Konstantine Buhler

I grew up with entrepreneurs as my heroes. I read Bill Gates’ book in middle school. When I was 13 I bought my first stocks. One went to zero, but the other was Google.

My hero in high school was Nikola Tesla. My walls were covered with posters of his patents. Tesla was an unparalleled genius. Yet, he died alone, unstable, and penniless. I always thought that if Tesla had one great partner he would have built a legendary company and died a happy man. I want to be that partner for the next Tesla.

My life hero is my grandfather. When he was a kid in Greece he hustled, selling watermelon and yogurt. The Nazis burnt down his village and after the War he set off to work at a factory in Chicago. He sent most of his wages back to Greece to feed his family, but saved enough over the years to start a diner. For him, entrepreneurship was freedom. He was uneducated and humble. Yet, he was brilliant and when he walked into a room everyone felt his love. I carry his name, Konstantine, with pride every day.

First and foremost: integrity, honesty and directness. The best policy is always the honest policy. The best founders also have determination, persistence and grit. If you persist, you will succeed. Most of my founders see me as more than an investor and even more than a friend. I take the role of “partner” to my founders very seriously, through thick and thin.

One theme in my partnerships is virtuous data cycles—businesses that accumulate customers and data to become more valuable over time. There are lots of Enterprise Software, Enterprise FinTech, and AI companies like that, and it can be completely non-obvious.