Investment Thesis
What Ben Looks For
“Realistic is not the thing we're optimizing for. It's the unrealistic things that have some small probability of working.”
— S12 · Ep 4
“Sizzle versus steak. We're selling sizzle at the pre-seed, right? And as soon as it's steak, there's something to measure, then you can start to scrutinize the business.”
— S12 · Ep 12
About Ben Taft
Ben Taft is the son of refugee immigrants and got his start in the inaugural class at the Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre Academy for Innovation at USC. There, he founded Mira, a tech startup that became the world's leading AR lens company, attracting $20 million in venture capital from firms like Sequoia and Founders Fund before being acquired by Apple. After four years of investing for Sequoia’s Scout Program, Ben founded Genius Ventures, a fund dedicated to backing pre-seed companies at the idea stage. He also serves on the board of the Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre Academy at USC, where his journey began.
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