est. about a year ago · one person's experiment

The Interesting People's Fund

It is not a fund. There are no checks, no term sheets, no LP updates. The asset under management is three to four hours a week, and it is invested in random interesting people.

A quiet argument that time, given away freely, compounds better than money.

§ 1

The Idea

About a year ago I started something I half-jokingly call the interesting people's fund. The name is a lie in the most important way: it is not a check-writing fund. Not yet, anyway.

Instead of helping people with grants, I set aside three or four hours a week to help random people with their side projects and startups. That is the whole mechanism. No application, no cohort, no demo day. Just a standing allocation of attention for people building things they care about.

It turns out a few hours of focused help, from someone with no agenda, is a surprisingly rare resource.

§ 2

What Happened

The portfolio, such as it is, is one year old. The returns, such as they are, look like this:

VC funding Tiny inputs that helped people get venture backed.
Internships landed Right conversation at the right time beats a hundred applications.
Hiring matches Someone found the perfect fit for a role they were hiring for.
Lifelong friends The dividend nobody models and everybody should.
An education I have learned more from these people than from almost anything else this year.

All of that — funded startups, offers, friendships — from one year's worth of spare hours.

§ 3

How It Works

Reach out Cold emails welcome. Tell me what you're building and where you're stuck.
We chat A call, a coffee, a long email thread. Whatever the problem wants.
I help Feedback, intros, technical eyes, a second opinion — whatever a few hours can buy.
No strings No equity, no favors owed, no follow-up obligation. Pay it forward if you like.
§ 4

Start Your Own

The uncomfortable truth about this experiment is that there is nothing special about it, or about me. Anyone with a few spare hours and a willingness to answer cold emails can run the same strategy. I hope you do.

3–4 hours a week × 52 weeks ≈ 200 hours a year = funded startups, landed internships, perfect hires, lifelong friends

The ROI is absurd, and mostly it isn't measurable in money at all. You learn what people are building before anyone else does. You collect friends who are going somewhere. And helping someone at exactly the right moment is one of the cheapest ways to feel like your week mattered.

Highly recommend.

§ 5

Get In Touch

Working on a side project or a startup and want a second pair of eyes? The fund is open.