0:09

Hey there and welcome to the much love podcast.

My name is Nate Ruben and I'm thrilled to have our guest today.

Landon Campbell with Drive Capital is a guy that if you're paying attention to the VC world, especially in Chicago, you had to have heard his name.

Landon, I'm really grateful to have you on today.

0:26

Thanks man, Excited to be here.

I love the shades.

I think the first time we met in person, the first thing I noticed was that the shape of the frame.

What?

What made you pick those?

Yeah, I am blind as a bat and have my prescription sunglasses, prescription, you know, room glasses.

0:45

And I was all like, OK, you know, I'm always leaving the house like 2 to 3 pairs of glasses.

Let me just get one that could be have functionality in both indoor settings and outdoor.

So these are those ones.

They don't change colors as many people think, but I mean, they're just, you know, a lighter tint.

1:03

And I don't, I don't think they're, you know, too dark.

But on camera sometimes, yeah, they do look a little dark, but in person they're a little lighter.

And I love it.

And you mentioned indoor, outdoor, the setting, the setting of your office is incredible.

I mean right now people can see the the state bird of Chicago, which is not a state or a bird, but the crane because we've done so much development.

1:25

Talk to us about the office and and how you found the location.

Yeah.

So we're located in Fulton market.

We've been here for about 2 1/2 months in Chicago.

Drive is based, Our headquarters is in Columbus, OH.

So I'm the only member of our team here.

Really lucky and thankful that they, you know, trust me to sort of build this new home here for our founders, for our investors as well and team members that visit Chicago whenever they can.

1:52

But yeah, man, I mean, I I really would like to say that we're in the heart of innovation in Chicago.

There's a lot of excitement happening in Fulton Market beyond tech and startups.

You know, I often say that Chicago across all sectors, you know, is sort of undergoing a renaissance period.

2:12

And just to be near so many creatives, to be next to some of the best food restaurants in the city, to have a great relationship with like one of the main developers that has put up many of these buildings.

I think there's some exciting stuff happening in Fulton Market.

2:30

I love it.

I love the the notice and the nod to food.

I tell people from across the world that pound for pound, Chicago I think is the best Food City there is, largely because it it's and it's representative of our diversity.

You can get a great meal in any style cuisine because we have people from all over the world. 100%.

2:52

And I I love, I love that you give the nod to food now.

So I'll just kind of come out and say it.

There's a lot of people right now who have been very downplaying Chicago's role in in tech, downplaying the role in in business.

They have a pessimistic view with the new, the new mayor, the new regime coming into play.

3:08

You're the opposite.

You're so bullish on Chicago.

It's, it's your primary focus.

Tell me why.

Yeah, I mean, man, there are so many great reasons.

I mean first beyond like you know, my industry and startups and tech, I mean it's a great place to be, great city.

You just spoke briefly about the food.

3:24

I mean we've been voted, you know, one of the top cities in the world, you know, for many years all together, you know, top city for corporate relocation 10 years in a row.

So it's a booming town, great cost of living, great cost of life I should say.

3:39

But then also, I mean, yeah, the price that you pay for rent comparative to cities of, you know, the stature, so maybe Boston, NY, San Francisco, you're getting much more bang for your buck here.

And of course, you know, I, I think so many of these other ecosystems have gone through these various, you know, boom and bust cycles.

3:58

I'm from the Bay originally.

So, you know, I feel comfortable saying that the Bay has seen some great innovation, but unfortunately, you know, housing costs have gone up and you know, government, you know, is not really taking care of the city and state as they should have.

So I feel like I'm excited for Chicago because we haven't really seen our full, you know, boom cycle yet.

4:21

So I I think there's still so much more excitement to come here and specifically in the tech scene.

I think that the fact that not only you know do we have a diverse ecosystem like the members of this ecosystem, you know, top ecosystem for female entrepreneurs, you know one of the best places for minority entrepreneurs.

4:41

But also I mean like sector wise, the diversity of our ecosystem is very rare compared to others which I get you know can be a double edged sword at times.

You know, we don't have like you know, the one dominant sector I think arguments could be made that maybe it's food tech and supply chain, AG tech, but you know each of these sectors that make up Chicago only, you know, take up about you know 13% of our overall economy.

5:08

So whereas you have other ecosystems that maybe are known for the one thing you know, we have the diversity and I think that really is great.

You can build anything in Chicago and we've seen that.

You know, I used to work at Cameo Creator Economy Company and one of the fastest growing ones that everybody used to question like why are you doing this year or not?

5:25

LA and these other cities and the founding team, you know, proved everybody wrong and we had great energy.

But I've also seen like all industries pretty much you know be founded here, made here.

So whether it's consumer tech, AI, quantum, you know, $0.40 of every federal dollar towards quantum tech is being spent in Chicago.

5:46

Fun fact, like, it's like anything you can build here if you put your mind to it.

That, coupled with the amazing talent that we have here, really makes me bullish on Chicago.

I love it.

A few things that came to mind.

One, I think a lot of people forget how innovative we've been with companies like Motorola in the early stage.

6:06

Hardware tech, a lot of radio based technology.

And then you just mentioned $0.40 of every dollar by the federal government being spent on quantum tech here.

That in a lot of ways is a very hardware type technology.

Talk to me about what you're seeing in both the quantum space as well as the AI space, because I think they're going to play very well with each other for the next century.

6:30

Yeah, totally.

And I think a lot of it is just like the Midwest spirit.

You know, someone replied to one of my tweets earlier in the week and we were just talking about like sort of the growth of AI and you know these you know, very hands on industries, you know mechanical engineering, you know manufacturing.

6:50

And you know that that's just the the Midwest effort.

You know, like the city on broad shoulders.

You know people growing up you know in their backyard being able to you know put together these science experiments, you know build you know and sort of have that Midwest great as well.

And I think that does make us stand out for sure compared to you know builders and other ecosystems.

7:11

You know, I, I, I at times, you know, want us to be you know, sort of competing sure with a lot of these other top ecosystems like I want to be a top ecosystem in Chicago.

But at the end of the day, like you know, not trying to recreate another Silicon Valley here.

7:27

Like I really want to hone in on what we're great at, which you know can be everything and you know continue to like show people, you know, we need to brag a little bit more here.

And I think that is, you know, really a part of our Midwest humble, you know, spirit.

7:45

But we, we need to tell people, you know, why Chicago is a great place to be.

And I think that will encourage more people, not only Chicago is to do great things, but others in other cities to want to relocate here and build their companies here.

Sure.

8:01

To kind of pivot gears from Chicago as a whole to really getting to know you a bit better.

One of the things I was immediately impressed upon meeting you was your your personal drive.

So the fact that you're with Dr. Capital.

Yeah it seems very fitting.

8:17

You've got, you've got a crazy motor and honestly you're keeping hours right now that I've I've kept before and I'm certainly not in the place to do again what what's pushing you personally to take this mission on and and to give as much of your time and energy to it as you are?

Yeah, You know, I, I love proving people wrong and asking the question why so many people, you know, critics of our great city, you know, have like, they don't get it, you know, and it's probably going to take a while for them to get it.

8:46

You know, why Chicago's a great ecosystem, why more people should start businesses here and build legacies here.

And you know, once they hit a certain like win because we've had a lot of wins in Chicago, you know, like encouraging people to stay here, which, you know, it's something that we've also struggled with.

9:04

So yeah, I, I, I really think that by going earlier, building a strong community for early founders, sort of like giving them a reason to want to stay here, build here, you know, really showing them that it's it's more than for them.

9:20

You know this can benefit an entire ecosystem and it's difficult to do that when you already have a company and that's like sort of you know in the waiting room about to be public or maybe you know, it's been doing that for a few years.

So I think I'm, I'm lucky to be able to work with early stage founders because that's when you want to really bring people in, like have them understand the mission of, you know, what this ecosystem can be.

9:42

So that that's sort of what I'm motivated about.

Sure, I love that.

Who are some of the some of the early stage founders that you're working with currently and maybe want to talk about or share about where they're at in their journey?

Yeah, I I think one of the coolest things that I like to talk about is how, yes, while I'm building the Chicago Pre Seed program for Drive, not all of our founders are originally from Chicago, but they've fallen in love with the city.

10:08

And that's very similar to, you know, my experience here, a lot of people assume that I'm born, raised Midwestern.

You know, I've only been here for close to seven years, you know, from California originally.

But the city took me in and I feel it right to, you know, give back and put on my energy towards seeing Chicago grow and flourish.

10:26

So you know to my earlier .3 out of four of the companies that we've invested in in the Chicago precede program so far relocated to to Chicago.

You know one of our teams Rivet from Boston, they're building a very exciting product in the AI creator space.

10:44

And then we have a company coherence they relocated from Columbus which I know OK sure might not fully count because drives based in Columbus.

But still they made the conscious decision to move their company here, the web three company thinking about the great you know trading Fintech web three infrastructure in Chicago.

11:03

And then also you know our third company Bricks AI building an exciting product on the infrastructure side of, you know, LLMS.

They have team members relocating from a few different spots but mainly Austin is what I'm really excited to share.

11:19

So Columbus, Austin, Boston ecosystems that you could argue are also great.

You know those founders decided to relocate here for different reasons.

So glad that I could be, you know, on the convincing side of that and know that, you know, they're having a great time here and they're fully, you know, leveraging the resources that the city has for their unique industries, whether it's music, you know, thinking about the rich art scene here, all the great musicians who stem from Chicago.

11:51

And then going back to my earlier point on, you know, the sort of Renaissance period, like I think artists are also starting to sort of act a little differently in the city because you've seen a past of like maybe a lot of musicians leaving for LA, etcetera.

You know, a lot of individuals, you know, Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, you know, a lot of these individuals beyond musicians, artists as well, like they're really wanting to stick here, stay here and hope, see Chicago flourish.

12:18

So I I love seeing that.

And then the Web Three side, you know, you've already spoken about that.

You know, you got the Solana Hack house, you know, two blocks away from where we're standing now.

You got Deca, Sonic, you know, top Web three investment firm, you know, behind me in one of those buildings.

12:36

So it's a clear, you know, great move for coherence.

And then bricks, I mean they're they're doing, they're building, you know, something very exciting in stealth mode.

But I think the one thing I will share is they're going to really help enterprises make more sense of their data in this AI age.

12:56

And where else would you be?

I mean there's so many enterprises that you have access to in the Midwest, you know, close to 100 of the top Fortune 5 hundreds, you know, literally a train ride away, short car ride away.

So I I think if you're someone you know, enterprise, it makes no sense to be here where we have, you know great travel and you know transportation infrastructure.

13:20

I should say we're we're, it's middle America.

You can get to anywhere from here.

And you know, I I think often of like you know the famous slogan like if it works in Peoria, work everywhere.

I mean you see a lot of companies sort of you know on the on the consumer end and enterprise end like will test their products in the Midwest in middle America, you know before extending to the coast whether or not like they're in coast or in middle America.

13:46

So I I think this is a great place, you know to sort of start a business, build a company.

I love it.

And your role within helping businesses grow, I think a lot of times it becomes not depersonalized, but people have seen so much success and sensationalization around what venture capital can do that it almost builds like this mythical wall between people trying to build something and people who have these big exits.

14:13

But I think a lot of times what gets lost is the fact that you're you being the founder who then partners with somebody like you, Landon.

You're entering into a a very personal relationship where it's not just about money and it's not just about connections, but who do I want to bring along with me on this journey?

14:33

So when when you're making your your pitch to Founders and you're getting a chance to get to know them, you know what's an important part of that, that relationship building process for you?

Yeah, I mean transparency for sure.

You know, being transparent to say that I don't know everything, but you know, one of my superpowers is finding the answer.

14:53

So you know, I I really, we know my network a lot.

You know, I'm, I'm a Master Dock connector.

I think that's something that I really, you know, do well with.

So, yeah, I I think that there are different ways to measure success, you know, as an early investor, but also thinking that like, it takes on average like six to seven years to become, you know, a good investor because a lot of this is Dock Connect.

15:15

I mean, from like experiences what you've seen one company do, being able to, you know, share those stories.

And yes, you know, I've, I've had a lot of great experiences.

I've had a lot of jobs.

I've worked at a lot of great places.

I've worked with some great founders.

But I mean, I'm still early in my journey.

Like, you know, I don't have all the stories, you know, in the world.

15:30

I don't know everything.

So yeah, I think you build track record by providing value.

That's all tied to credibility.

So, yeah, And I do a lot of that through connecting the dots currently, like if if my founders need help with anything, again, if I don't have the answer, like we'll find it.

15:49

So I think transparency of that.

And then also like just the level of involvement like you know, I want to feel like an operator, you know, for my companies, I think you know the more companies we invest in, it could be difficult to scale that.

16:04

But I mean you know we have things managed pretty well here so far, you know with the four that we've invested in and companies will be you know funneling in and out of the program too.

So I'm, I'm still learning a lot but sort of trying to just hone in on like what I'm good at.

16:21

I think a lot of that is you know, go to market storytelling, brand building, community LED growth and you know sort of assisting on that end.

Sure.

Outside of some of the XS and OS and and dot connecting, what about on the more personal side of of building that rapport?

16:40

Are you the kind of guy to take a founder out for a meal?

Do you like ball games?

Do you like concerts?

Like what?

What is it that you do to get outside of the office?

Wow.

Yeah.

I mean we spend a lot of time here.

You know, like we're we're we're constantly working here, but I mean at the end of the day, you know, we're all friends.

17:01

So yes, if there's any opportunities to do, you know, cool things together, you know, I just went to a a dinner that was planned by another one of my friends yesterday with one of my founders yesterday.

So like little things like that I think are always fun and enjoyable.

17:18

But I mean I think that's why it's such a special environment like talking about our companies, like that's a fun thing, you know, like we working in the office till midnight, you know, is it's it's enjoyable.

That's a fun thing.

So I think everybody is just focused like, you know, and we're not like all serious, we're not robotic, but I mean like we we all have big dreams and big goals.

17:42

So yeah, we're we're going to work towards those.

Sure.

I love it.

I mean, I think there's there's that building early stage five that isn't really as much about the going around for the victory lap as much as it's doing the stuff nobody sees.

17:59

Yep.

I remember with my first business, certain Friday nights, I'd be getting work done instead of going out.

I remember Sunday was my favorite day to work because no one was calling me and I could just get in that flow state.

So I can.

I can definitely empathize with that.

Are you the kind of guy to go out and enjoy a boat in the summertime?

18:18

I have not been on a like mini boat in Chicago, but like I've been on a few of those massive boats, maybe like 4, so hopefully we can change that this summer.

Yeah, for anybody who's listening, please get Landon out on your boat.

Yes, please.

It's you were just heading into the the perfect time of year.

18:36

It's going to be 3 months of really good boat season.

Let's let's make this happen.

Exactly.

Coming from coming from the Bay, establishing yourself in in a new environment, deciding to stay, what, what sort of clicked for you along the way that you said you know what this feels like Home.

18:55

The people, for sure.

You know, I I really do love the people and I miss my family.

And I talked to my mom you know like 20 times a day.

So you know, she's she's living here with me.

But yeah, no, I mean, I love the people in Chicago for sure.

I I think that's what's kept me here.

19:12

It's a great environment, great people and you get the hard working nice kind like it's, you know, perfect balance.

Yeah, no, I love it.

I remember when when we met, I mentioned something casually about the Jewish community, and then I mentioned something about the black community being in a interracial, interfaith marriage.

19:29

And you know, you're just like, Oh yeah, I kind of checked both of those boxes.

What has that been like for you in terms of has your own cultural heritage led to different types of relationships within the city?

Do you find yourself in interesting pockets because of that?

Yeah.

No, I mean, I, I spend most of my time in Fulton Market these days, man.

19:46

I mean like I I I should probably get out more and you know I I I'd make it a a thing to like you know do that whenever I can.

But for the most part I mean Fulton's my space.

I mean I I live here I work here and I have my you know my third space Soho House here.

So and I love good foods.

20:02

I mean, you know, it's kind of hard to leave, but you know, Lincoln Park, West Town, Logan Square, like you know, there are a lot of these other areas I get to for sure.

Cool.

Not very cool.

I love it.

I actually met my rabbi at the cigar lounge Biggs Cigar Mansion over Like Division in Dearborn.

20:20

I've been there many times.

OK, yes, I'm glad to hear that you like it.

I actually have a buddy of mine who's coming to town looking to put together a cigar event in July around Tech Week, so maybe that's something.

We can, yeah, let me know.

I don't know.

Yeah.

I'll be hosting 2 exciting events leading up to Tech Week and during Tech Week.

20:38

Haven't announced yet, but yeah, no.

Make sure to people hear that.

Save the date July 8th and then July 11th we're going to be doing some cool things.

Awesome.

Yeah, I'll make sure to to link up offline about that.

So you you spent some time at Cigar Lounge, Are you a cigar guy or is just?

Where I am I I just I was just in Cuba for a week, of course.

20:55

OK.

What kind of cigars do you like?

Churchills.

Oh my God, Monte, Cristo, Romeo and Julietas are good.

Yeah, pretty much.

I mean, everything, but more on the lighter side, to be honest.

21:11

You know, like I don't want to be stressing and coughing too much like.

And the cigars in Cuba were great, you know, No, like added chemicals like, I mean, you know, they literally came from the ground and rolled them up, so.

That's perfect.

Yeah, I haven't.

I haven't made one of those trips yet.

21:27

It's definitely on the list.

Before I got married, I was at Biggs probably three nights a week.

Yeah, and.

Yeah, and then since getting married now, I smoke a cigar.

Maybe when I'm on a trip away from my wife.

Yeah.

It's caught.

It gets caught up in the beard.

Yes, Yeah, yeah.

21:43

No, it does.

But I mean, it's worth it, man.

It's fun.

It's fun activity.

Have you made your way down to Tampa yet as part of your professional career?

I have not.

The Tampa has a really, really fascinating startup scene.

A lot of young guys who are involved in in SAS businesses or marketing type businesses and they also have a vibrant cigar community.

22:04

So at at some point connecting the dots on on that community might.

Lead to two birds, one stone.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, Landon, I'm, I'm really grateful that we did this.

I know you, you squeezed me in in a very tight schedule.

One question I ask every one of my guests is if there was somebody we could reach through the collective power of this network, who is it that you want to connect with that you haven't already?

22:37

That's a good question.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm probably going to find a way to sit down with the newly elected mayor, you know, over the next few weeks or months.

But yeah, I guess that would be someone, you know, to kind of let him give him more insight on like it's sort of my world and what I'm doing here And you know, learn more about his plans and goals for the city.

23:04

Because you know, I I think whenever we have new newly elected, you know, mayors and individuals like we, we do have to stay optimistic.

You know, we we want to see them succeed.

So yeah, I would love to just give them additional insight on what we're doing.

Absolutely.

23:19

Well, let's, let's make it happen.

Let's get Landon connected to our new mayor.

Yeah, last question I have for you.

I'll end on a personal note.

If business didn't exist, if money wasn't a thing, and you were in a space where you didn't really have to worry about getting your needs met, how would you spend your time?

23:36

Eating.

Awesome.

Yeah, I love how quick.

You didn't even need a need a second thought about that one.

Well, so you've heard it here first.

If you want to get into Landon's heart, it's through his stomach.

Bring him good food, sit down with the mayor and go to Fulton Market and check out what he's building over at Drive Catholic.

23:54

Yes.

Thank you so much, man.

Really appreciate you.

Yeah, Likewise.

Much love.

We'll see you next time.

I'll see you, man.

Thank you.