Alex MacDonald
27 Feb 2026Wayve’s $1.5B, Perplexity Redemption, Revolut Eyes $100B, Decagon Founder Joins
Alex MacDonald: SQL's Founder-First VC Model & Founder Portal
Alex MacDonald dials in from the US West Coast and explains SQL: a family office for the world's athletes and artists that also runs an early-stage seed fund and series A investing, reoriented last year around founders after a conversation with George at Sequoia, with 90% of the company focused on portfolio value-add. The firm launched a founder portal for its 37 portfolio companies alongside the 'Fiction Is the Future' campaign. He credits his creative team, including Julia and Matt, for the production quality down to the buckles on SQL caps, and describes the in-house storytelling team that produces free documentaries, product videos and testimonials for founders, amplified by clients with over 300 million combined followers.
Alex MacDonald: Angel Investing Rules & the 11 Labs Lesson
Alex agrees with the claim that 70–80% of VCs add negative value, arguing no investor can make a founder successful but investors can break you, as he says he experienced in the lawfare story. For beginner angels he advises diversifying into roughly ten deals a year toward a ~50-company portfolio, keeping check sizes equal, and investing alongside experienced investors. He tells the 11 Labs pre-seed story — backed during the Velocity Black sale with one of his smallest checks, costing him an estimated $45M versus his average check size — and notes top funds like Hummingbird and Thrive invert these rules with concentrated, conviction-led, counter-cyclical portfolios.