Thinking big: starting a multi-million dollar investment fund from the ground up - with Allen Farrington of Axiom

Apr 22, 2025

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#204: Allen Farrington is the co-founder of Axiom, a bitcoin-native venture capital firm. He explains what it’s like working as an investment manager, the hurdles involved in creating an investment firm, and the skills you need to start a business.

What you’ll learn

[01:33] What venture capital means.
[03:06] The difference between private equity and venture capital.
[04:57] How Allen started working in investment management.
[08:35] The benefits of applying to jobs when not under pressure.
[09:48] What it’s like working as an investment manager.
[13:20] How some investment firms treat new employees.
[15:17] How Allen got involved with bitcoin and had the idea to start his own business.
[22:35] Transitioning from working for an investment firm to starting your own firm.
[23:10] The challenges of starting your own business.
[25:15] The levels of wealth you deal with in the venture capital industry.
[26:58] The skills you need to start a business.
[30:23] How to find investors for a new venture capital firm.
[31:18] Unexpected challenges involved in starting a bitcoin venture capital firm.
[35:27] The challenges of sitting on the board of a company you invest in.
[37:55] Common tensions between the founder of a company and its board of directors.
[40:08] The difficulty of creating an effective marketing message.
[43:12] The future for Axiom.

Resources mentioned in this episode
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For the show notes for this episode, including a full transcript and links to all the resources mentioned, visit:

https://changeworklife.com/thinking-big-starting-a-multi-million-dollar-investment-fund-from-the-ground-up/

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