Republic Founder Kendrick Nguyen: Empowering 1 Million People with Private Investing!
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In today’s episode, I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Kendrick Nguyen, Founder & CEO of Republic. Ken is a stellar founder with an incredible track record of success across big law (Goodwin Procter), finance (Permal Group / Maurice Kanbar’s Family Office), and technology (AngelList).
He is also one of the nicest, most genuine folks you could meet and I think that shines in today’s episode.
Republic is an investment platform for everyone to invest in private deals including startups, mission-based enterprises, real estate, video games, crypto, and more.
Republic has deployed $150M+ in the last year and has over 1 Million Members of its community. They’ve closed 250+ deals including mega-startups SpaceX, Dapper Labs, Pipe, Gumroad, Robinhood, and more. They do all kinds of deals from seed to pre-IPO, and different types of offerings (Reg A, CF, D). Deals are offered for both accredited and non-accredited investors, giving everyone a chance to back companies they believe in.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
Ken’s Background & Childhood Inspiration for Starting Republic
Ken is a Silicon Valley native, but grew up on “the other side of the tracks” in East Palo Alto. This area was not what it was today, as it was one of the most dangerous areas in California. Ken witnessed the amazing wealth creation opportunities the founders, angel investors, and VCs had nearby, but knew his family never had a chance of participating. He even noticed his wealthy friends who had doctors or lawyers for parents could never get access to these companies until they went public, missing out on life-changing wealth. He recalls joking with his parents about whether they should invest in hot startups (eBay, Google) when they would see them in the local news.
“I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was like, Hey, Mom, Dad, you know, what about eBay? Should we invest in early? And I would jokingly say Hey, that’s really for the rich. But as it turned out, even parents of my friends who were accredited…did not have any access…
I think the notion of just wanting to be part of the narrative of technology really spoke to me…I wanted to see that my siblings and others who wanted to be a part of something that they believe in would have the power to do so!”
Fast forward through a long career of law, finance, and teaching in Vietnam, Kendrick eventually became General Counsel at AngelList. He left AngelList in 2016 to “champion the retail revolution” at Republic:
“By a stroke of luck, there was a full-time teaching fellow position at Stanford...And I think I took a 90%+ pay cut to come back for two years, because I thought it would be a unique and profound experience compared to anything else that was on the table at the time. And it’s an experience that money could not buy and could not buy later on”
Republic’s Mission and Empowering All Investors
“The mission here is in two different tiers:
1. Really fulfilling that desire I had as a teenager — wanting to invest in things that I very much believed in, in startups and innovation.
2. It is very clear that the wealthiest 1% built their wealth through investment in the private markets…So the ability to provide and enable people to invest privately makes sense well beyond the fairness and access component. I really think it’s going to basically enable people to gain and participate and have the level of prosperity that we have not have seen in the past 100 or 200 years.”
How He Thinks About Which Companies Will Make it to the Platform
“Here’s the stat. In 2020, over 8,000, companies applied to launch and raise on Republic. We accepted just shy of 200.”
You can learn more about their diligence process here. Sample below:
While they want to make sure high-growth startups are available, Kendrick and his team focus on giving investors a wide variety of private investment options. They also emphasize the opportunity to invest in mission-driven businesses:
“We have deals backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia, but we also have deals that are small businesses in Houston, like a Vietnamese restaurant that does revenue sharing. We even have residential real estate investment opportunities, where people would never lose all of their money, but they would never earn 3x return either…We’ve got to give people that option that aligns with whatever it is that they believe in.”
Getting Sahil of Gumroad on the Platform
“[Gumroad] is a perfect example of the potential and future of retail capital for any company or any founder with a community & following. Obviously, aligning ownership and skin in the game is good for the business, and it’s good for fairness and governance. It’s just a testament to that community and their own customers!
Sahil is the founder, and he’s also an influencer on Clubhouse. People really believe and just want to be a part of it. $100 here, $200 there, you have 10s of millions in reservation and close-out $5M in a day. For any fund or founder out there, to raise $5M or even $1M, they know how hard & how difficult that process can be. And it shows how effective retail investing can be for the right company.”
The Future of Venture Capital & Influencer Investing
“The Sequoias and Andreessen Horowitzs of the world will always be there. The values that they provide are hard to replicate…But I think that retail capital, particularly for B2C or consumer-focused businesses, will replace or very competitively compete against venture capital coming from Tier 3, 4, and 5 VCs. You’re gonna have a scenario where influencers like Kim Kardashian or Serena Williams, leverage their vast following and become a new version of venture capitalist.
…it also adds value in the relationship between an influencer and their audience. You’re no longer just selling merch, you’re empowering your fans to participate in things you care about. And so I think it’s going to increasingly be a powerful, powerful trend.”
Getting The Incredible Arlan Hamilton & Backstage Capital on Republic
“Arlan is a powerful, powerful human being who is well-loved by hundreds of thousands of people. What she stands for, it just resonates with people. When she came to us and looked at raising for her fund, we let her know that the law doesn’t allow us to deploy retail capital into an investment fund. But…Arlan was convinced, and I’m so glad to see that she had that courage and that voice to do something entirely new.
So the investors in backstage share in the carried interest that the advisor entity would gain from the fund. So it’s not a direct investment in the fund, but it aligns with the fund’s success!”
Ken & I also cover:
- Getting SpaceX, Pipe, Gumroad, Robinhood, and more on their platform
- How companies can apply for and get listed on Republic (it’s much easier and cheaper than you’d think!)
- Republic’s 3 key verticals and how each operates
- And a fun rapid-fire round including the best Vietnamese food in the Bay, his first job selling cars, and his thoughts on Naval Ravikant!
Listen on Apple | Spotify | Soundcloud
*Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity or conciseness.
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Ryan Zauk
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Ryan Zauk is an MBA Candidate at The Wharton School, where he runs the Wharton FinTech Podcast. He currently works with the US International Development Finance Corp looking at technology impact investments in developing markets. He has a passion for music, media, and all things FinTech.
You can reach him at rzauk@wharton.upenn.edu or on Twitter.
