Founding General Partner at Inception Capital
Check size: Inception does not publish a David-specific check range on its live site. A 2026 interview described an $80M platform split between a $50M venture fund and $30M fund-of-funds, but vehicle size is not personal check size. Founders should ask directly about current round, ownership and reserve fit.
David runs a dual strategy: direct early-stage venture investments and backing emerging fund managers, sometimes through management-company or GP stakes. His edge is an East-West network connecting U.S. innovation and institutional capital with Asian adoption, builders and liquidity. He favors globally trained founders, emerging-market financial infrastructure and long-duration themes such as stablecoins, tokenization, automated finance and the intersection of AI and Web3.
State whether the ask is a direct company investment, fund commitment or GP/management-company partnership. For companies, show team conviction, product, users, economics, token-versus-equity structure, regulatory and liquidity plan, target markets and why cross-border support matters. For managers, provide differentiated access, attribution, fund construction, ownership, operations, fundraising plan and the path to a durable franchise.
Founders and managers operating at inception with personal conviction, accountable ownership, global ambition, non-consensus insight, patience across cycles, institutional operating discipline, a concrete emerging-market or cross-border edge and the ability to compound through product, strategy and go-to-market changes without merely chasing narratives.
No formal personal pass list is public. His interviews suggest concern with approval-heavy ownership, founders who pivot only to chase the latest narrative, short-term token thinking, weak market instincts, strategies with no Asia/U.S. or emerging-market edge, and emerging managers who cannot explain access, portfolio construction or how they will build a durable multi-fund franchise.
Combine direct founder exposure with emerging-manager relationships so each side expands differentiated insight, access and portfolio support for the other.
Test whether a company can translate U.S. innovation into Asian adoption or Asian product and distribution strength into U.S. capital, regulation and markets.
Distinguish adaptive execution around a durable founder insight from repeated narrative chasing that signals no owned thesis.
Evaluate emerging fund managers as company builders: sourcing edge, judgment, attribution, ownership, hiring, fundraising, operations and ability to compound across vintages.
Do not translate a disclosed fund or platform size into a promised per-company allocation; confirm check, ownership and reserves for the live vehicle.