How I Invest with David Weisburd

Rahul Moodgal, a veteran institutional capital raiser known for a relationship-first approach with pensions, endowments, foundations, and sovereigns. He discusses why patience beats urgency in fundraising. He contrasts transactional versus long-term partners. He explains how trust, alignment, and slow engagement create durable, decade-spanning capital relationships.

Peter Elliot Rothschild, founder of RF Investment Partners who builds bespoke capital solutions for family-owned lower middle market companies. He discusses listening-first investing and being the first institutional capital into businesses. Topics include custom debt-equity structures, minority protections and controls, 180-day value-creation plans, executive chairs, aligning incentives with KPIs, and relationship-driven dealmaking.

Jeffrey Fulk, a senior investment professional at AlTi Global focused on tax-efficient portfolio construction and private markets. He discusses tax-aware strategies like long-short tax loss harvesting and 130/30 structures. They cover private credit, evergreen versus closed-end funds, ETF and correlation risks, continuation vehicles, and how private assets may enter 401(k)s.

Matt Curtolo, a senior advisor to GPs and LPs who has worked with 600+ managers, breaks down advisory boards, LP advisory committees, and governance pitfalls. He explains why many advisory structures are performative, how to design purposeful LPACs and compact committees, compensation norms for advisors, and how advisors can genuinely support fundraising and long-term firm building.

Christopher J. Ailman, former CIO of CalSTRS and now founder of Ailman Advisers, reflects on 23+ years shaping a top public pension. He argues governance and asset allocation drive most outcomes. Short takes cover cutting costs with in‑house scale, avoiding shiny investment trends, building resilient portfolios, and hiring diverse thinkers for long‑term success.

Ali Ansari, Founder and CEO of micro1, who built a platform connecting PhDs and specialists to frontier AI labs. He discusses how expert human data now limits model progress. He explains why production AI agents need rigorous evaluation and why coding is the first agent-ready use case. He also covers how micro1 scaled by refocusing on data infrastructure and the new roles humans will play.

Michael Phipps, Partner at New Republic Partners, a multifamily office veteran in portfolio construction and alternatives. He discusses building conflict-free open-architecture firms. Conversations cover designing portfolios around growth, income, and diversification. They compare endowment-style policy to total portfolio flexibility and the roles of absolute-return strategies, co-investments, and liquidity in aligning long-term objectives.

Kate Simpson, senior venture allocator at GEM with prior LP experience at UNC and fund-of-funds, talks manager selection and portfolio construction. She discusses how reference checks, fund sizing, and reserve strategies reveal who can capture power-law winners. Conversation covers market bifurcation between access and discovery, sourcing advantages, and early signals of strong managers.

Nicole T Musicco, Founder of Square Nine Capital and former CalPERS CIO, led large pension portfolios and private markets work. She talks about bringing a total-portfolio mindset to CalPERS. She describes breaking down silos, aligning incentives and governance, building board trust, and scaling co-investing and private credit strategies.

Brian O’Malley, founder of Tactile Ventures and longtime consumer and tech investor, explains why consumer startups are misunderstood and ripe again. He discusses how AI is moving past toys into real products. He explores incentives inside VC, why humans still matter in AI workflows, and how early-stage investors win by offering founders time and preparation.