Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash is preparing himself for a second career in investing, and is currently raising $ 20 million for a new New York City-based VC firm called Consigliere. Co-founded with Mike Duda of the ad agency Deutsch, Consigliere will invest in “e-commerce, sports, durables and performance categories” with attention to early stage companies that will benefit from building a brand, according to multiple reports today.
Nash (who has active Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels) told reporters that he wanted to have a gig lined up for after he’s done playing basketball — not that the time has come yet. It turns out Nash had actually been an unpaid summer intern at Deutsch during the off-season two years ago. From peHUB:
Consigliere plans to invest in seed-stage, consumer-oriented companies with “scalable, large-growth brand potential.” It also will do select Series A and Series B deals, and occasionally sign on as a strategic partner (i.e., the consulting piece) for larger transactions. Those latter deals are designed, in part, to help forge partnerships with large brands that can help out Consigliere’s younger investments.
Will we soon be seeing Steve Nash scouting startups at Y Combinator Demo Days and the like? As a basketball fan, I can’t say I would mind — though celebrities tend to dabble in tech with weak results. Nash getting into the game is yet another sign of frothy times in early stage investing.
AdAge got a testimonial for Consigliere from First Round Capital’s Kent Goldman, who has met with Nash and Duda. “We’re moving to a world where tech is moving more and more to commodity infrastructure, and what distinguishes these companies is how they distinguish their brand,” Goldman said.
Photo from Steve Nash’s NBA.com player page.
