve developed several thematic anchors and core investment principles that are designed to capture the most promising startups solving tangible problems in the fastest growing sectors at their earliest stages.

If you're interested in learning more about HC's investment selection strategy please read on. For those subject to information overload, feel free to wait for individual opportunities to arrive in your inbox.

Highest Level, We Invest In:

• Problems we want to solve and are solvable
• Technology innovation that is defensible
• Founders with an unrelenting faith in their vision
• Markets that are changing, under-digitized, and fragmented
• Ideas that just need capital support and execution to become reality
• "Derisk factors" that anchor thesis conviction and limit probability of absolute loss
• How things should be, not how they are or how they've been

High-Level Investment Thesis: HC’s core investment philosophy will be to index the highest signal early-stage deals within thematic scope, while relying on a high degree of EQ to pick winning founders. Additionally, the “thematic anchors” and “core investment principles” discussed below establish investment sourcing focus and guide investment decisions.

"Thematic Anchors":

• Category Leaders in High-Velocity Sectors: Targeting the highest potential return outcomes with the least risk of absolute loss by investing in companies at the Series A - Series B stage that have shown early, yet tangible signals of becoming a leader in a category, vertical, or subvertical that is changing and/or growing rapidly.
• HC Portfolio Example - Loft Orbital: The rapid growth of the space economy is a direct result of SpaceX decreasing the cost to get to space from $20k / KG (NASA) to $500 / KG (SpaceX). Of course, by doing so SpaceX has become a clear market leader in the “rocket launch as a service” category. Similarly, Loft Orbital has further democratized access to space by automating the process of integrating customer payloads with their satellites and then ride-sharing multiple customer payloads on the same satellite. This allows the rapidly expanding number of organizations with applications for space to reduce the time to orbit by up to 3 years and reduce the non-recurring engineering cost by an average of $12M.
• Note: HC invested in Loft’s $20M pre-Series B SAFE in June 2021, which was marked up a few months later by Blackrock who led their $140M Series B in October at a $500M+ valuation.
• Business Model Replication: Targeting companies applying a particular business model/approach that has achieved out of the ordinary levels of success in one sector or geography to another sector or geography that has an equal or better use case for that particular business model/approach.

• Core Technology Innovation: Targeting companies solving some of today’s most important problems with core technology innovation that ultimately provides a defensible, technical moat for the company at scale.
• HC Portfolio Example - Natilus (hype video here): Natilus is building the first autonomous aircraft optimized for flying air cargo across the country and has already received $6B worth of aircraft pre-purchases from many of the biggest supply chain/logistics companies in the world. Despite the glaring need for enhanced supply chain functionality and modernized aircraft, air cargo today is flown by hollowed-out passenger planes built before 1980. Natilus’ aircraft, which expects to take the first flight to be within 18 months, will allow for 60% more volume per flight while reducing the cost and Co2 emissions by 50% each.
• High-Signal Founders: This thematic category is more subjective than objective and more opportunistic than deliberate. There are times speaking with a founder who demonstrates extraordinary vision, understanding of his / her space, and a differentiated perspective on what is possible. Of course, historical performance and previous successes as a founder are highly correlated with repeated success as well. This category of investment is saved for opportunistic bets on companies led by prolific founders, despite not quite fitting into any investment themes.

Core Investment Principles:

• Founder / Market Fit: What experience-driven information asymmetries does the founding team possess that give them a competitive edge?
• Problem / Product Fit: Does the product roadmap lead to solving an important, tangible problem?
• Customer Acquisition Wedge + Upsell Mechanism: Does the company have a compelling “hook” to acquire customers early on and a roadmap to increase revenue per customer over time?
• Core Differentiation + Defensible Moat at Scale: Is the company solving an important problem in a unique way or perhaps built automation that separates itself from competitors?
• TAM that Supports a $1B+ Company: Does a reasonable market share acquisition of the company’s TAM support a $1B+ valuation?
• Foundational Tech + Platform Distribution: Is the company building foundational tech that multiple product lines or revenue streams can eventually be created on top of? Does the company benefit from platform channels of distribution where a single entry point offers exposure to hundreds or thousands of customers?

As a full-time syndicate manager, Tyler is constantly looking for the best investment opportunities that come through a number of channels including friendly relationships with a number of VCs, founders who see great deal flow in their space, and the HC member network.

We are also adding "sector experts" to the HC investment team to bulk up proprietary deal flow and add an extra layer of diligence.