Episode Summary
Executive Summary: Mac the VC shares how he went from homelessness, engineering, and failed startups to becoming founder of RareBreed VC, a pre-seed fund backing overlooked founders outside major hubs. He explains the trauma and lessons of failure, how Twitter and public solicitation helped him raise a fund, why he rejects VC orthodoxy, and how he thinks about diversity, portfolio construction, and building a top-tier firm from Baltimore.
Main Topics: Unconventional path into venture (Priority: 5/5): Mac describes moving from software engineering and government contracting into founding companies, suffering a startup failure, and eventually breaking into state investing without a finance background or college degree. Founder empathy and psychological safety (Priority: 5/5): He emphasizes how his own loneliness, failure, and lack of ecosystem access shaped the way he works with founders—encouraging openness, honesty, and personal support beyond pure investment topics. Raising RareBreed VC on Twitter (Priority: 5/5): Mac explains how he used Twitter to build credibility, network with GPs, and raise capital, eventually soft-circling his first $2M and proving that fundraises can happen outside traditional channels. Rejecting venture orthodoxy (Priority: 5/5): He argues that many VC norms—fundraising process, capital calls, GP commit expectations, and reliance on top-tier firms for deal access—are arbitrary and often bad for emerging managers. Diversity and emerging managers (Priority: 4/5): Mac critiques performative diversity efforts and says the real leverage sits with institutional LPs and allocator structures that still underwrite most capital decisions and often exclude smaller funds. Portfolio strategy and thesis (Priority: 4/5): RareBreed focuses on concentrated pre-seed checks, primarily outside major tech hubs, with a small reserve for follow-ons and occasional off-thesis opportunities when conviction is high. Long-term vision for RareBreed (Priority: 4/5): He wants RareBreed to become a Baltimore-based top-tier multi-stage firm, modeled after firms like NEA and Greenspring, while remaining rooted in overlooked geographies and founder classes.
Key Arguments: Startup failure can be emotionally devastating, but support from friends and family is often unconditional and helps founders recover. Mac argues that founders need an investor who can discuss anything honestly, because entrepreneurship is already lonely and isolating. Twitter can be a legitimate fundraising and relationship-building channel for emerging managers, especially when traditional networks are inaccessible. Traditional fund structures and fundraising norms are not sacred; managers can and should innovate on fund design, LP commitments, and closing cadence. Hot deals are not necessarily good deals; what matters is return-producing investments, not prestige from brand-name follow-on investors. Diversity conversations should focus on LPs and institutional decision-makers, not just GP optics or junior associate hires. Emerging managers need access to smaller checks and more flexible allocators because many institutional LPs cannot meet their fund sizes. A concentrated pre-seed strategy outside major hubs can uncover exceptional companies that larger ecosystems overlook. Success should be measured by returns, not markups, hype, or social validation. The next generation of top-tier firms can and should come from places like Baltimore, not only Silicon Valley or New York.
Data Points: Initial fund target: $10 million - RareBreed VC’s target fund size discussed in the fundraising and strategy sections. First close progress: 10% - Mac says his first close was achieved at 10% of target, contrary to the common 30-40% norm. Minimum LP check: $10K per year - LP contribution structure offered in the fund. Fundraising meetings: 1,100 meetings - Between mid-June and September 2020, Mac held over 1,100 meetings while raising the fund. Soft-circled capital: $2 million - He says those meetings helped him soft-circle the first $2M. Twitter following growth: 2,500 to 50,000 followers - Mac describes his Twitter growth from last June to the time of recording. Response rate to DMs: 70-75% - He estimates that percentage of outreach messages to VCs received responses. Portfolio size target: 40-45 companies - RareBreed’s intended number of first-check investments. Follow-on strategy: 6-10 follow-ons - Mac says the fund plans a limited number of follow-on investments. Off-thesis allocation: 5% - RareBreed reserves about 5% of the fund for off-thesis investments. Check size: $100K-$250K - RareBreed’s first-check range, with some examples at $100K and a typical target of $250K. Company growth benchmark: 40% month over month - Mac cites this as the kind of growth that can overcome geographic bias and attract capital. Unspun investment: $100K - He mentions a recently announced investment in Oakland-based Unspun. Main Street second round: $60 million round - Mac says RareBreed participated with a $100K check in Main Street’s second round.
Pivotal Quotes: "fuck the rules" — Mac the VC: He uses this phrase while describing how he ignored traditional venture fundraising and fund-structure conventions. "Hot deals don't mean anything. The deals that matter are deals that return capital." — Mac the VC: Mac explains his disagreement with VC culture that overvalues prestige and brand-name syndication. "If you focus on that, everything will be all right." — Mac the VC: He tells founders that strong fundamentals and growth can overcome geographic and ecosystem bias.
Implications: The episode signals a shift toward more democratized venture paths: emerging managers can use social platforms, flexible fund structures, and conviction-based investing to compete. It also pushes the industry to rethink LP access, diversity, and what truly defines quality in venture.