“One thing that is unique to private equity and venture capital is persistence is a little easier because of the brand. ‘They did good deals, so therefore, the good deals come to find you.’ If you were in a long-only private equity shop or hedge fund, Amazon is not going to come find you because you invested in Shopify.” — JD Montgomery
JD Montgomery leads the Family Office division at Canterbury Consulting and is a seasoned advisor with nearly four decades of experience serving prominent families with a focus on strategy, organization and measurement. Based in Newport Beach, he serves a select group of multi-generational families and helps them navigate the complexities of wealth, purpose, and legacy. Mr. Montgomery partners with his clients to help them optimize the allocation of their resources across generations. Over the years, Mr. Montgomery has developed a deep network of relationships in the venture capital industry. He has helped his clients gain meaningful exposure to venture funds and direct investments and develop relationships with leading innovators and investors globally. He is a Managing Director, shareholder, and board member at Canterbury Consulting. He graduated from Stanford University and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation.
You can find JD on his socials here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jd-montgomery-6161341b/
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also watch the episode on YouTube here.
OUTLINE:
[00:00] Intro
[02:18] The “some day” exercise
[11:12] Why does JD do “some day” every 6 months?
[12:33] JD’s life line
[16:44] When JD is 85 years old…
[18:05] JD’s relationship with fatherhood despite the trauma
[22:40] Annual dad report cards
[25:33] Intentionality with GPs
[28:41] How to avoid one-hit wonders
[33:43] How to transfer self-esteem
[36:05] How do you get GPs off of their talk track?
[37:36] Non-obvious things JD looks for in GPs
[41:43] Is selling 0.2X DPI in the first 4 years meaningful?
[44:27] Should you recycle capital or deploy out of the next fund?
[46:34] Why did JD choose to work with families?
[48:07] “Never eat alone”
[51:34] How does JD think about time allocation?
[55:06] How many new GPs does JD meet with?
[59:07] How did JD pass on then back Founders Fund?
[1:03:22] The difference between unexplored gold veins and rotting trash
[1:08:13] Mayan Mocha at Austin’s Picnik
[1:08:58] JD’s secret street taco recipe
[1:11:09] JD’s reminder that we’re still in the good ol’ days
[1:13:20] Post-credit scene: No garlic and onions
SELECT LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
- Canterbury Consulting
- Talal Attieh
- Steel Atlas
- Jalen Hurts
- Stanford University
- Chris Rock
- Chris Rock’s Never Scared (which includes his “Keep Her Off the Pole” Routine)
- “Come On Eileen”
- Dexys Midnight Runners
- Riverside
- Miles Grimshaw
- Garry Tan
- Initialized Capital
- American Express
- Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
- Jenifer Moore
- Fashion Island
- Founders Fund
- SpaceX
- Scott Saslow
- “How to Start a Single Family Office” with Scott Saslow (Superclusters)
- Picnik
- The Office
- Mother Teresa
- Salt Fat Acid Heat
- Samin Nosrat
- Hoja Santa / Mexican pepperleaf
SELECT QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE:
“I don’t have a mentor per se. My mentor is hundreds, probably thousands of people—I’m sure thousands—people that I’ve met where I try to learn just the amazing talent that person has and I smush it with the next person that I meet that might be most kind person that I meet or the most organized. So it’s this blend of a lot of people that really becomes the mentor.” — JD Montgomery
“DOD – dear old dad.” — JD Montgomery
“Kids grow up like trees and saplings. And a sapling needs a guiding post to hold them up when it’s windy.” — JD Montgomery
“One of the other questions I will ask is: ‘Tell me about the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life.” — JD Montgomery
“To whom much is given, much is expected.” — JD Montgomery
“In estate planning, you can transfer money, but you can’t transfer self-esteem. Self-esteem is gained by going through the school of hard knocks and doing things and relying on yourself.” — JD Montgomery
“One thing that is unique to private equity and venture capital is persistence is a little easier because of the brand. ‘They did good deals, so therefore, the good deals come to find you.’ If you were in a long-only private equity shop or hedge fund, Amazon is not going to come find you because you invested in Shopify.” — JD Montgomery
“If they’re passionate about something—if they want to leave the world just a little different—their ding in the universe—and they want to give back, money doesn’t ruin them.” — JD Montgomery quoting a North Carolina professor
“I am not in a ‘what’ business; I’m in a ‘who’ business.” — JD Montgomery
“Gross IRR; gross performance. I don’t care. I care about net. It’s okay to show gross and then net. I prefer net. But if you show gross only, it’s just gross.” — JD Montgomery
If you somehow made it to the bottom of these show notes, I’m also trying a new experiment where I write my reactions to the episode on my second blog, Superclusters After Hours. For JD’s episode, you can find my reactions here.