Luke R. Diaz | Founder, DBT Ventures

Driven by my passion for helping founders, and my diverse experience in hedge funds and software, I founded DBT Ventures to address the gap between ad hoc advisory boards and institutional venture capital.

DBT has advised or invested in over 15 companies, with founders and investors alike exiting profitably from 5 so far (33% hit rate as of Q3-2023).

We are proud to have worked with seed-stage startups coming out of Y-Combinator, Alchemist Accelerator among other programs, who have gone on to achieve $100m+ in ARR with successful fundraising milestones along the way fueled by strong retention, conscious leadership, and a data-driven approach to scale.

I want to embolden the underdogs. A lot of founders, particularly women and non-white founders, are statistically underfunded by traditional venture capital. For example, in 2022 only 1.9% of venture capital went to female founders—even though 20% of founders are female (source). I view this VC blindspot as an opportunity.

I was raised by a single mother of three. My parents divorced when I was six. Times got tough. I still remember the look on her face using food stamps at Safeway. With the help of her parents, we were able to make it through. Mom taught me persistence. Working in Silicon Valley has helped me overcome the scarcity mindset I developed in childhood (thought I still struggle with this sometimes).

In college I studied Finance and Psychology. To this day I’m continually amazed by how inexorably linked these two fields are.

From hedge funds to software. For 10 years I worked in finance. I was proficient at it, but didn’t love it. A friend, on a whim, referred me for a role at Optimizely (A/B testing) to be their first Customer Success Manager. In my first software job, I fell in love with the challenge of unlocking more value for customers, and building teams to accomplish this—at scale. And I haven’t worn a suit since 🙂

My personal mantra is “Do Big Things.” When I started DBT Ventures in 2015, it was in reaction to founders asking for advice and offering to pay. I helped them hire, strategize, and structure teams. So I needed a name: Do Big Things (DBT) is my reminder that life is fleeting—about 4,000 weeks!—and fortune favors the bold. Then I started angel investing in seed and small A rounds.

The most influential book I’ve ever read is The Art of Exceptional Living by Jim Rohn. It was recommended by my best friend Chris. It profoundly influenced my philosophy of leadership, personal development, and inspired me to read more—and share the learnings with founders (which evolved into the DBT Library)

I love triathlons and aviation. In 2021, fueled by cabin fever, I finished my first Ironman and got my pilot license. These pursuits taught me a lot about preparation, mental fortitude, and risk management.

Depth over breadth. With near-infinite information in our pockets, it's easy to know a little about a lot. Moreover, distraction threatens our focus every day. Today I view focus and prioritization as superpowers, and love supporting founders who are obsessed with going deep in their field.

Do Big Things

DBT stands for "Do Big Things."

DBT Ventures was founded in 2015 as a specialty advisory and investment company.

In 2022, only 1.9% of venture capital went to female founders. Since ~20% of all founders are female, the data suggests females are underfunded by a factor of 10x. This is just one example of the rampant bias in the venture capital industry.

Three of our recent investments (Kahawa, MicroGen, Stagger) have gone to female founders who are also people of color.

Our 3 areas of competency to help accelerate your startup’s growth are:

1. Leadership: structuring, building and unifying teams

2. Customer Success: driving product adoption, reducing churn, increasing expansion

3. Data Science: using machine-learning to make better business decisions

Podcasts