Ev Randle

I’m looking for companies that have the potential to become “perpetual growth machines” — companies that grow at exceptional rates, with strong underlying fundamentals, for decades. These teams and companies define their generation, and shape and change the world in incredible ways. Perpetual growth machines exist across all sectors, from enterprise software to consumer internet to fintech. They’re extremely rare, but finding and partnering with them is the greatest joy of investing.

When I was nine, my family went on a vacation to Fort Lauderdale. When we got to our hotel room, the TV set was on and tuned to the Bloomberg channel. I was confused by the scrolling numbers at the bottom of the screen and asked my dad what they were. That was the first time that a “stock ticker” — and the concept of a stock more broadly — was explained to me. The idea that you could become a part owner in a business by buying its stock, and then benefit if the company did well, was a revelation to me. I was immediately hooked. When we got home to Colorado, my dad was kind enough to help me buy a few shares of Hershey Co. as my first investment. The next day, I begged my mom to buy as many Hershey’s chocolate bars as we could fit in our grocery cart, hoping my (small) contribution to sales could help the company and its stock. I was so excited that my parents didn’t have the heart to tell me that $20 worth of chocolate bar purchases wasn’t going to change the fate of a company doing billions of dollars in revenue. While my early attempt at being a value-add investor didn’t do much to move the needle for Hershey’s, the passion and excitement I felt for the process of investing never left me. From that moment on I was fixated on finding and investing in incredible companies that I was passionate about. Being an investor was the only career path I had any interest in. I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I remember that I’m basically doing the grown-up version of my first investment in Hershey’s every day.

The magic of a small, scrappy team finding product-market fit cannot be denied—it’s a moment of singular significance. That said, I believe the art of going from that initial PMF moment to becoming an important publicly traded company is vastly under-appreciated. It’s where the great teams separate themselves from the good, and a company forges its long-term identity. There is no experience like witnessing a team go through this gauntlet and come out the other side victorious. Getting to be involved in that journey and help improve the odds for a founder and team reaching the mountaintop is the most fulfilling part of the job, and an honor I will never take lightly.