Letter to the Banter Founders

Last week, I joined Banter Capital. I’m beyond excited to work alongside Heston Berkman in pursuit of “the weird and the wonderful.” Below is an introductory letter to the founders of the Banter portfolio.

My name’s Matthew and I’m excited to introduce myself as the newest team member at Banter. I wanted to take a moment to share a bit about my background.

My journey into venture was a personal one. My Dad is a serial venture-backed founder, and I spent my childhood watching him navigate the highs and lows of entrepreneurship as he built and scaled companies. The entrepreneurial journey constantly occupied a significant amount of my mind space and acted as an intrinsic motivator through my formative years. It drove me to manage eBay stores, launch Minecraft servers, and scalp Playstations during Black Friday. But more importantly, it illuminated for me a sense of agency to step on the trail from consensus and make a dent in the world.

And so, while in high school I co-founded a company called PhishTrain that provided penetration testing services to SMBs around my home in New Jersey. What started as a small after-school project for me and a couple of buddies evolved into something with a global reach. I frequently traveled to San Francisco for industry events and scurried to the bathroom stall during AP Biology (much to the chagrin of Mrs. Gallo) to field introductory calls while fibbing about my age. I enjoyed the act of building, but more so, I enjoyed the opportunity to meet people at the fringes, working their best to conjure their visions for the future.

After moving on from PhishTrain, I went to Michigan where I fell into line with the rest of the herd to pursue investment banking after college. While on Wall Street, I accumulated the standard experience set that such a program offers and once again found myself enjoying the act of serving more than operating. However, I always knew that my interests lay elsewhere.

One Monday at the bank, my analyst class was surprised to learn that we’d have an exclusive coffee chat with the CEO of the firm on Friday and that I’d been selected to personally ask him a question. I spent five days brainstorming, refining, and practicing my question in the mirror, and excitedly delivered it that Friday morning.

Here’s (hand on the bible) verbatim how that interaction went:

Me: “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us all. I believe that the most rewarding part of this job is working with founders and helping them navigate key challenges with their businesses so they can reach their next milestones. How do you view yourself as the founder of this firm?”

Investment Bank CEO: “I am not a founder. I am an investment banker. Next?”

Let’s just say that answer ruffled my feathers enough to the point that on the following Monday, I called up my staffer and quit with nothing lined up. Though, I knew what the next role would entail.

In the interim, I helped my Dad successfully close his company’s Series A and once again deeply enjoyed the act of working with a founder on their mission. Over time though, I saw his lead investor morph, acting not as a long-term partner, but as an overbearing helicopter parent. This wasn’t what he thought he signed up for (nor what I thought I brokered for him), but it made me realize some of the unfortunate realities that a less-than-stellar investor burdens a founder with. It was exactly what I didn’t want any founder, let alone my Dad, to deal with. That experience became the straw that broke the camel’s back, propelling me to pursue venture full-time.

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend the past three years in venture capital working closely with early-stage companies running the gamut of industries and geographies. I’ve loved every second of it, and over the past few months, thought deeply about my next move.

Selfishly, I wanted a team that I could spend the next decade or more with. One that’s borderline maniacal in the lengths they’d go to identify top talent and serve them better than anyone else. Selflessly, I was looking for a group that was honest and thoughtful; someone I’d be happy to see on my Dad’s cap table.

I’ve found all that and more at Banter.

I’m ecstatic to join Heston, Georgia, and Ryan in discovering the “the weird and the wonderful,” and working with you all every day. Whether you need help with introductions, fundraising, financial modeling (thanks banking stint), strategic questions, or anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

You can email me at matthew@bantercap.com. If you’re in New York, let’s grab lunch when you have some time.

Here’s to many years of working together. And here’s to continuing the Banter.

Matthew