Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

Which GPs does Screendoor Partners Principal Wes Panek draw inspiration from?

9 Mar 2023 · 1 min

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In this interview excerpt, Screendoor Partners Principal Wes Panek discusses his sources of inspiration and career trajectory. He notes that he has long followed the founding general partners (GPs) of Screendoor on Twitter from a distance. When he moved into direct investing, he deliberately joined New Media Ventures, a niche Bay Area impact‑investing fund that backs technology for the progressive political left. Panek chose this path to gain a higher velocity of deal experience and to test whether he enjoyed venture investing. He found the experience valuable, revealing that mainstream venture operates differently from the niche, impact‑focused investing he was doing, and that the fast‑paced deal flow helped him understand his fit for the venture world.

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You've had experience on both the direct and LP side, so I'd be curious to hear if there's any difference in inspirations on those or anyone that stands out.
I have been a fan of like most of the founding Screen Door GPs for so long on Twitter, like from afar. So when I joined the direct investing side years ago, I joined kind of intentionally like a niche impact investing fund in the Bay called New Media Ventures. We were essentially capitalizing the tech stack for the progressive political left. So very niche, but I considered joining a larger fund to work from some of the folks that I now work with at Screen Door, but it's, I wanted higher velocity of deal experience to test and understand if and how I enjoyed venture like sooner. And that ended up being true. And also taught me that there is so much about the mainstream venture game that is different than the niche but important investing that I was doing.