Meet Bryce Gilleland, New GP of Cal Fund II
The Haas MBA and former hedge fund founder explains why he’s bullish on the Fund’s next chapter
Bryce Gilleland, MBA 2020, recently relocated from Puerto Rico back to the Berkeley to join California Innovation Fund as a co-GP for the soon-to-launch Cal Fund II. In this interview, hear about his fascinating career and his plans to grow Cal Fund’s footprint and impact.
How did you first get involved with Cal Fund?
I have been involved with Cal Fund since the beginning. I was a student in Kurt Beyer’s (Cal Fund founder and GP) Entrepreneurship course while I was doing my MBA at UC Berkeley Haas, and he reached out towards the end of 2021 to tell me about the concept for Cal Fund. I was excited by the Fund’s mission to support the UC Berkeley Entrepreneurship ecosystem by donating 50% of the GP profits back to the program, and I signed on to be an LP in Cal Fund I without hesitation. Given what I thought was a great opportunity with a good cause, I reached out to other class members and was able to help with fundraising.
Kurt also asked me to be a Board Advisor, which is a small committee that advises on certain projects or decisions to be made on behalf of the fund.
What has your professional journey been?
I spent the first part of my career working at an electric utility in Southern California, first in corporate financial planning and then in investor relations. The latter was formative in that I learned, somewhat to my dismay, that money drives so many things. We could be driving amazing energy efficiency and solar projects, but all our investors cared about was what our returns were going to be and how we could grow them in the future. It was a valuable perspective that I’ve carried with me.
Then I spent 10 years at PG&E, where I worked on energy efficiency policy and demand side management programs. The most rewarding thing I did there was design an incentive mechanism for utilities across the state of California to improve their energy efficiency or reduce their energy load – the opposite of how they had historically been incentivized. The proposal was ultimately approved and ended up being additive to PG&E’s bottom line while also reducing energy usage. I was excited to have been able to do well by doing good.
During my time at Haas, I began running a crypto investment strategy with a couple of friends outside the program. We eventually decided to launch a hedge fund, which was the top performing hedge fund in the world in 2020. However, despite the financial success and entrepreneurial experience, I didn’t feel like I was adding much value to the world.
Needless to say, my career has been a winding road and I’ve learned a lot about the intersection of policy and industry and how to run a successful business. In the process, I’ve also learned about myself and my values.
How did you end up joining Kurt as a GP for Cal Fund II?
Kurt put in an enormous amount of time and effort getting Cal Fund I up and running in the beginning, and understandably he was looking for someone to take over a lot of the day-to-day operations for Cal Fund II. He approached me about it when I was in the process of closing my hedge fund chapter and considering what I wanted to do next. Having completed integral and executive coach training a few years prior, I was looking at starting a coaching business or helping entrepreneurs in some capacity. And when this Cal Fund opportunity landed in front of me and it just seemed amazing – it fit everything I was looking for.
I get to coach successful startup entrepreneurs. I get to look at what future opportunities are out there. I get to be a part of a growing ecosystem. I love challenges and this job challenges you intellectually, and emotionally, while being highly competitive.
What has been the most challenging thing about your new role so far?
Definitely the depth of resources in the Bay Area. It's astounding. There are 50 different professors on campus I want to meet with. There are hundreds of other venture capital funds that we could partner with. There are thousands of peers in the Haas network, let alone all the other UC-Berkeley affiliated people we meet with. And of course, there is our incredibly robust pipeline of founders.
The dynamic nature of venture investing is also a challenge because you're looking at what the future is going to be in 3, 5, 10 years and trying to stay ahead of the curve. You then scale that out across dozens of industries and thousands of talented individuals and try to see what the future is across all these dimensions. It's a fascinating puzzle to look at and see how Cal Fund fits in and how we make the most beautiful puzzle possible with all the pieces there. The ultimate challenge is figuring out who the right players are, when's the right time to talk to them, and who you can connect to optimize outcomes for everyone.
Do you anticipate that there will be any differences between how Fund I and Fund II are managed?
Our investment philosophy and process for Fund II will generally be the same. We are very encouraged by how Fund I portfolio is performing four years in, which we think proves the effectiveness of our current due diligence and founder support model. We still plan to leverage deal flow from Kurt’s 295A Entrepreneurship course and Bakar Labs, among other Berkeley incubators and centers of excellence. For example, I’ve recently started engaging with the Richmond Field Station, a 175-acre UC Berkeley owned research hub where 1,000+ researchers, students, and startups are working on everything from aerial and aquatic drones and self-driving vehicles to earthquake safety, smart infrastructure, and ecological restoration. Fascinating! And that’s just a few of the hubs on campus, there are quite a few more.
We’ll also continue to leverage the close relationship of Cal Fund with the university for guaranteed access to companies utilizing Berkeley’s world class IP, which has helped us invest in oversubscribed rounds such as Mammoth Biosciences. One aspect that I’m hoping will be slightly different for Fund II, and that is a personal priority for me, is even more engagement with the vast network of innovation and technology resources on campus and our incredibly talented LP base and alumni network.
A scene from Bryce’s recent visit to the Richmond Field Station.
What are some of the industries, macro trends or ideas that you think will be the biggest opportunities for Fund II?
There are a few key areas that I’m thinking about:
First is biotech. Berkeley has a huge advantage with Baker Bio Labs and the revolution Jennifer Doudna has started with gene editing technology. There are several health conditions with multi-billion dollar markets that currently have no treatment, which could potentially be addressed by clipping certain genes out. And so you're seeing all these top tier biotech companies that are coming out because of the advancement in treatment and delivery methods. So that's a huge sector.
Second is AI. Berkeley is a leading institution in the space with Ion Stoica (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Databricks, currently valued over $100B), Pieter Abbeel (Director of the Berkeley Robot Learning Lab and Co-Director of the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence [BAIR] Lab), and a handful of other top tier professors that have built major AI companies over the past 5-10 years. So having access to them and their new projects is a huge opportunity for us. I’m also really excited about “boring” industries and sectors that can use AI to drive significant advancements. I’m currently looking at a 360 evaluation / coaching company that can lower the price point of this service (typically at least $10K per engagement in corporate settings) and potentially improve feedback since AI is less judgemental and doesn’t get tired. So how can we find that for other industries as well that are kind of boring, that can just use automation to expedite them?
Lastly is dual use applications. So anything that could have both military and commercial applications. And here's where we really lean into Kurt. He has military connections and has monthly meetings with the Defense Innovation Unit. These dual use companies often get de-risked because they can get significant government grants and government contracts. Some of our Fund I founders have received non-dilutive grants, expedited approvals, government contracts, and military grade testing resources.
What do you think is the most important criteria for evaluating investment opportunities?
To state the obvious, founders are incredibly important. I’m particularly focused on product-founder fit. Every company is going to go through a lot of struggles, and if you have someone who's obsessed with the problem they’re working on, there’s a good chance they’ll have the determination and stick-with-it-ness to go through all these ups and downs. A founder who is rotating through sectors to find an opportunity may not have the same passion or endurance.
The next is the total addressable market (TAM) and exit opportunity. Is it big enough to be venture backed? Because there are a ton of really good companies that just aren't appropriate for venture, so you need to make sure that you know a company has the opportunity to return a significant multiple on your investment. And then I like to consider how we can support the company. Are we able to tap into our network? What edge can we give this company? It could be a critical introduction of capital, help on a contract, or assistance with funding or grants, anything like that to provide better opportunities.
What do you like doing when you’re not obsessing over promising founders and new tech?
I love to build Legos. I have over 150,000 pieces of Legos built in 125 sets. I love to go on hikes and connect with nature. I think we could all breathe in the trees a little more. In the Oakland Hills there’s this 20 minute hike I do every morning, and there's one part where I can't see any homes despite being in the middle of my neighborhood. It's fantastic.
Bryce and his girlfriend Jordyn hiking in Puerto Rico.
Written by Stacey King and Emily Lammers
