Today, I’m excited to announce something I've been quietly working toward for a while…

I'm joining USVC as a General Partner, and Naval Ravikant is joining me as the Chairman of our Investment Committee.

USVC is a new kind of financial product built by AngelList that opens access to startup investments for all investors (and yes that includes non-accredited investors!) starting with as little as $500.

Before I explain what USVC is and how it works in detail, I want to walk you through five trends that have shaped my thinking over the last few years because understanding why this moment is special matters more than any announcement.

We are living through a moment of company building that has no historical precedent.

Cursor went from zero to $100M in annual revenue in 12 months, then $1B in 24 months. It’s the fastest SaaS scaling ever recorded.

OpenAI went from a $157B valuation to $500B in 12 months.

Anthropic tripled its valuation in six months.

xAI grew revenue five times over in the same window.

And while some will critique to say we’re in a bubble, these growth curves aren't flukes.

They're the result of a market bending convergence.

AI is collapsing the cost of software development, a generation of founders who grew up watching the last wave want in, and the capital markets are more willing than ever to fund category creation at unprecedented speed.

The companies that will define the next decade are scaling faster and reaching dominance earlier than anything I’ve seen in my 20 years in startups.

The vast majority of the extraordinary value creation in startups right now is happening outside public markets, meaning it’s structurally out of reach for most people.

What’s wild to me is that, in 1980, the median company went public at six years old.

Today it's 13 years!

The best companies are staying private more than three times longer than they did a generation ago.

And this hasn’t happened by accident. Being a public company is expensive, every move gets a heightened level of scrutiny by analysts, journalists, and short sellers, and with the depth of private capital markets today, it’s increasingly unnecessary.

In 2026, the best companies can raise billions without ever touching public markets. So they're skipping the IPO, or pushing it years (or even a decade+) out, to see how the markets shake out.

Meanwhile, secondary market volume hit a record $152B in 2024 and 2025 was the most active period ever recorded at $223B.

To me, that’s a sign that institutional investors are building liquidity mechanisms within private markets because they've concluded that's where the real action is.

The period of fastest compounding (seed round through late-stage private) now plays out almost entirely outside the reach of regular investors.

And by the time many of the companies I mentioned above touch public markets, the bulk of the compounding will have already happened.

Most high earners who invest in public markets hold something like a broad index fund. VOO, SPY, QQQ. Take your pick.

To be clear, the logic is pretty clear for diversification, low fees, and market returns. And I’m a fan of the strategy generally.

The problem today is that these "broad indexes" are no longer as broad as they used to be.

The S&P 500 is more concentrated in its top holdings than it has been in decades.

So, a meaningful slice of your supposedly diversified exposure is really just a bet on a handful of mega-cap technology companies.

So, the index-and-wait strategy increasingly gives you concentrated exposure to yesterday's winners, while the next generation of category leaders builds privately.

And if you want exposure to what's being created next, not what's already been built, public markets are offering fewer and fewer places to look.

For decades, the SEC used the accredited investor rule as a gate on select asset classes.

The logic was paternalistic but at least coherent: early-stage startups are risky and illiquid, so let's limit access to people wealthy enough to absorb the loss.

What nobody planned for is what happened next.

Today, a non-accredited investor can:

All of that is fully accessible, totally legal, and none of it requires accreditation.

But investing in private companies? No no no, that’s wayyyy too risky.

The regulation that was supposed to protect you from risk ended up preventing you from returns.

It kept everyday investors out of the asset class that has generated some of the most extraordinary wealth creation in the last 30 years, while leaving the door wide open to speculation.

That's the real irony of the access wall, and it's why what's happening now actually matters.

Until very recently (and I’m talking a few months ago recently), getting meaningful exposure to early-stage venture often required:

None of that has changed in the last 40 years for traditional private funds, and that is why I’m especially excited about USVC.

It is structured differently than most startup investing products, as a regulated, registered closed-end fund under the Investment Company Act.

That structure is what now enables individual investors, accredited or not, to participate in startup investing without the barriers that have historically kept private markets as an institutional-only asset class.

This is genuinely new, and the regulatory framework and infrastructure to run these structures at scale didn't exist a few years ago.

But the data that underlies USVC is 15+ years old.

Many of the most iconic managers and breakout funds operate on AngelList.

With 25,000+ funds, $125 billion in assets, and 13,000+ startups as of April 22, 2026, it’s a powerful signal network.

We use that access as a starting point, then follow the top performers as they scale.

Today, you can finally get access to venture through a properly regulated vehicle with full transparency, a public prospectus, and institutional-grade governance.

USVC is a regulated investment fund that gives everyday investors and their advisors exposure to the highest-growth private companies in the world.

The current portfolio includes companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, Sierra, Vercel, Crusoe, and Legora, names most investors have heard of but have rarely been able to get into directly.

Here's what makes the structure different from anything that existed a year ago:

USVC operates under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the same regulatory framework as the mutual funds and ETFs in your brokerage account.

Most venture funds don't bother with this registration because it's expensive and complex. AngelList spent years doing exactly that work.

The result is a fund with a public prospectus, audited financials, SEC oversight, and (most uniquely) the ability to accept investments from any investor, regardless of accreditation status.

Most venture funds do one thing: write checks into early-stage companies and hope for the best. USVC takes a more deliberate approach across three sourcing strategies.

The first is secondary and direct investments, aka buying into fast-growing companies at attractive entry prices, often from early employees or investors looking for liquidity before an IPO.

The second is LP commitments, aka backing emerging fund managers who are finding the next generation of category leaders before they become household names. AngelList has been running the infrastructure behind thousands of the most successful early-stage funds in the world for over 15 years. That network is key to our sourcing advantage and why AngelList has the perfect infrastructure to build the fund.

The third is in-kind contributions, aka receiving equity directly from founders and early investors in category-defining companies. This kind of access simply doesn't flow to most funds because they aren’t structured in a way to roll common shares into new equities.

These three sourcing strategies give USVC access to deals that don't flow to most funds, and no single strategy captures all of them.

Secondaries and directs let us buy into fast-growing companies at prices that are often below the next institutional round.

LP commitments give us early exposure to the emerging managers finding the next generation of category leaders before they're well-known.

And in-kind contributions bring equity and partnerships companies that simply don’t show up in traditional deal flow at all.

The result is a differentiated fund with three distinct sourcing advantages.

Not $250,000. Not a wealth manager calling to see if you "qualify." Five hundred bucks.

It’s built this way by design. We want anyone to be able to get started, see how the fund works, and decide over time how much exposure makes sense for their portfolio. The structure supports any check size, from $500 to much larger institutional commitments.

For context: the minimums for a traditional venture fund are often $250,000+. For a fund of funds, it's could be closer to $100,000. USVC's minimum is 99.8% lower than the industry standard. And that gap is the whole point.

If you've ever invested in a private fund, hedge fund, or real estate partnership, you know the annual ritual: sometime in March or April, your K-1 arrives. Your accountant files an extension. You're suddenly managing multiple tax documents across multiple states for partnerships you barely interact with.

I've written a lot about tax strategy on this newsletter. K-1s are one of the most underappreciated sources of friction in personal investing, not just administratively, but financially.

Because USVC is a registered fund under the Investment Company Act, the tax situation looks a bit different.

It issues a standard 1099, the same form you get from any stock, ETF, or mutual fund in your brokerage account. It arrives in January or February. Ideally, your tax return files on time.

Traditional VC funds charge what the industry calls "two and twenty" or a 2% annual management fee plus 20% of any profits (carried interest).

That carry is a massive drag on your returns that almost nobody talks about.

USVC charges a 1% management fee and zero carried interest.

Here's the full fee picture for those curious:

Is that higher than a Vanguard index fund? Yes.

Is it structured to align my incentives with yours rather than against them? Also yes.

Just to be upfront: this is not intended to be a liquid investment. That said, up to 5% of NAV can be repurchased at the board's discretion.

This is not a checking account, and you should only invest capital you can afford to keep invested. But relative to traditional VC, which locks your money up for 10–12 years with no exit ramp, this is meaningfully better. Relative to a brokerage account, it is not.

A few venture-adjacent products have come to market recently that trade on exchanges like a stock.

USVC is different. It is publicly accessible, meaning any investor can get in at usvc.com starting at $500, but it is not listed on an exchange and cannot be actively bought or sold like a publicly traded security.

You invest directly, and your shares don't fluctuate based on market sentiment or trade at a premium or discount to NAV.

The tradeoff here is that your primary path to liquidity is through the quarterly repurchase program rather than an exchange order. That's an important distinction worth understanding before you invest.

We believe venture capital rewards patience.

Often, the biggest outcomes come from companies that compound in private markets the longest.

USVC's quarterly repurchase offer program gives investors materially more flexibility than traditional venture capital funds, while preserving our ability to invest across the full growth cycle.

The minimum to invest is $500. There is no accredited investor requirement. You can read the full prospectus and invest below.

Invest Now →

I want to be careful not to oversell this, because Naval's name gets attached to a lot of things and I know how that can feel.

What I'll say is this: Naval has been thinking about startup investing longer and more carefully than almost anyone I know.

His track record from the early AngelList days, including investments in Twitter, Uber, and dozens of others, isn't the reason I wanted him to Chairman our investment process.

It’s the framework that underlies those investments that I’ve always been fascinated by.

It’s how he thinks about which founders have the qualities that lead to outlier outcomes.

It’s how he identifies what a real category creation looks like before the category exists.

As Chairman of our Investment Committee, his role is to shape how we think about this, including things like our investment philosophy and the standards we hold ourselves to.

I’m grateful to consider him a mentor, a friend, and the foundation this product is built on.

Invest Now →

I've spent 20 years inside startups. I built Teachable and sold it for $250M, raised a $100M VC fund largely through Twitter DMs, invested in dozens of companies along the way, and have spent the last 4 years building a fintech and personal finance newsletter. I owe this world everything I have. My success, my friendships, my experience. Startups are simply my version of fun.

And for almost all of that time, the kind of access that USVC offers simply did not exist.

The regulatory framework to run a structure like this at scale didn't exist.

And that’s why I’m proud to partner with the team at AngelList. They’ve spent years building the infrastructure and doing the legal and compliance work to make this possible.

When I understood what they'd actually built, I stopped looking for a reason to say no.

The other thing I'll say honestly: I've spent year and half writing this newsletter to give you the financial tools that most people never learn. We’ve written about some really cool strategies like the Mega Backdoor Roth, direct indexing, money market funds, among many others.

Tax strategy is real alpha. I believe that deeply. But so is getting into the right asset class at the right time.

I think we are at one of those moments right now.

Private markets are where the fastest value creation in history is happening, and I believe USVC is the most thoughtful vehicle I've seen to give everyday investors a real stake in it.

I'm the Portfolio Manager of USVC, which means I have a direct financial interest in this fund's success and you definitely shouldn’t discount that. But what I can tell you is that I wouldn't ask this audience to consider anything I hadn't spent real time on and genuinely believed in.

Invest Now →

The minimum investment is $500.

There's no accredited investor requirement and the investment flow is intentionally simple.

There now lies just 7 steps between you and investments in companies like Anthropic, xAI, OpenAI, Sierra, Crusoe, Legora, and Vercel (and the many incredible names that are come to follow in future investments).

You can read the full prospectus, review the fund's investment strategy and risk factors in detail, and invest at the link below.

Invest Now →

This is one of those things I think I'll look back on as having come together at exactly the right moment. I'm glad I can finally share it with you.

— Ankur

P.S. If you want to support this launch, please show some love on my announcement posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, & Threads. A like, comment, or share helps more than you know. Thank you 🙏

P.P.S. One last thing, next Wednesday at 2 pm ET, I’m hosting a free, live workshop about USVC.

I'll be able to answer any questions you might have about the investment and if it might be the right fit for you. Alternatively, you can reply to this email and someone from my team will get back to you shortly!

I'm the Portfolio Manager of USVC and receive compensation in that capacity. I am also a shareholder in USVC. This email contains an endorsement of USVC by a compensated party.

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, sales charges and expenses of USVC before investing. USVC's prospectus contains this and other information and may be obtained at http://usvc.com/prospectus or by calling +1 (844) 988-1720. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

This communication is for informational purposes only, is not intended to be a recommendation for any investment or other advice of any kind and shall not constitute or imply any offer to purchase, sell or hold any security or to enter into or engage in any type of transaction. Any such offers will only be made pursuant to USVC’s prospectus, which should be carefully reviewed before investing.

Investing in the USVC Venture Capital Access Fund involves significant risk, including the possible loss of principal. Venture capital investments are speculative, illiquid, and subject to a high degree of risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

USVC Venture Capital Access Fund is distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc., member FINRA. ALPS Distributors, Inc. is not affiliated with USVC’s adviser or its affiliates.

Investing in USVC’s shares involves substantial risk, including the potential loss of your entire investment. Shares are not listed on any exchange, are illiquid, and liquidity is limited to periodic repurchases at the discretion of the Board, which are not guaranteed. This investment is speculative and suitable only for long-term investors who can bear the risks of limited liquidity. Certain conflicts of interest involving USVC and its affiliates could impact USVC’s investment returns and limit the flexibility of its investment policies. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Fees, expenses, and conflicts of interest may reduce returns.

USVC’s shares have no history of public trading. You should not expect to be able to sell your shares other than through USVC’s repurchase policy, regardless of how USVC performs. USVC does not intend to list its shares on any securities exchange during the continuous offering, and it does not expect a secondary market in the shares to develop.

USVC invests in private funds which are subject to certain risks including those related to illiquidity, indirect fees, valuation, limited operating histories and limited information regarding underlying investments. As a result of the foregoing, an investment in USVC’s shares is not suitable for investors that require liquidity, other than liquidity provided through USVC’s repurchase policy. The amount of distributions that USVC may pay, if any, is uncertain.