BIO: In 2013, Zachary Resnick began to make a living from playing poker cash games and investing in other poker players, providing a unique understanding of risk management that is largely shaped through leveraging volatility to outperform others in the high-risk, high-reward situations of poker.
STORY: Zach invested in two founders with a brilliant idea and overlooked the fact that they were not A+ founders. He ended up riding the company down by more than 80%.
LEARNING: Back people that completely blow you away. People are super important, especially at the earlier stage of the business that you invest in.
“When investing in early-stage companies, the qualities of the founders are paramount and almost inarguably the most important thing for that company.”
Zachary Resnick
Guest profile
In 2013 Zachary Resnick began to make a living from playing cash games and investing in other poker players, providing a unique understanding of risk management that is largely shaped through leveraging volatility to outperform others in the high-risk, high-reward situations of poker.
In 2016 he made his first personal investment in Bitcoin and, by 2017, was focused on investing and trading crypto full-time.
In 2018 he founded Unbounded Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on payment infrastructure.
He is also the founder of FlyFlat - a luxury concierge service that specializes in last-minute, heavily discounted business and first-class air travel.
Worst investment ever
Zach’s company invested in these two founders, who loved the company’s media content on the blockchain world. The founders were building a solution that Zach believed was A+. It would be a 100x improvement to existing solutions. There was one problem, though; the founders were not A+ founders. This became the first startup Zach’s company rode down by more than 80% since he started the investment firm.
Lessons learned
- Back people that completely blow you away.
- People are super important, especially at the earlier stage of the business that you invest in.
- Know your investing style.
Andrew’s takeaways
- When investing in a startup, you’ve got to trust the founders, believe in the idea, have a ready market and ensure the startup has the muscle to execute the vision.
Actionable advice
If you’re in the startup investing business, especially in the early stage, meet with founders in-person before investing.
Zachary’s recommendations
For frequent, flexible travelers who fly business class and want to save money, Zach recommends checking out Fly Flat.
To enhance deeper thinking, Zach recommends reading great books such as The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life and Thinking Fast and Slow.
Zach recommends reading his first e-book, How A Scalable Blockchain Will Win, to learn more about how scalable and efficient blockchains will transform the internet and how data and payments operate worldwide.
No.1 goal for the next 12 months
Zachary’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to have more spaciousness in his life so he can spend more quality time with his amazing partner. Zach is now focused on working smarter and a little less hard.
Parting words
“Thank you for having me today, Andrew. I’ve learned a lot today.”
Zachary Resnick
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