Teaching the Next Generation Through Direct Investment Experience
Family office series
In previous posts, we discussed the idea of GEX and what it stands for: Generational Entrepreneur Experience as well as founders who’d like to re-create wealth after a win. In this post, we’d like to explore the philosophy behind winning and how to transfer the experience of winning across generations through investing in value creation.
Experience has always been the cornerstone of the firm we’re building. In an era increasingly shaped by AI, understanding the depth and nuances of human experience is more critical than ever. Experience is multifaceted and uniquely personal, shaped by historical context, family legacy, practical learning, and evolving values. By acknowledging these dimensions, investors can better understand how founders adapt to challenges and seize opportunities.
Experience differs fundamentally from memory: while memory is a collection of past events, experience is a collection of sensations. It is this sensation that drives performance and sustains it day after day.
We’ve spent considerable time reflecting on how to capture and transfer this sensation across generations. While direct experience is irreplaceable, stories often serve as a bridge to convey its essence. Yet, the closest we’ve come to replicating this sensation is through the feeling of winning, investing in winners and sharing in their success. These sensations and victories translate into value delivered via a venture capital network, a federated ecosystem of top-performing investors, and often former founders themselves, united by a singular mission: to help the next generation of founders succeed.
As part of this journey, we’re also refining our tagline to encapsulate this philosophy. One promising option is "Learn, Live, Lift." This phrase captures a powerful progression of growth and impact:
Learn it: The foundation of growth lies in curiosity, the drive to acquire knowledge, skills, and insights. Successful investors and founders are often the most curious individuals you’ll meet.
Live it: Learning comes alive through action. Embodying knowledge by putting it into practice creates transformative experiences. The act of starting something from scratch while embracing uncertainty and risk is irreplaceable.
Lift it: The culmination of learning and living is using that experience to elevate others. This means sharing knowledge, inspiring peers, empowering communities, and raising standards for those who follow.
This cycle of learning, living, lifting is what makes Silicon Valley extraordinary. It’s woven into the fabric of its culture: the relentless drive to innovate while uplifting others has created a self-sustaining ecosystem that feels magical in its impact.
We’re applying this concept within the context of families and individuals investing in Silicon Valley with an elevated purpose: creating value today while recreating the experiences that fueled past successes for future generations. This encapsulates the essence of generational entrepreneur experience—building a legacy that not only endures but thrives across time.
This is an educational post about GEX Ventures family office. It is for informational purposes only and may not be relied on as legal, tax, securities or investment advice and does not constitute an offer to buy or sell interest in any products offered by us or others. Email me at mk@gex.vc or leave a comment if you’d like to exchange ideas.
Hello Max,
I hope this communique finds you in a moment of stillness.
Have huge respect for your work.
We’ve just opened the first door of something we’ve been quietly crafting for years—
A work not meant for markets, but for reflection and memory.
Not designed to perform, but to endure.
It’s called The Silent Treasury.
A place where judgment is kept like firewood: dry, sacred, and meant for long winters.
Where trust, patience, and self-stewardship are treated as capital—more rare, perhaps, than liquidity itself.
This first piece speaks to a quiet truth we’ve long sat with:
Why many modern PE, VC, Hedge, Alt funds, SPAC, and rollups fracture before they truly root.
And what it means to build something meant to be left, not merely exited.
It’s not short. Or viral. But it’s built to last.
And if it speaks to something you’ve always known but rarely seen expressed,
then perhaps this work belongs in your world.
The publication link is enclosed, should you wish to engage with it.
https://helloin.substack.com/p/built-to-be-left?r=5i8pez
Warmly,
The Silent Treasury
A vault where wisdom echoes in stillness, and eternity breathes.