How Solo Capitalist Rex Salisbury Became a Fintech Super Contact

• In three years, venture capitalist Rex Salisbury’s profile has risen as a fintech superpower.
• He left his partner role at Andreessen Horowitz last year to raise a $20 million debut fund.
• Salisbury’s deal flow comes from a community of fintech entrepreneurs he has cultivated over the years.

When the two founders of OatFi, a startup that improves access to working capital for small businesses, jumped on the phone to pitch solo venture capitalist Rex Salisbury for a round of funding last summer, they said these four magic words that every investor wants to hear: “You have been so helpful.”

That surprised Salisbury, the lone partner in new fintech firm Cambrian Ventures, given that he had never met the OatFi founders before. But he had helped them, without even trying.

Salisbury is one of the few first-time fund managers to spin off a fund this year, as capital pools dry up. PitchBook data indicates that while venture funds raised more than $150 billion through the third quarter — more than all the funds raised in 2021’s euphoria — the money went to far fewer funds compared to last year’s total.

In lean times, institutional investors stuff their money into firms they know and trust to deliver returns. It is especially difficult for new fund managers to win them. However, Salisbury defied the first-time fund manager’s curse when he closed $20 million on his first fund in June. He credits his success to the wealth of connections he has made as a community builder.

—Rex Salisbury (@rexsalisbury) 9 October 2022

Before striking out on his own as a solo venture capitalist, Salisbury worked as a software engineer at a startup and as a hobby started a networking group, Cambrian, for founders and developers working in fintech. In six years, the club grew to more than 15,000 members who attend events and a Slack group, trade knowledge and job postings and, to Salisbury’s interest, whisper about funding rounds.

OatFi founders Mike Barbosa and John Jordan belonged to the group before they ever hit Salisbury. On the phone, the founders said they had met an early customer and an infrastructure partner for their startup through Cambrian. They were now keen to raise money from the fintech community leader.

“I want people to have gotten value in some way before we invest, or even if we never invest,” Salisbury told Insider.

When he was an engineer, Salisbury used his access to entrepreneurs at Cambrian to write small personal checks to startups he admired. In 2019, he quit his job with the intention of raising a fund to invest in more opportunities. Then a new opportunity arose.

Andreessen Horowitz, one of the world’s most influential venture firms, reached out cold and offered him a job in short order. He became the first external hire for the firm’s fintech practice, working alongside general partners Angela Strange and Alex Rampell.

Since then, Salisbury’s profile has risen as a fintech superpower, with investments in startup hotshots such as Deel and Tally. And after three years at Andreessen Horowitz, or A16z as the firm is known, he left to revive his ambitions to raise a fund late last year.

Salisbury has made seven investments so far, though only two are public: Keep Financial, an employee financial benefits startup, and OatFi. Founded in 2021, OatFi builds software for businesses that allows them to embed financing products, such as buy now, pay later, into their services without starting a credit business. It has closed $8 million in funding across a pre-seed and seed round.

The story of how Salisbury got the deal speaks to his reputation as one of the most well-networked people in fintech.

To be sure, he owes much of his investment pedigree to the company he left, A16z. Roughly speaking, founders want to acquire from Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz’s $35 billion powerhouse firm because an investment from A16z gives them the patina of selectivity that makes other investors pull out their checkbooks. When Salisbury left the firm, he took part of the brand with him.

After Salisbury invested in OatFi in a pre-seed round, he introduced the founders to partners at QED, who then raised a seed round.

“When I invest in your company, every multi-level firm will know that I did the deal,” he said.