Next Legacy Perspectives Hunter Hillenmeyer

Meet Next Legacy Partners. While many members of both the Next Play and Legacy Venture communities are aware by now, the start of 2023 has been an eventful one for both firms. Having joined forces, Next Legacy now stands poised to deliver lasting impact and superior returns to our partners.
 
Next Play Founder Ryan Nece and Legacy Founder Russ Hall join a conversation with Next Legacy Venture Partner Hunter Hillenmeyer to discuss the rationale and the goals behind the formation of Next Legacy. They also dive into the current state of VC, a trip down memory lane to the founding of each firm in 1999 and 2014, and a glance out towards the goals for the future. The conversation also provides more color into how and why funds of funds exist than has ever been shared in this format.
 
While Next Legacy Perspectives is usually about sharing the brave exploits of our broader community, this momentous occasion felt worth celebrating through this quick acknowledgement of all the hard work that made Next Legacy possible. Here's to the next 25 years!
 

Next Legacy is no stranger to serving the needs of athletes, but when Oren Gabriel and Next Play Capital Founder Ryan Nece, now Managing Partner at Next Legacy, first discussed the challenge facing athletes as they transition beyond the world of sports, both of them saw an opportunity. 
 
NextPlayU is the product of that brainstorm. Oren and his talented co-founders have been building a platform to help athletes, both college and professional, find success in their careers beyond the world of sports. Oren's journey as a founder is a fantastic story and one that is very close to home for the Next Play team. Tune in to hear about the exciting vision of NextPlayU and the ways they hope to support this underserved, but hyper-competent talent pool as they transition from sports into the workforce.

While immigration is a polarizing topic in the US, Welcome Tech and their vision to become the digital Ellis Island somehow manage to rise above the politics. Amir Hemmat, Welcome Tech's founder, explains that if you think of a country like a company, attracting the best talent and then creating ideal conditions for their success is a no brainer. This is Welcome Tech's mission.
 
With millions of immigrants in the United States now leveraging the Welcome Tech platform, the company is well on its way. In this conversation, Amir digs into the many reasons why a company like Welcome Tech needs to exist, including why the government itself is not well positioned to serve immigrants this comprehensively. Regardless of your stance on immigration, Amir's no-nonsense views on how to empower immigrants to contribute and thrive in a new country will have you nodding in agreement. Check it out, and let us know what you think.

Harry and his teammates at Mill do not look like your typical early stage startup. For one, they come with a pedigree from some of the most iconic tech companies ever, names like Apple, Google, and Nest. He and Mill Co-Founder Matt Rogers have been in the trenches together, most notably building Nest from $0 to more than $1B in annual revenue, culminating in their acquisition by Google.
 
Startups that include hardware + software scare many VCs. The added complexity and working capital requirements are just a few reasons to validate those fears. Harry articulates wonderfully both the "why" behind Mill's bold vision and the ways that their experienced team gives them an unfair advantage. Mill's vision to "outsmart waste" by equipping families everywhere to keep food waste out of landfills, and even from becoming waste in the first place, will inspire listeners to be a part of solving what Harry describes as the "dumbest climate problem," the fact that nearly 10% of the total greenhouse gas problem comes from wasted food sitting landfills.
 
Mill is coming out of stealth now and is ready to share their vision with the world.

Most venture-funded startup founders begin their journeys with grand ambitions from the outset. Such was not the case with Natalie, who started Babylist in 2011 to improve upon her own experience setting up a baby registry while expecting her first child. Now almost a dozen years later, she has both a tween and a company who are maturing rapidly. 
 
From those humble beginnings Natalie turned her side hustle into a force in online commerce, where Babylist now manages a registry for nearly half of expecting parents in the U.S. Her lessons learned and plans for future growth will inspire anyone who has a side project that they dream could one day become their main thing. Her personal growth, from engineer & expecting mother into CEO, and the growth of Babylist from side hustle to juggernaut, both offer models for personal and professional development that the rest of us can follow.

Chase Griffin is a quarterback at UCLA and perhaps the most pioneering NIL athlete in college sports. Despite having not yet regularly started at QB for UCLA, Chase has more brand partnerships than many of the best known names in the college game. 
 
Whether you love the new world of college sports where athletes can monetize their Name, Image, and Likeness or you think this new dynamic has ruined the game, you will be inspired by the story of Chase Griffin. His marketability has as much to do with his personality and his values as it does with the strength of his arm or the caliber of his play. Is Chase a model for the future of college sports or an anomaly amidst the transition of college athletics from amateur game to professional farm league? Hear about his journey to decide for yourself.