Episode 10: How I Decided to Be a VC Investor as a Pro Athlete
My guest today is Kelvin Beachum. Kelvin is an offensive tackle for the Arizona Cardinals with an impressive career in the NFL spanning over a decade now. Kelvin is also a two-time Walton Payton Man of the Year Award nominee, a prolific venture capital investor, and was a Forbes 30 under 30 for his startup investments and his dedication to the nonprofit space, addressing world hunger and helping students in underserved communities learn about STEM.
When I heard about Kelvin’s story what amazed me was this dual ability to play a sport at the highest level and to be a venture capital investor with a great network and understanding of the industry. Beyond just asking about how to balance all that time-wise, I wanted to understand how Kelvin dealt with self-doubt as someone who came from an unorthodox background to get into investing, how he became gravitated to the venture capital industry, and understanding when to lean into an interest or passion.
- 0:00 Intro
- 2:45 Putting Yourself in New Environments Off The Field
- 5:10 Earning Your Mentorship By Being Prepared
- 8:27 There’s No Time for Self Doubt
- 12:18 How Kelvin Gravitated To the World of Venture Capital
- 16:02 To Know If Your Like Something Requires Immersing Yourself
- 17:44 Understanding When to Double Down on a Passion or Interest
- 21:00 Kelvin’s 3 Principles of Decision-Making
- 23:29 Episode Takeaways
🎙 You can listen to the episode on Spotify or Youtube
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Takeaways
- There’s always some self-doubt that comes with making important decisions, and a lot of times that self-doubt can stem from worries about what others might think of your decision. We can deal with self-doubt by being hyperfocused on what it is that we want to accomplish and get out of our life experiences. It’s certainly easier said than done, but Kelvin is a great example of someone who really goes after it, is not ashamed to explicitly state what he wants, and understands how he’ll learn and benefit from that choice.
- Passions or interests don’t develop in a vacuum. You need to take the time to learn and immerse yourself in your craft to understand what you may like about it. Only when you begin to study the little details like Kelvin did for football or venture capital will you begin to understand what you like and don’t like, and whether this interest or industry is something you want to pursue further
- A great way to assess whether an interest or industry is something you should dive deeper on is if you love the mundane. Do you enjoy learning about the small details of a craft or hobby or industry? If you do that’s usually a really great sign to continue deepening that passion.
Referenced
- No More Excuses by Tony Evans
- Singapore Management University
- Annie Duke and Lenny talking about how feedback loops in VC don’t actually have to be so long
Where to find Kelvin
Thank you so much for reading and listening. If you’re interested in decision-making like I am, would love to connect and share notes! Think there’s anything I should’ve followed up on in my convo with Kelvin? Who should I have next on the show? Reach out and let me know!
Thank you to Ilan Leventhal (former HID guest) for producing the music for this episode!
