This week marks six years of building Alloy Partners.

We launched Alloy out of High Alpha in February 2020 - just days before the pandemic changed the world as we know it. Since then: 41 portfolio companies, 35 co-created startups, 8 venture studios, and a combined market value of about a quarter of a billion dollars. The work is incredibly creative (and fun) as we balance the art and science of venture building with corporations and entrepreneurs.

I'm eternally grateful to Elliott Parker for his leadership and trust in me to help him build Alloy Partners from day one and to the team, partners, and co-founders who inspire me daily.

It's impossible to distill six years of lessons into a single post, but here are a few that stand out:

The best builders are the best operators

You can't just spot problems - you have to fix them. Fast. The magic isn't in any single solution, but an entrepreneurial mindset. It's in spotting problems, collecting data, rapidly testing solutions, and continuing to iterate.

Building doesn't always mean new software. It's creating an internal tool to turn BD calls into venture ideas. Or maybe it's hacking together automations to keep data organized or documenting a playbook that saves the team time and reduces risk.

You don't need permission to start building. Just get started!

Corporations and startups deserve to win together

Corporations have data, market access, and scale. Startups know how to cut through clutter and bring innovative solutions to market fast. When they find effective ways to partner, it's alchemy.

But alchemy doesn't just happen - it requires real effort and alignment on both sides. Corporates need translation: proof points, case studies, clear ROI narratives, integration pathways. Startups need the right people and context in the room sprinting alongside them.

We navigate the messy middle, helping corporates and startups forge relationships grounded in aligned incentives and a unified partnership strategy. It's hard, but it's the difference between effective corporate / startup partnership and a failed one.

The power of synthesis

How you capture data and use it to make decisions determines how well you navigate change. As Chief of Staff, I'm constantly looking across the business to draw connections from past and present as we plan for the future.

Partner and startup insights inform our operations. Fundraising conversations reshape how we articulate our model. Weekly syncs reveal systemic gaps. Each co-founder we work with surfaces new opportunities to strengthen our playbooks. Capture the data, draw connections, make a plan, and take action.

The rise of AI has been a game-changer for this work. I don't have a CS background, but I can now pull insights, automate workflows, and solve problems that used to require an engineering team. For someone whose job is seeing the whole picture, that's transformative.

What I'd tell my past self: Embrace the unknown. Never stop connecting the dots. Just start building.

In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz states, "Hard things are hard because there are no easy answers or recipes." This resonates deeply, and each day at Alloy presents new challenges and opportunities to learn. As we celebrate six years of Alloy, I'm filled with hope about what we're building and the mission we're pursuing as we forge a future where corporations and entrepreneurs win together.

Here's to the next six years!