First checks into AI-native companies, from an investor who’s backed the biggest outcomes of the last twenty years.
We write pre-seed checks. One memo, one call, a decision. Then we stay for as long as it takes.
Track record
Early or growth investor in Stripe, SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Palantir, Robinhood, The Trade Desk, Mercor, Crusoe, Databricks.
Current pre-seed and seed portfolio
AI and machine learning: Hugging Face, Perplexity, Cohere.
Developer tools and infrastructure: Lovable, Etched, Groq, Modal.
Data: Motherduck, Aaru.
Prediction markets: Polymarket.
What we believe
The rarest thing in a company is a founder with real ambition and the creative range to act on it. Our job is to find those people early and give them room, capital, and time. Good companies take longer than fund cycles allow, so we don't impose one.
How we work
One memo. Send a doc or a link: what you're building and why you're the one to build it.
One call. Thirty minutes on Zoom. No data rooms, no weeks of diligence, no slow no.
Blunt feedback, fast. If we pass, you'll know why. If we invest, you'll hear the hard things before your board does.
On your cadence. Weekly, monthly, or only when it's on fire.
A founder network that actually answers. Our portfolio founders help each other with hiring, customers, and fundraising, and they pick up the phone.
Patient capital. No fund-driven liquidity clock.
Where we’re useful
Product. Detailed design feedback and help shaping the product strategy.
Go-to-market. Early launch strategy and first-customer introductions.
Talent. Sourcing and vetting your first ten hires.
Fundraising. Warm introductions and strategy for your current round and the next one.
Signal. We talk about you, to press, to candidates, and to the investors you want in your next round.
Send us your memo
Walter Kortschak, Founder — walter@kortschak.com
Amir Rustamzadeh, Venture Partner — amir@investor.dev