This summer, Breaking Precedent is revisiting conversations that feel just as resonant now as when they were first recorded. In this episode, Leah Solivan sits down with Aaron Holiday to explore what it means to challenge the systems and assumptions that determine who gets access to opportunity. Aaron is the co-founder and Managing Partner at 645 Ventures. He oversees the firm’s investing approach, strategy, investor relations, and governance. Since founding 645 Ventures in 2014, Aaron has worked closely with portfolio company founders to strengthen, grow, and scale businesses. Aaron led 645 Ventures early-stage investments in several breakout successes, including Goldbelly, Iterable, FiscalNote, Squire, Resident/Nectar Sleep, FLY Labs (acquired by Google), Source3 (acquired by Facebook), and several other category-defining companies. In 2021, Aaron made the Midas Brink List of VC investor up-and-comers to watch for his involvement and investments in startup companies that have scaled to hundreds of millions in revenues and unicorn status. The conversation traces Aaron’s path from growing up in New Orleans and imagining a different future to studying computer science, working on Wall Street, entering venture capital, and building 645 Ventures. Leah and Aaron explore access to opportunity, mentorship, technology, data-driven investing, the limitations of traditional venture networks, and why finding the best founders requires looking beyond established circles. They also discuss experimentation, giving people a shot, and what it takes to build new systems when the old ones were never designed to include everyone. Relaunch Context This episode originally captured a moment when venture capital was beginning to confront the limitations of traditional networks, narrow sourcing models, and the assumptions about where great founders and companies come from. The replay is preserved because those questions have only become more relevant: how to uncover talent beyond established circles, how technology and data can expand access to opportunity, and how to build investment systems that can see what others overlook. Aaron Holiday’s journey with 645 Ventures offers a powerful look at what happens when you challenge the conventional model and build a new way to bring the invisible to life. Key Insights Growing up in New Orleans taught Aaron to imagine a different world and question the assumptions that define the one around him.Breaking precedent often starts with finding people who can show you what is possible beyond the world you already know.Access to information, knowledge, and resources can dramatically change the trajectory of talented people, regardless of where they come from.Aaron saw that venture capital's traditional reliance on established networks could miss promising founders and companies outside those circles.The rapid growth of startup formation created a larger pool of companies that traditional venture firms were not necessarily equipped to discover.Data and software could expand a venture firm's reach by identifying high-potential companies beyond its existing network.645 Ventures developed a different approach to early-stage investing by combining proprietary software, outbound sourcing, and a new mentality around due diligence.The firm's original fund was designed as a proof of concept for a fundamentally different model of early-stage venture capital.Technology can create societal impact at scale by making products more efficient, expanding their reach, and changing the number of lives they touch.Experimentation is central to innovation, but founders and investors also need systems that protect people when an experiment does not work.The venture industry can reproduce its own limitations when successful firms continue using the same strategies and networks that worked in the past.Opening networks is not simply a diversity strategy—it can be a fundamental requirement for finding the strongest companies in an expanding startup ecosystem.Breaking precedent requires more than identifying what is wrong with an existing system; it requires building a credible alternative and proving that it can work. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome Back to Breaking Precedent01:20 Meet Aaron Holliday04:20 New Orleans Roots05:00 Dreaming Beyond Reality06:40 Morehouse Leap08:10 Choosing Computer Science12:30 Learning Through Collaboration13:20 Hustleman Origin Story16:30 Breaking Into Internships20:20 Goldman Trading Algorithms24:20 From Goldman to GFI26:40 Discovering Venture Capital28:50 Cornell Venture Fund33:00 Advice To Work With Founders33:20 Blip TV and Early Web Video34:20 First VC Role: DFJ Gotham36:30 Cornell Tech Leap39:30 Inventing Startup Pedagogy41:40 Why 645 Was Needed45:10 Data-Driven Deal Sourcing48:40 Fund One Proof of Concept53:30 Scaling Funds Two and Three58:40 Power Law and The Invisible01:01:50 New Manager Survival01:05:40 Rapid Fire: Values and Legacy01:09:00 Closing Reflections and Outro About the Guest Aaron Holiday is the Founder and Managing Director of 645 Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on discovering promising founders beyond traditional networks. His journey began in New Orleans and took him through computer science, Wall Street, technology, and venture capital. Aaron co-founded 645 Ventures around a data-driven approach to sourcing startups, using software and technology to identify high-potential companies that might otherwise remain outside established venture networks. His work reflects his belief in expanding access to opportunity and rethinking how the venture industry discovers and supports the next generation of founders. Connect with Leah Solivan Website: breakingprecedent.comInstagram: @leah_solivan X: @labunleashed
