Can You Turn Venture Instinct Into a Science?

Nnamdi Okike, co-founder and managing partner of 645 Ventures · How I Invest

Nnamdi Okike is co-founder and managing partner of 645 Ventures, which leads seed and Series A investments in software and software-enabled companies. He started his career in 2002 at Insight Partners, where he helped build its data-driven sourcing approach. He and his co-founder Aaron started 645 about 12 years ago with an $8 million first fund. The firm's main fund is now $200 million, it has more than 20 people and it is raising its fifth fund.

Summary

Okike argues that good venture investing comes from accumulated experience that can be broken down and measured, and 645 has moved from tracking early traction to scoring founder qualities. The firm favors missionary founders, often outside the usual profile, riding strong inflections, and it has learned to trust founders to grow a business model over time. Okike watches the market cycle closely, slows down when valuations run hot and thinks very large seed rounds damage companies. One harvesting decision, selling half of a single stake, returned about 35% of 645's first fund. These signals are from a How I Invest interview with Nnamdi Okike.

1. Accumulated Experience. Okike thinks good investing comes from the totality of an investor's experiences, which makes it a science. It has been hard to quantify because many data points about founders are subjective. 645's approach is to break those judgments into their elements and find the key drivers, while accepting that the answer is never purely ones and zeros. ▶ 0:00