Thank You
Having recently concluded my stint at Dynamo, I believe thank yous and a tribute are in order.
Well, there is an awful lot to be said for and about Dynamo Ventures. But, in the spirit of being lean, here’s the abridged version. This group has shown, taught, and challenged me in countless ways. A year ago, I thought brokers existed solely on Wall Street and that forwarding was strictly for email. And all this talk of DCs left me wondering whether Amazon was secretly relocating its headquarters from one Washington to the other. Also, everyone seemed to have P.O.D.s but no Juuls (bear with me).
Nobody likes acronyms, especially a deluge of them, yet learning lingo slowly but surely comes with time. However, the finer details, observations, and insights are sporadic and far from guaranteed. I cannot overstate how fortunate I was to be where I was when I was — engaging with some of the most ambitious, thoughtful, and hardworking founders in the world. Taking part in all this with a group of supply chain and venture vets building the premier supply chain venture capital firm.
Then COVID happened, confounding trade networks around the globe. Sorting through the rubble, we watched as industry leaders made decisions in response that will leave a permanent mark on the way supply chains are structured and operated. As the cliché goes, “10 years of progress happened in just a few months.” I’d think it apropos to draw a comparison between this experience and sitting on a trading desk during the ’08 financial crisis (Santosh must be the secret harbinger of destruction). With much still to unfold, I’m not sure if there have ever been more people fixated on finding out what’s next for factories and warehouses. Whatever that answer may be, I’d place my bet on the team at Dynamo being the first to attract the founder who knows.
I thank Santosh for taking a chance on me and affording me a rare opportunity that I wasn’t going to find anywhere else. Santosh and Jon opened my eyes to the practical dealings of running a venture firm, from the biggest decisions right down to the minutiae. Ted and Barry convinced me that trucking is the most exciting business in the world, but I’m still not sure whether it’s fair to accredit that to trucking broadly or just Access America itself. Futhermore, what they have done to transform Chattanooga and continue to do to invigorate this small community serves as a paragon of what it means to lead a comprehensive, wholesome, and impactful enterprise.
One takeaway from each:
- Ted: “Imagine everyone you meet has a big neon sign above their head that says make me feel special,” on building great relationships.
- Jon: The true veteran of our team, aptly enough, taught me to always be Socratic and admit your ignorance.
- Santosh: It’s banal to say but not when he actually does it every single day — show compassion for founders and act in good faith.
- Barry: From his Twitter, “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.” This mentality is expressed in the way Barry asks questions and his wide-ranging curiosity. Barry reminded me of the long-term nature of this game, and that even at the end of it all, you will still be left with unanswered questions.
- Dalton: You can learn just as much from your peers as your teachers.
- Will: The importance of setting a strong foundation and being comfortable passing the torch to those who will take things to even greater heights.
To provide feedback about the role for those who will consider it in the future, I was given:
- A ton of freedom to just attack things and figure it out
- Challenges repeatedly to spark critical thinking in new areas
- The chance to start talking with tons of founders early on, allowing me to begin forming an intuition around the various drivers of success and failure for an early-stage company
The last year has retooled my thinking and I’m grateful for being given the opportunity to learn the craft of venture capital from this partnership. The team is pioneering, humbly open-minded, and empathetic for founders above all. I still believe apprenticeships are the most effective way to cultivate the mindset for investing. The knowledge cannot be replicated otherwise and it evolves too quickly to be read in a book.
I appreciate each and every opportunity I was handed by this group and will miss the feeling of walking through the Loveman’s Building door on Monday morning. What leaves me assured is knowing that we will continue to find ways to work together for years to come.
I wish you all the best,
Matt
