Isabel Nathan of the Nathan Family Office discusses how the office expanded from real estate into venture capital. She also describes its approach to partnerships, due diligence, and developing data centers at Copper Valley.
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About the guest
Isabel Nathan. Isabel joined the Nathan Family Office about five years ago after running her own real estate brokerage business in Sweden. The office began investing in venture capital five or six years ago and started Expert Dojo, which has invested in 300 companies. Its wealth originated in real estate development, and Isabel describes a Copper Valley project focused on building data centers.
Key takeaways
- The Nathan Family Office's wealth came from real estate development, and it later began investing in venture capital to diversify.
- Isabel says the office sought a partner with venture capital expertise because its background was in real estate.
- The office invests across types of technology, but reviews its portfolio to identify industries where it has been more successful.
- Isabel says the office started Expert Dojo and has invested in 300 companies; many later raised follow-on capital from co-investors.
- For deal flow, she recommends developing relevant expertise or building relationships with people who have it.
- She suggests approaching a small number of investors with a clear reason for contacting each, rather than sending cold emails at scale.
- Isabel says the office's partnership with its venture capital partner took over a year and more than 20 meetings to establish.
- She advises investors to do their own homework and says trust develops over time through getting to know people.
- The office is developing data centers at Copper Valley in Northern California, beginning with 50 acres, and Isabel says it is also building a hydrogen plant.
Best quotes
"First of all find the right partner with the domain expertise that we did not have and first of all you got to build that relationship over quite a long period of time."
"So that came from the real estate side. So we're a single family office and it's the first time generation uh money and local here in LA. So basically from real estate development"
"I think that you'll be better off maybe going after 10 or 20 people that you know exactly why you are approaching them rather than 200 or 2,000 people."
"Um, you have to do your own homework. That's just it. Um, it sounds uh it sounds depressing and sad, but honestly, it's going to give you a lot of stress relief and a lot less headache."
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