Dave Thornton – Unlocking Venture Access Through Stock Options at Vested (EP.469)

In this episode of Capital Allocators, Ted Seides interviews Dave Thornton, CEO of Vested, a venture secondaries platform focused on providing liquidity to startup employees and offering diversified exposure to top venture-backed startups. Dave shares his background in finance and entrepreneurship, detailing his experiences in hedge funds, law school, and building startups. The conversation explores the challenges startup employees face with stock options, leading to the creation of Vested. Dave discusses Vested's investment strategy, including sourcing deals, using a quantitative model to predict startup success, constructing portfolios, and mitigating risks. The episode also touches on the future of liquidity and indexing in venture capital, as well as the use of AI in improving Vested's operations.