How Jake Paul could become one of the best performing investors of the last 10 years
Most people don’t know that Jake Paul cofounded Antifund, a small early stage VC.
That’s nothing too crazy, many sport starts and celebrities have worked their way into investing (The Chainsmokers, Aston Kusher, Pau Gasol, etc).
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However, I don’t think many of them have invested so many great companies: OpenAI, Anduril, Ramp, Cognition, Polymarket, Physical Intelligence, Flock Safety (via Aerodome), Chronosphere among many others.
Now, what’s Antifund’s thesis and what’s different about them?
They share this in their web:
“Anti Fund was founded upon two foundational axioms:
the future is forged at the intersection of tech 🤝 culture.
the best founders are “anti” by definition, as their companies must be highly disruptive to the status quo
Startups live and die on two levers: capital and attention. Capital is commodity, whereas attention is not. Every company must compete for mindshare to recruit talent and win customers. Venture is a power law business driven by iconoclasts who win. Anti Fund’s mission is to find and fund these people.”
I must say I agree a 100% with their point.
Who’s running antifund?
Well, Jake Paul and Geoffrey Woo are the cofounders, Logan Paul is GP and Steve Han is a partner.
Antifund has combined shrewd deal selection (often piggybacking on Silicon Valley’s best VCs) with a unique value proposition of influencer-driven attention to build a portfolio that includes multiple unicorns and a significant exit.
Their strategy, a barbell of early-stage bets and opportunistic later-stage investments, has yielded paper returns that would be the envy of many established venture funds.
More importantly, Paul’s success signals a broader shift in venture: the rise of “talent investors” where attention is an asset.
Now, let’s get to the numbers
How does Jake Paul’s investment performance stack up against blue-chip venture capital firms like Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), or Founders Fund? It’s an imperfect comparison – Paul is effectively a micro VC, not deploying billions – but on a relative basis, his results are striking:
Internal Rate of Return (IRR): VC firms target ~20–30% annual IRR for top-quartile funds.
Paul’s personal portfolio IRR appears to far exceed this, at least on paper. For instance, his Anduril investment (~$10M to ~$36M in <3 years) implies ~50–60% IRR.
Ramp’s seed investment, if realized, would be an off-the-charts IRR (over 100% annualized, given a 1280× in 6 years). While seed investments do carry the chance of such extreme IRRs, it’s rare to actually hit them
Portfolio Concentration: It’s worth noting that unlike a large VC firm with 30–50+ portfolio companies per fund, Paul’s major successes come from a relatively small set of investments. This concentration increases volatility – his “fund” is not fully diversified.
In VC terms, he’s hit a few power-law jackpots that skew the average up dramatically. Top firms like Sequoia or a16z also live by power laws, but they deploy much more capital across many companies to find those winners. Paul’s ability to capture value with relatively small checks is a form of efficiency. In a sense, his performance mirrors a top-tier VC’s best deals rather than their whole portfolio.
Validation by Institutional LPs: A strong signal of Paul’s credibility is that by 2025 he attracted institutional LPs (like Aquarian Holdings) to Anti Fund, and even legendary investors (Andreessen, Dixon) as personal backers. This suggests the venture community sees his model producing competitive returns.
The fact that Anti Fund closed an oversubscribed $30M fund I and is already eyeing more (with Logan Paul now on board) indicates they delivered results that LPs find attractiver.
Essentially, Paul’s “fund” graduated from a celebrity experiment to being evaluated like any other emerging VC fund – and it passed that test by hitting big winners early.
In absolute terms, Jake Paul is not deploying capital at the scale of Sequoia or a16z, so he won’t mint the absolute profits those firms do.
But on a multiple and IRR basis, his performance (so far) would place him in the upper echelon of venture investors. A seasoned VC would point out that much of Paul’s gains are still paper gains – the true measure will be cash-on-cash returns after exits. Chronosphere has proven one, but Ramp, Cognition, etc., still have to liquidate. There’s always execution and market risk (valuations can fluctuate, down rounds happen). However, given the trajectory, Paul’s early portfolio could very plausibly deliver returns that rival top-tier funds’ outcomes over the same vintage
Antifund’s full portfolio
Bull or bear?
Cheers,
Guillermo
FAQ: Jake Paul, Anti Fund, and the Rise of “Talent Investors”
Q1. What is Anti Fund and who founded it?
Anti Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm co-founded by Jake Paul and Geoffrey Woo. It backs highly disruptive tech companies and leans heavily on the idea that the future is built where technology and culture intersect.
Q2. Who runs Anti Fund today?
Anti Fund is co-founded and managed by Jake Paul and Geoffrey Woo, with Logan Paul joining as a General Partner and Steve Han as a partner on the investment team.
Q3. What is Anti Fund’s investment thesis in simple terms?
Anti Fund believes that:
the future is forged at the intersection of tech and culture, and
the best founders are “anti” by definition—rebels building highly disruptive companies.
They frame venture as a power-law game and focus on founders who can command both capital and attention.
Q4. Why does Anti Fund emphasize “attention” so much?
Their view is that capital is now a commodity, but attention is not. Startups live or die on two levers—capital and attention—and most VCs only really sell the former. Anti Fund tries to give portfolio companies both money and outsized cultural reach via creators like Jake and Logan Paul.
Q5. Which notable startups has Anti Fund (or Jake Paul) invested in?
Select Anti Fund investments include OpenAI, Anduril, Ramp, Cognition, Polymarket, Physical Intelligence, Flock Safety (via Aerodome), and Chronosphere, along with incubations like Betr and W.
Q6. Is Jake Paul really an investor in OpenAI and Anduril?
Yes. Through Anti Fund, Jake Paul has exposure to companies like OpenAI and Anduril, alongside other high-growth AI and defense technology startups.
Q7. How big is Anti Fund I and who backs it?
Anti Fund closed an oversubscribed $30M Fund I, bringing the firm’s total assets under management to more than $65M. Institutional LPs include Aquarian Holdings and Autilus Partners, plus high-profile individual backers like Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon.
Q8. How does Jake Paul’s investment performance compare to top VCs like Sequoia or a16z?
On an absolute dollar basis, Anti Fund is tiny compared to Sequoia, a16z, or Founders Fund. But on a multiple and IRR basis, Jake Paul’s early portfolio—deals like Ramp and Anduril—appears to sit in top-tier territory so far, with several positions marked up multiple times from entry. Of course, many of these gains are still on paper and will ultimately be judged on realized exits.
Q9. What does it mean that Anti Fund uses a “barbell” strategy?
In this context, a barbell strategy means combining:
many smaller, high-risk early-stage bets, and
opportunistic later-stage investments in already-proven winners.
The idea is to get exposure to power-law upside at seed while still participating in breakout companies as they scale.
Q10. Why is Jake Paul’s track record interesting to founders and VCs?
Because he’s effectively a micro-VC who has landed allocations in elite deals and built a portfolio that, on a relative basis, looks competitive with blue-chip firms. His story is a proof-of-concept for “talent investors”: creators using their distribution as a genuine investing edge, not just as marketing.
Q11. What is a “talent investor” and why does it matter?
A “talent investor” is a creator, athlete, or celebrity who invests not just money but also their audience, brand, and distribution into startups. In a world where attention is scarce and CAC is rising, being able to drive cultural awareness and demand can be as valuable as writing a larger check.
Q12. How does Anti Fund actually help portfolio companies beyond capital?
Anti Fund supports founders with:
access to creator-driven distribution (Paul brothers + network),
help on product, GTM, and fundraising, and
introductions across both Silicon Valley and pop-culture ecosystems.
Q13. Isn’t Jake Paul’s portfolio too concentrated compared to a traditional VC fund?
Yes—relative to a typical 30–50-company fund, his personal and Anti Fund bets are more concentrated. That concentration increases volatility but also amplifies outcomes when a company like Ramp or Anduril hits. In that sense, his performance looks more like the “best deals” inside a top VC fund than the diversified fund as a whole.
Q14. Are Jake Paul’s venture returns real or just “paper gains”?
A mix of both. Some exits (like Chronosphere) have crystallized real returns, but many holdings are still private and valued based on follow-on rounds or marks. As with any VC fund, the true scorecard will be cash-on-cash distributions over 10+ years.
Q15. What sectors does Anti Fund focus on going forward?
Anti Fund’s portfolio and recent fundraise signal a focus on AI, robotics, defense tech, and culturally resonant consumer brands—categories where tech and culture collide and where attention can be a decisive advantage.
Q16. Can regular investors or fans invest in Anti Fund?
Historically Anti Fund used structures (like AngelList vehicles) that were open only to accredited investors. Over time, they’ve experimented with ways to involve their broader community, but access is still generally limited to qualified LPs.
Q17. What does Anti Fund’s success mean for the future of venture capital?
If Anti Fund continues to perform, it strengthens the case that distribution-native creators can be credible GPs, not just cap-table decoration. Expect more funds that combine traditional venture skills with “cultural leverage” from creators, athletes, and influencers.