81% of America is Underfunded | Vijen Patel & Grady Buchanan | Superclusters | S5PSE1

Aug 4, 2025

Vijen Patel, an entrepreneur and investor behind The 81 Collection, and Grady Buchanan, a venture capital strategist with NVNG, dive deep into America’s investment landscape. They discuss how 81% of the economy remains underfunded and emphasize the need for venture capital to tackle social issues like housing and food insecurity. The duo reflects on their personal journeys, the significance of community engagement in finance, and innovative investment strategies aimed at revitalizing local businesses in the Midwest.

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ANECDOTE

Quitting PE for Dry Cleaning

Vijen quit a well-paying private equity job to start a dry cleaning business despite family opposition.
His family, mostly doctors, initially tried to dissuade him, showing the challenge of choosing an unconventional path.

ADVICE

Use Doubts to Build Conviction

Listen carefully to all concerns and write them down when making big decisions.
Take time to synthesize feedback before acting with conviction to de-risk your choices.

ANECDOTE

Building Customer Service Protocol

After a customer complaint, PressBox quickly created a customer service protocol.
This transformed the team from a chaotic startup to a structured company overnight.

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“19% of our GDP attracts about 55% of capital inflows, aka venture activity, and 81% is underinvested.” – Vijen Patel

Vijen Patel is an entrepreneur and investor. He founded The 81 Collection, a high growth equity firm in boring industries. Previously, he founded what is now known as Tide Cleaners. He bootstrapped what eventually became the largest dry cleaner in the country (1,200 locations) before selling to Procter & Gamble in 2018. Before Tide Cleaners, he worked in private equity, McKinsey & Company, and Goldman Sachs. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two kids.

You can find Vijen on his socials here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijenpatel/X / Twitter: https://x.com/itsvijen

Grady Buchanan is an institutional and risk-based asset allocation professional with a passion for bringing venture capital to those who have the interest. He founded NVNG in late 2019 and oversees investment strategies, the firm’s venture fund pipeline, manager sourcing, due diligence, and external events. Before launching NVNG, Grady worked with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s (WARF) $3B investment portfolio, focused on private equity and venture capital initiatives, including fund diligence, investment strategy, and policy. Grady is based in Milwaukee, WI.

You can find Grady on his socials here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gradynvng/X / Twitter: https://x.com/GradyBuchanan

OUTLINE:

[00:00] Intro[02:41] The pressure of quitting a PE job for dry cleaning[05:09] Vijen's self talk as a founder[06:50] How to overcome doubt[09:00] How Vijen learned customer success[10:35] What did Pressbox become?[12:41] The dichotomy between society's needs and what gets funded[14:19] How did Grady go from selling pancakes to being an LP?[23:51] Why did Grady think he bombed the LP interview?[29:15] What is The 81 Collection?[32:22] How did Vijen meet Grady?[34:39] How is Vijen fluent in Spanish?[36:40] How did Grady meet Vijen?[42:21] How did Grady underwrite 81 Collection?[44:44] What about Vijen made Grady hesitate?[48:35] What's one thing about 81 Collection that could've gone wrong?[50:33] The 3 things that create alpha[52:42] Why does NVNG have the coolest fund of funds' names?[53:47] The legacy Grady plans to leave behind[56:06] The legacy Vijen plans to leave behind

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