About
With over seven years of experience as a co-founder of M13, a venture firm that…
Articles by Carter
-
It Takes Money to Make Money—Or is There Something Else You Should be Looking For?
It Takes Money to Make Money—Or is There Something Else You Should be Looking For?
Money doesn’t matter when it comes to the success of your startup. What’s more important is your ability to stay on…
1 Comment
Activity
17K followers
-
Carter Reum shared thisI sat down with Samir Kaji for his podcast Venture Unlocked. Samir is the co-founder and CEO of Allocate, and M13 wrote one of the early checks into the company, so this was a founder we backed asking the questions. Different kind of pressure test than a normal interview. We got into the thing Courtney Reum and I actually set out to do in 2016 when we talk about M13 being a truly operator-led VC firm. We weren't trying to build a better VC. We were trying to build a different one, the firm a founder would have built for themselves. What that looks like in practice: Samir Kaji and I got into a company aiming to be IPO ready in under five years. I could have weighed in. Instead I went and got Karl Alomar, who took DigitalOcean from pre-revenue to a $5 billion IPO. Same conversation covered why a founder gets Latif Peracha or Sarah Tomolonius instead of me when that is the better call. Knowing who to hand it to is the job. Samir Kaji pushed on the part most people in this business avoid, which is the gap between value-add investors and the ones who quietly subtract value. A bad board member doesn't just fail to help. They take founder hours and slow decisions at the moments speed matters most. Nobody has a scorecard for that. We also talked about AI. Everyone knows it will change the world. That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is where in the value chain you invest to find the best risk and probability adjusted return, and where the asymmetry actually sits right now. Full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gq-3iPGkWins Above Replacement: The New Way to Judge FoundersWins Above Replacement: The New Way to Judge Founders
-
Carter Reum shared thisI'm always very proud of my teammate and wife Paris Hilton who's shown for over 25 years that she's one of the most innovative businesswoman of our generation who's constantly on the cutting edge of each technological shift from understanding the concept of personal branding to social media to the blockchain to now AI. As importantly she's the rare of example of someone using her platform to leave the world a better and more sparkly place than she found it thru her advocacy efforts. If you didn't have on your 2026 bingo card Paris Hilton sharing a cover with Dario, Elon, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos and Larry Ellison for Time Inc. Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in IA...well then time to update it I guess! https://lnkd.in/euv_8Bbp
-
Carter Reum shared thisEveryone talks about making smart decisions. The founders I admire are willing to make the ones that first look irrational. Richard Branson recently came over to our house and told us about attempting to fly around the world in a hot air balloon. Everything that could go wrong did. He crossed the Atlantic, flew over Everest, crossed the Pacific and then crashed near the finish line. He’s been rescued from the ocean by helicopter more times than he can count. Those adventures did more for the Virgin brand than a marketing campaign. Partly because he couldn’t afford one but also you can’t buy the kind of story that comes from flying a balloon over Everest. Paris Hilton shared a similar lesson. She was cautioned against doing The Simple Life. She trusted her instincts instead and said yes. The premiere drew 15 million viewers, and it became one of the most consequential decisions of her career. The best founders aren’t reckless. They make unconventional decision when everyone else sees only downside. The smartest “stupid” decision almost always looks like the dumbest one at first. What’s a decision you made that looked crazy at the time but turned out to be exactly right? Watch the full conversation from Virgin Voyages here: https://lnkd.in/gfWJDYgzFrom The Simple Life to a Billion-Dollar Empire | Brilliant Conversations ft. Paris HiltonFrom The Simple Life to a Billion-Dollar Empire | Brilliant Conversations ft. Paris Hilton
-
Carter Reum shared thisEveryone thinks great venture investors have some superpower. Honestly, that’s not how this works. Saying that out loud is either crazy or the whole point. Fast forward 10 years since we started M13, and it’s the whole point. TBPN asked me on recently -- thank you guys Jordi Hays John Coogan! -- and it’s what we discussed. You invest in great founders, and you help them execute incrementally better. Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway. Same idea. Same era. Same market. Two of them are worth $5 billion. One is worth $100 billion Airbnb outperformed 1% better every single day for ten years. That’s the entire difference. Think of it like a rocket trajectory. Change the angle one degree at launch. After a mile you’re barely off course. By the time you reach the moon, you’re 4,369 miles away. That’s what we try to do at M13. No magic. No superpowers. Just: show up before founders know they need you, change the trajectory ever so slightly and let compounding do the rest. The harder we work, the luckier we get. Watch the full episode: https://lnkd.in/gC9gAHce
-
Carter Reum shared this“What makes you different can actually be your greatest superpower.” — my wife Paris Hilton In the latest episode of The Flywheel by M13, Paris introduces a conversation on ADHD and entrepreneurship with Rho founder & CEO Everett Cook, M13’s Matt Hoffman, and ADHD coach Rita Ramakrishnan PCC, ACTC. They discuss why some of the traits traditionally viewed as challenges — constant change, nonlinear thinking, high energy, creativity, adaptability — can also become strengths in building companies and leading teams. The Flywheel was created to spotlight founders building through structural shifts and challenging conventional thinking across industries. Other recent conversations include: • Passport founder & CEO Alex Yancher with M13’s Brent Murri on global commerce and logistics • Niural AI founder & CEO Nami Baral with M13’s Morgan Blumberg on rebuilding payroll and workforce infrastructure in the AI era No panels. No soundbites. Just thoughtful conversations with founders building what’s next. Watch full episodes and subscribe to the series here: https://lnkd.in/ggT2vWcc
-
Carter Reum shared thisKarl Alomar is right that the bigger story is the market validating demand for AI infrastructure optionality at scale. Excited that M13 invests early in companies enabling performance and interoperability across architectures.Carter Reum shared thisSpoke with Allie Garfinkle at Fortune about what Cerebras' IPO actually signals about the AI infrastructure market. The headline number is striking: shares opened at $350, up from the $185 IPO price. But the real story isn't about Cerebras' valuation. It's about investor appetite for AI infrastructure alternatives. For years, the narrative was "Nvidia or nothing." That era is ending. We're seeing real capital allocation toward optionality. AWS signed a Cerebras supply deal. OpenAI committed to 750MW of capacity. Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are all building or acquiring chip capabilities. That's not hype. That's cash moving. The constraint isn't how many chip companies exist. It's how many use cases need different architectures. Inference workloads are fragmenting. Enterprise capex is flowing toward infrastructure. Governments are investing in chip sovereignty. Here's what I'm actually betting on: once you have three credible alternatives to Nvidia, the chip commoditizes. The value compounds in the layer above it—optimization, orchestration, abstraction. That's why I led M13's seed into Makora, co-founded by Waleed Atallah. They're building AI-driven kernel optimization that works across any hardware—Nvidia, AMD, Cerebras, custom accelerators. Their benchmarks show 49% performance gains and 70% cost reduction on Mistral-7B. On Qwen2-72B, they're delivering 85% performance improvements and 44% cost savings. No rewrites. No hand-tuning. As infrastructure fragments, this layer becomes the real moat. Cerebras' 100% IPO pop validates that the infrastructure boom is real. Whether Cerebras specifically succeeds depends on execution at scale. But the category? The category is just getting started. Read more in @ Fortune: https://lnkd.in/eekrbY_RCerebras soars almost 70% by market close in a true blockbuster IPO | FortuneCerebras soars almost 70% by market close in a true blockbuster IPO | Fortune
-
Carter Reum shared thisToday marks the 10 year anniversary of M13 - I couldn't be prouder of what's been accomplished and the world-class team that has their fingerprints all over the firm....but I do believe the best is yet to come. #brightertogether
-
Carter Reum shared thisWe’re spending a lot of time right now in sectors with real friction -- fintech, healthcare, government. These are massive markets still running on outdated infrastructure. Take global money movement: it still looks a lot like it did decades ago. M13 recently co-led OpenFX’s $94M Series A alongside Accel, Atomico, Lightspeed Faction, Northzone and PANTERA, supporting its mission to become the liquidity engine powering cross-border payments worldwide. Real-time FX settlement isn’t incremental. It’s a new foundation for how money moves globally, compressing what used to take days into hours and dramatically reducing cost along the way. That kind of shift doesn’t just improve the system. It changes what’s possible. Huge respect to Prabhakar Reddy and the team for building with both ambition and precision. More below from M13 partner Latif Peracha on where we’re seeing the biggest opportunities ahead, with Kristen Scholer at NYSE. And more on why we invested: https://lnkd.in/gDwTyJrA
-
Carter Reum shared thisCourtney Reum and I sat down with Molly O'Shea on Sourcery and the episode is live. Our conversation centered around how we started M13 to compete with early conviction and intentional portfolio construction that generate alpha. Molly O'Shea how we’ve maintained our discipline on the path to 15 unicorns. Grateful she had us. One of the better conversations we've had about how we actually think M13. https://lnkd.in/gxB6_vh2
-
Carter Reum liked thisCarter Reum liked thisSome of the best moments happen off stage. Grateful for the invite to speak on behalf of Hightower Advisors at Converge by Allocate 2026, alongside a great group of RIAs, CIOs and private markets leaders. The real highlight was a First Republic reunion in Austin. My former colleague Samir Kaji brought a few of us back together, including Christopher Wolfe. Samir, thank you for the handwritten note. Authenticity is the new standard. A big shout out to Carter Reum and M13 for continuing to back innovation in fintech and private markets. #Converge2026 #PrivateMarkets #WealthManagement #Fintech
-
Carter Reum liked thisCarter Reum liked thisWhat does a cancer vaccine founder have in common with a factory entrepreneur, a five-time founder, the inventor of Ring, the former CEO of Twitter and elite college athletes? Put them in a room with hundreds of University of Michigan students and patterns emerge. Five years ago, Latif Peracha and Roger Ehrenberg started the Venture Summit with the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurship to bring students into conversations with leaders across very different fields. As HF0 founder Dave Fontenot put it at the 2024 Summit: a Silicon Valley tour of duty is essential but the next exceptional founder, idea and capital can come from anywhere. Founders choose venture firms. Institutional investors decide which firms to entrust with their capital. We started with that capital chain: Michigan’s Daniel Feder, CFA, OpenFX founder Prabhakar Reddy and M13 co-founder Carter Reum explored how exceptional people recognize one another before the outcomes make the answer easy. M13 partner Sarah Tomolonius spoke with Serova cofounder Michael E. Bryan about personalized cancer vaccines and moving with startup urgency when the human body, scientific evidence and institutions operate on timelines founders can’t control. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff and M13's W. Christine Choi explored the human behind the founder story: what makes someone unreasonable enough to keep going, how fear becomes fuel, and what happens when that fuel no longer serves you. Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures and former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo joined Latif to trade unfiltered stories from some of venture and tech’s most consequential years: the deals they made, the ones they missed, what they got wrong and sports and tech predictions. Brandon Schram of 640 Oxford, NOX METALS founder Zane Hengsperger and Cantos principal Amee Kapadia explored AI’s move into the physical world, how it is changing American manufacturing and the jobs that will emerge around it. Venture has plenty to learn from elite sports. Michigan coaches Kyle Church, Kim Barnes Arico and Mike Boynton Jr., and athletes Trey McKenney and Syla Swords, joined Roger to talk about exceptional performance, building winning teams, and what student athletes need from institutions to thrive. Across very different careers, a few ideas kept resurfacing. Speed matters. Mission sustains people through the hard parts. Exceptional people attract exceptional people. And there is no single archetype for success. Thank you to everyone who has kept building this gathering with us. Excited for next year. Go Blue. Photos: Elijah Bland, EBX Studios
-
Carter Reum liked thisCarter Reum liked thisYesterday we announced that Peterson Ventures is now Salt VC. Feeling a lot of gratitude for our LPs who trust us with their capital, for our colleagues and partners at Peterson Partners who enabled Peterson Ventures to flourish, for the opportunity to pursue this next chapter with my partners Ben and Ilana, and for all our friends and former colleagues who have helped us along the way. In this AI super cycle, where so much is evolving so quickly and strongly-held opinions need to be rethought every few weeks with each new model release, I'm grateful for our north star that has anchored us from the beginning of the firm – we back people first. Founders are what we primarily underwrite because markets change, technology shifts, products pivot, but founders are the constant. Our ambition remains the same: to be the ideal first partner for exceptional founders in the ecosystems we know best. Thank you to all of the founders who have partnered with us over the last 14 years, we wouldn't be here without you. If you're in Utah, we are holding an open house to celebrate this next chapter at our new offices in Lehi today. Come by and say hi! Enjoy some Utah favorites from Tuff Pops, San Diablo Artisan Churros, and Josh's Pickles Day/Time: Thurs 9/3 @ 4:30-6:30pm Address: 3600 Outlet Pkwy, STE 150, 84043 (Link to the full article on the spin out and rebrand in the comments)
-
Carter Reum liked thisCarter Reum liked thisThe best time to stay disciplined is when everyone else is getting excited. M13 co-founder Carter Reum’s view on AI investing: believing the technology will transform the world is the easy part. The harder part is figuring out where value will actually accrue, what risks you’re taking and what price makes sense. Founders face a version of the same challenge: knowing what deserves your commitment and what’s simply benefiting from the momentum around you. Allocate’s Samir Kaji spoke with Carter about investing through hype cycles, separating good decisions from good outcomes, and why discipline matters most when it’s hardest to maintain. Tune in at https://lnkd.in/eaQDGnYa
-
Carter Reum liked thisCarter Reum liked thisWe're hosting a party during SF Tech Week. We'll have food, drinks, and a live panel discussion. I'll be sitting with leaders who are on the front lines, building and shipping voice in production: Josh Burnell, Sr. Director, AI Product @ Asurion Shiv Indap: Sr. Engineering Manager @ Upstart Jessica Powell, CEO @ Audioshake And longtime Rime friend, Brooke Hopkins, CEO of Coval will be moderating the discussion. Request your spot -- RSVP link is in the comments!
Experience & Education
Volunteer Experience
-
Executive In Residence
City of Los Angeles
- Present 9 years 2 months
Economic Empowerment
Working in conjunction with Mayor Garcetti on the City's branding initiatives and partner engagements with the aim of merging the arts and entertainment industries with traditional consumer product industries.
https://www.lamayor.org/mayor-garcetti-announces-2017-entrepreneurs-residence
Publications
-
Shortcut Your Startup
Simon & Schuster and Jeter Publishing
Shortcut Your Startup is a practical playbook for both aspiring and seasoned entrepreneurs, filled with unconventional yet accessible advice for maximizing your business venture.
Other authorsSee publication -
Harvard Business School Case Study -- Life on the Rocks
Harvard Business Press
Honors & Awards
-
100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs
Goldman Sachs Builders + Innovators Summit
Goldman Sachs selected Carter as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs from multiple industries to be honored at the two-day event held in Santa Barbara, California.
"We are honored to recognize Carter Reum as one of the most intriguing entrepreneurs of 2014," said David Solomon, co-head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs. "This is the third year for the summit and our goal remains the same. We pair seasoned and emerging entrepreneurs -- the builders and innovators -- from a…Goldman Sachs selected Carter as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs from multiple industries to be honored at the two-day event held in Santa Barbara, California.
"We are honored to recognize Carter Reum as one of the most intriguing entrepreneurs of 2014," said David Solomon, co-head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs. "This is the third year for the summit and our goal remains the same. We pair seasoned and emerging entrepreneurs -- the builders and innovators -- from a diverse set of industries to discuss how to make vital, enduring companies that reshape industries and boost the world's economies through innovation."
For more than 140 years, Goldman Sachs has been advising and financing entrepreneurs as they launch and grow their businesses. In addition to honoring 100 entrepreneurs, the summit consists of general sessions and clinics led by Goldman Sachs experts, seasoned entrepreneurs, academics and business leaders as well as resident scholars. -
Technomic Fast 50
Technomic, Inc
-
Inc. 500 Fast Growth Award
Inc 500
Languages
-
English
-
-
French
-
Organizations
-
Tiger 21
member
- Present
Other similar profiles
Explore more posts
Explore top content on LinkedIn
Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.
View top content