In both nature and venture capital, there are two types of approaches to survival and success: the buffalo and the polar bear. Buffaloes move in herds across familiar grounds, finding safety in numbers. Similarly, many investors follow predictable patterns, chasing the same opportunities in search of the next unicorn, driven by FOMO (fear of missing out) instead of real conviction.

On the other hand, the polar bear is solitary and ventures into territories that others avoid, finding hidden opportunities and value. It’s this polar bear mentality that sets successful investors apart. Legendary companies don’t follow old patterns—they create new ones. They often thrive in places others overlook.

The Polar Bear Approach to Investing
After years of working in venture capital, I’ve learned that thriving requires a polar bear mentality. The best opportunities are often invisible to most investors because they’re hidden from outsiders. Innovation is about being right when everyone else is wrong. It’s about having the courage to venture into unfamiliar territory, just as the polar bear finds food in areas others deem uninhabitable.

I’ve had moments when I followed the crowd, investing in the latest trends just because they were familiar. It’s easy to back the startup that mimics a successful model, relying on the same pitch decks and market predictions. But this is often not enough. Many successful ventures don’t fit the mold. Investors need to understand that sometimes what seems too early or too specialized is actually where the real value lies.

Understanding Vertical Singularities
In venture capital, there are opportunities that generalist investors miss—what I call “vertical singularities.” These are niche markets that don’t follow familiar patterns, yet they hold immense potential. Like the polar bear, who doesn’t rely on instinct alone but on experience and repetition, these markets require deep knowledge to spot value. When investors say, “You’re too early,” what they really mean is, “I don’t know your market well enough to understand what you see as obvious.”

Take the construction industry, for example. McKinsey estimates it will reach $22 trillion by 2040, but it faces major workforce shortages. Yet traditional venture capital strategies, which work in other sectors, fail here because the construction industry operates under different rules. This highlights the importance of having specialized knowledge to spot opportunities in areas others overlook.

The Hidden Value of Early Adoption
As an early-stage investor, one of the most exciting parts of the job is spotting potential in its infancy. Many of the most successful B2B companies today seemed unattractive to mainstream investors when they were just starting out. Construction tech, for example, was initially dismissed because it didn’t fit conventional patterns.

The key to identifying these vertical singularities is understanding customer behavior. It’s not about investor trends or pitch decks—it’s about how early customers react. Do they make decisions quickly? Do they see value in the solution without needing a lot of education? These signs—what I call “customer velocity”—often tell you more than any market prediction or pitch competition could. The best polar bear investors focus on these early signals and trust their intuition, even when others aren’t on board.

The Choice: Follow the Herd or Venture Into Uncharted Territory
Being a polar bear isn’t easy. Every day in this business, we face a choice: follow the herd for short-term rewards, or take the road less traveled and build specialized knowledge that others may overlook.

Being a polar bear means being willing to look wrong for a while before being proven right. It’s about believing in investments that don’t fit traditional categories, even when they face challenges. The next big companies won’t come from replicating what’s been done before. They will emerge from discovering vertical singularities and building solutions that seem too specialized at first glance.

Like the polar bear, these founders—and the investors who back them—know that the true opportunity lies beyond the familiar paths.

In the world of venture capital, I’ve made my choice. I choose to be a polar bear.