Thinking big: starting a multi-million dollar investment fund from the ground up - with Allen Farrington of Axiom

Change Work Life

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#204: Allen Farrington is the co-founder of Axiom, a bitcoin-native venture capital firm. He explains what it’s like working as an investment manager, the hurdles involved in creating an investment firm, and the skills you need to start a business.

What you’ll learn

• [01:33] What venture capital means.
• [03:06] The difference between private equity and venture capital.
• [04:57] How Allen started working in investment management.
• [08:35] The benefits of applying to jobs when not under pressure.
• [09:48] What it’s like working as an investment manager.
• [13:20] How some investment firms treat new employees.
• [15:17] How Allen got involved with bitcoin and had the idea to start his own business.
• [22:35] Transitioning from working for an investment firm to starting your own firm.
• [23:10] The challenges of starting your own business.
• [25:15] The levels of wealth you deal with in the venture capital industry.
• [26:58] The skills you need to start a business.
• [30:23] How to find investors for a new venture capital firm.
• [31:18] Unexpected challenges involved in starting a bitcoin venture capital firm.
• [35:27] The challenges of sitting on the board of a company you invest in.
• [37:55] Common tensions between the founder of a company and its board of directors.
• [40:08] The difficulty of creating an effective marketing message.
• [43:12] The future for Axiom.

Resources mentioned in this episode
Please note that some of these are affiliate links and we may get a commission in the event that you make a purchase. This helps us to cover our expenses and is at no additional cost to you.

• Seeing Like a State, James C Scott
• The Art of Not being Governed, James C Scott
• Against The Grain, James C Scott
• The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs
• Cities and the Wealth of Nations, Jane Jacobs
• The Unsettling of America, Wendell Berry

For the show notes for this episode, including a full transcript and links to all the resources mentioned, visit:
https://changeworklife.com/thinking-big-starting-a-multi-million-dollar-investment-fund-from-the-ground-up/

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