Podcast episode

Early Bets, Liquid vs Venture & Why Math Is Honest

The fund's early investments, the overlap between investing and building, and the decision to focus more on liquid markets.

BR LabsEpisode 09September 14, 2026

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Episode overview based on BR Labs' published description. Watch the original recording for the full discussion.

Episode topics

Rezo Shmertz revisits the fund's launch in 2018 and investments that developed into operating relationships, including CoW Swap and Pave Bank. The episode compares liquid and venture investing, with particular attention to how quickly each provides feedback on a decision.

Explore further

Investment conviction and operating experience

This BR Labs episode places the move toward liquid markets in the context of an existing venture practice. Early investments, founder relationships and work on CoW connect capital allocation with building. The comparison between venture and liquid investing centers on experience, relative strengths and the time it takes to assess an outcome.

Explore What I Back for selected investments and What I Build for Rezo Shmertz's companies and systems. Episode 10 follows with a discussion of AI investing and the trading desk. The full podcast series is in Media.