Neil Dempsey

Neil Dempsey: failed into his 40s, then backed Starbucks with his own money

Sam tells the story of his investor Neil Dempsey, who failed at companies into his late 30s/early 40s, got a VC job, found a coffee-shop deal everyone laughed at, invested his own money when the firm passed—and that company turned out to be Starbucks.

“he was in his— he was trying companies and kept failing. And up into his late 30s, early 40s, he was failing, failing, failing. He got a job at a VC and met this guy starting a coffee shop, brought to the VC. Everyone laughed at him. They said, no, we're not investing, this is stupid. So Neil invested his own personal money into it, and that company ended up being Starbucks.”