Santo Politi makes a living investing in MEAT.
The co-founder and general partner of Spark Capital, known for financing startups like Twitter, Tumblr and Boxee, spoke on campus Wednesday about his experience investing in Media, Entertainment and Technology at an event organized by the Weiss Tech House.
Born and raised in Turkey, he began his career as an engineer in Pennsylvania and then in Osaka, Japan. He returned and received his Masters in Business Administration in finance from the Wharton School in 1997. He gained experience in the field working in bank-affiliated venture capital and Charles River Ventures before founding Spark Capital in 2005.
The Boston-based company now has “about $1 billion under management,” Politi said. And he is on the lookout for fresh talent: the first thing he did before starting his talk was to write his e-mail address on the board.
“A lot of the good entrepreneurs these days are young,” he said, adding that “innovation is not going to come from my generation.”
As an example, Politi mentioned David Karp, a high-school dropout who started the now highly successful microblogging platform Tumblr.
The Spark Capital founder also predicted a good business climate for upcoming young entrepreneurs. “We’re going into a boom market … it’s going to be a great time to make companies public.”
He added that startup companies won’t always need his help at the beginning because “Hollywood is in the hits business. We invest in hit factories.”
Spark Capital comes in when an idea is so successful that the company needs professional help to keep up with demand.
Twitter and Tumblr are two of Spark Capital’s successes, but they compensate for other investments that didn’t meet expectations. “It’s a funny business. It’s like black magic,” Politi said.
He added that a startup does not have to be the first mover in its field to attract Spark Capital’s attention. “If a new market is just starting, it doesn’t matter what number you’re in,” Politi said. You can be a third mover, like Facebook, and still succeed.
“I skipped another meeting to come to this,” first-year MBA student John Robinson said. “He has one of the most interesting portfolios of any social media investor.”
Rebecca Greenblatt, a Wharton freshman and co-organizer of the event, added that “the people who came here were the ones who really wanted to be here.”
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