John Cowan
General Partner
More than 25 years leading early-stage companies as founder and CEO. Venture architect, capital strategist and author of the bestseller Venture Capital 2.0.
About Next Wave
Operators who built the firm they needed
We spent decades as founders, CTOs and executives. We raised capital, shipped products, closed enterprise customers and went through acquisitions. Then we built the structure for deep tech that we wish we had.
Origin
Standard venture fits fast software. Deep tech needs more.
Autonomous systems, robotics and intelligent infrastructure need patient capital, operating skill and aligned incentives. They need partners who understand the technology, who can embed and execute, and who are free of artificial exit timelines.
So we built Next Wave Partners as a venture studio and fund. Research gives companies a head start, operators build alongside founders and revenue-based structures let founders keep ownership.
The team
Builders, operators and investors
Together we bring more than a century of experience building companies from the inside.
James Thomason
General Partner
More than 25 years in Silicon Valley startups. Repeat founder and CTO with multiple exits and 14 granted patents. Former engineering leader at Exodus, Netli and NetScaler. Original designer of the Safer and author of Venture Capital Without Unicorns.
Ben Buettell
Venture Partner
More than 35 years in M&A advisory alongside early-stage technology investing. Former managing director at Houlihan Lokey with board seats in fintech, software and hardware.
Bill Starr
CFO
More than 30 years across public accounting, global investment banking and fund management. Qualified CPA with deep early-stage and capital-raising experience.
Mission
Expand who gets to build and what gets to exist
We believe more startups are good for the economy. A venture model tuned to find a few outliers leaves many viable companies unfunded by design.
We originate companies and invest at the turning points of long innovation curves. The Era of Autonomy will change how people work, live and transact, and we are building the capital structure to fund it.
Published work
We publish the playbooks
John Cowan wrote Venture Capital 2.0. James Thomason wrote Venture Capital Without Unicorns and originally designed the Safer.
Venture Capital 2.0
Venture Capital Without UnicornsBuild the next wave with us
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