Identifying Key Qualities in Growth Stage Investors

This chapter discusses key qualities to seek in an investor for growing companies, emphasizing experience in scaling operations and market expansion. The conversation underscores the importance of choosing a partner who can effectively navigate challenges and seize growth opportunities.

Transcript

chevron_right

Play full episode

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

In this episode, CJ interviews Lucas Swisher, Co-Lead of Growth Investing and Software Investing at Coatue, to explore how one of tech’s most influential investment firms navigates both public and private markets. Lucas explains Coatue’s evolution—from hedge fund origins to a powerhouse in venture capital—and how the company balances short-term public market pressures and long-term private investments. The conversation takes a dive deep into data-driven decision-making and how Coatue’s proprietary Mosaic platform provides an edge while still leaving room for human intuition. They also discuss the firm’s investment philosophy, what differentiates them from other investment companies, and why they choose to have such a concentrated portfolio of investments. Lucas sheds light on how they evaluate the sustainability of a small software company's unit economics, the most important metric that they look at, and other important factors and red flags that often get overlooked when choosing where to invest.

If you're looking for an ERP head to NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get a customized KPI checklist.

—

SPONSORS:

RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo.

Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics.

Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics.

Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off of Vanta at vanta.com/metrics.

Tropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. It doesn’t just show you where the problems are—it helps you solve them. From spotting hidden optimization opportunities, like duplicative spend, to automating those painful procurement workflows, to giving you the best market data that turns every vendor negotiation in your favor. Tropic combines smart insights with real human expertise to keep you ahead of the curve. Visit tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics to learn how

NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 40,000 companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅, head to NetSuite https://netsuite.com/metrics and get the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning.

—

@cjgustafson222 (CJ)

—

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview and Intro

(02:18) Sponsor – RightRev | Planful | Brex

(06:15) Lucas’s Role at Coatue

(07:58) The Evolution of Coatue’s Investment Strategy

(11:36) Growth-Stage Private Assets Versus Public Markets

(14:18) Balancing Short-Term Public Investing and Long-Term Patience of Private Markets

(16:07) Sponsor – Vanta | Tropic | NetSuite

(19:50) The Service Business at the Core of Coatue’s Growth Investing