Introducing Encoded Ventures: A New Chapter in Seed-Stage Infrastructure Investing

I'm excited to announce the launch of Encoded Ventures - a solo-GP fund that invests in technical founders building infrastructure software (and occasionally hardware) at the earliest stages.

I've always been drawn to early-stage projects. I live for the moment when you meet a founder with a unique insight into the technical trends shaping the future-someone eager to bring those insights to market. When I first met JR and Nolan, the founders of Cumulus Networks (acquired by Nvidia), I was so energized by our conversation that I forgot to pay for breakfast and didn't realize my mistake until I was in the car, 15 minutes up I-280! Fortunately, JR noticed, paid the bill, and forgave me.

If you're looking to talk about SaaS metrics, sales quotas, or comp plans, you're probably in the wrong place. There are better investors for that phase of the journey. I want to work with you when you have nothing (or almost nothing!). I want to help you nail the product, win the first handful of customers, and build from there.

I've lived in the dynamic and messy world of infrastructure my whole career, starting with three years at Yankee Group, which served as my "liberal arts" education in telecom, data communications, and how the internet really works. I joined Battery in 2001 and, quite literally, grew up there. I'm deeply grateful for the experience-learning the business of venture capital, investing through cycles, and working with so many amazing founders, mentors, and colleagues. The Battery "coaching tree"-I prefer to call it the Diaspora, which is unmatched in venture, is also full of friends.

I left Battery in the summer of 2023 to work on Encoded. My first investment was in May 2024, and the portfolio now includes 10 companies across the U.S., Israel, and Europe. I'm stage - and domain - focused, but geographically agnostic. Four of my investments are based in Israel, where I've partnered with companies for nearly 20 years. I'm fortunate to have a strong network of founders and industry executives there - many of whom are LPs - always just a WhatsApp away.

This is my third job, and the first time I've started something myself. As a first-time entrepreneur and fundraiser, I can say my level of empathy for founders has grown considerably. I started Encoded for a simple reason: to work with the best possible founders at the earliest stage possible.

I invest across the modern infrastructure stack, which to me has three main pillars: Cloud, Data/AI, and Security. No software for sales and marketing. No software for dentists. You can check out some of the existing portfolio here or my first exit here.

I'm open-minded and curious about new technology. Low bar for the first meeting; high bar for the second. I like systems thinkers. I've worked across nearly every layer of the infrastructure stack - semiconductors, networking, compute, storage, configuration, observability, operations, data, AI, distributed systems, and security.

Reach out if you are working on something new or even just start-up curious. [email protected]