Serendipity. It’s a word we both love and one that truly captures how we see the world. By definition, it’s about stumbling into something good without really looking for it. But to us, serendipity is more intentional—it’s about being open to possibilities, curious about the unexpected, and ready to follow where life takes you.
The formation of Laconia was all about serendipity. There was no roadmap, no master plan to build a venture capital firm. It started with a casual bar conversation about angel investing with a close friend—one of those “off the cuff, over a drink” chats that you don’t expect to lead anywhere. But it sparked something.
From there, it was a series of moments we could never have predicted. Each of us started doing angel deals without a real understanding of the investment side. We were founders and operators at heart—building businesses was second nature, but investing? That was a whole new world.
Eventually, our curiosity about angel investing led us to The New York Angels, where we both found an opportunity to meet like-minded individuals and learn how to approach investing with a bit more structure. It was there that our paths officially crossed.
We say officially because, as we got to know each other, we uncovered a pretty wild realization: serendipity had been at work long before that NY Angels meeting. We had unknowingly lived just a block apart in NYC for 15-plus years. Our kids were not only at the same school—they rode the same bus every morning. And professionally, our firms had even done business with each other without us ever putting the pieces together.
At this point, Jeff—being the more social of the two of us—was already hosting quarterly dinners with friends and former colleagues who were also curious about angel investing. These weren’t stuffy, formal meetings. They were casual, convivial nights filled with great food, great conversation, a shared interest in something new, and the joy of bringing old and new friends together.
At each dinner, Jeff would bring along 3-4 founders he liked to pitch the group. The idea wasn’t just about writing checks. It was about rolling up our sleeves, sharing expertise, and leveraging our personal and professional networks to help these early-stage companies succeed.
Then, in August of 2014, the group pushed us in a direction we hadn’t even considered. Over dinner, someone asked Jeff: “Why aren’t you doing a venture fund? You seem to not only like investing and mentoring, but you’re pretty good at it.”
Jeff—never one to enjoy working solo—admitted he was interested but needed a partner. That’s when David raised his hand and said, “I’d explore this idea with you.”
The next six months were all about mapping out the type of venture fund we wanted to build. We knew two things for certain: we wanted to stick with what we knew, and we wanted to do it our way.
As operators, we had spent our careers building businesses in the B2B space, so staying focused there was a no-brainer. We also wanted to be shoulder to shoulder with founders, rolling up our sleeves and leveraging our operating experience to help them execute and scale. That’s why focusing on Pre-Seed and Seed stage companies made the most sense.
At the same time, we couldn’t ignore what we loved most about angel investing: the collaboration. Those dinners taught us that when you bring the right people together—people who genuinely care about a founder’s success—you create a multiplier effect that’s hard to beat. We wanted to bring that spirit of collaboration and partnership into the very DNA of the fund.
By early 2015, we had our vision. It wasn’t just about writing checks; it was about building a venture fund that felt as hands-on, connected, and collaborative as those early dinners had been.
And with that, Laconia was born. We didn’t plan it, but step by step—through serendipity, curiosity, and collaboration—we built something that matters. Looking back, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
