Why billionaire investor Chris Sacca is saying goodbye to startup investing

Billionaire investor and US Shark Tank star Chris Sacca is retiring from startup investing and will be shifting his focus towards “fighting a despotic regime, doing more television, launching a podcast, all while raising three wonderful kids under six” with his partner Crystal Sacca.

In a blog post for Lowercase Capital, Sacca’s venture capital firm, the well-known investor reveals that efforts over the past couple of years to “do this job part-time” haven’t really worked.

“The only way I know to be awesome at startups is to be obsessively focused and pegged to the floor of the deep-end gasping for air,” Sacca says.

“I succeeded at venture capital because, for years, I rarely thought about or spent time on anything else. Anything less than that unmitigated full commitment leaves me feeling frustrated and ineffective.

“As you’ve heard me say on the show, if I’m not all-in, I’m out.”

While Sacca has achieved success in startup investing, the decision to move on has come from a realisation that for him: “Startup investing is one of my things, but it is not my everything”.

“It’s hard to leave all this behind right when things are going so well,” Sacca says.

Read more: What the world’s biggest investors want to know about your business — Mark Cuban, Shahrzad Rafati and Chris Sacca on what they look for in a startup

Sacca says Lowercase Capital will continue to support its “current” portfolio of ventures but it won’t be investing in or taking investment any more. Sacca also won’t be appearing on Shark Tank again as doing so would require him to invest in more startups.

“So it’s time walk away,” he says.

“Or, as we would say on the show, ‘I’m out’.”

Sacca says he and his partner Crystal now plan to focus on ensuring the opportunities arising from technology create a world that makes success achievable for all of humanity.

“Crystal and I are committed to doing all we can to ensure Utopia wins,” he says.

“We are passionate about solving our climate disaster, criminal justice reform, and women’s issues and we have a couple irons in the fire.

“We are also deeply committed to paying forward the luck and opportunities we have enjoyed in our space. So we’ve been quietly backing the next generation of investors, but specifically women and people of colour who have been starting venture funds.”

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