Evaluate vineyard like a startup

I spent decades as a tech investor. Now I make wine.

People think I made a crazy pivot. But honestly? The way I think hasn't changed at all.

In a venture, the first thing I ask is: Is this the right market? Not the right idea. The right market.

In wine, I ask the same thing -  just about Terroir instead of industries.

Napa is played out. Overpriced, overcrowded, over-hyped. I went looking for the Napa of 50 years ago. A place with great bones that nobody had fully discovered yet. That's where I planted.

The second thing I always looked for in a startup: an unfair advantage. Something competitors simply cannot copy. In wine, that's the Terroir.

The hillside. The soil. The afternoon wind drops the temperature just enough. Nobody can replicate it. Nobody can buy it out from under you.

Honestly? Deeper moat than most of the companies I funded.

The last thing I looked for: Does this founder belong here? Not smart. Not well-funded. Belong. The best winemakers I've met know their vineyards, and they listen to it the way great founders know their problem -obsessively, personally, irreplaceably.

When I decided to make wine, I asked myself the same question.

Did I belong here?

I'm still proving it. But I've never been more sure of anything.

The spring release is here.

Made from land I believe in, by someone still learning to deserve it.