Today I'm launching asylumventures, a new venture firm dedicated to the creative act of building companies. Asylum's first $55 million fund is an embodiment of my belief that founders are artists, not assets:

I've long thought Nicholas Chirls is one of the great ones. Very excited to see him launch asylumventures (which should be in the running for best new fund name of the year)

I’m so incredibly grateful to have nick on our cap table ShareWillow. He’s building his venture firm in a way that highly resonated with me. Congrats on the launch of asylumventures LFG!

“What if we treated founders like artists, instead of like assets?” A question worth risking it all to build a firm and legacy around. Any founder would be lucky to work with the asylumventures team.

Nick was one of the first people in tech to take a real bet on me. Always pushing to think independently + creatively, whether that be with founders or on building a venture firm. Excited to see all that the asylumventures crew cooks up

You never forget the people who truly see you and Nick has been seeing "founders" as artists for a very long time. I'll never forget the time when Nick just sat and helped me sketch out my Wilson FM deck. Big congrats Nick, this is going to be special.

So much respect for Nicholas Chirls's investment approach. Will never forget us sitting down together in a cafe in LA to talk about our early vision and pitch for Alluvial and Liquid Collective. Thanks for being our partner, congrats on asylumventures and so excited to see what's next!

One of the best decisions we ever made at Circle was to partner with Nicholas Chirls, who led our pre-seed round and was the first investor to bet on us. Congrats to the asylumventures team for the new fund and the companies that choose to partner with them. 🙌❤️

I saw the impact first hand Nick can have as a true partner for startups Bison Trails. Nick wasn’t just another investor he was a true partner who felt like part of the team. If you are an early stage founder and want someone who will roll up their sleeves and really help you

today's the day. we're launching asylumventures, a new venture firm dedicated to the creative act of building companies. s/o to two of the best Nicholas Chirls and Jon Wu erin griffith of the The New York Times shares more here: nytimes.com/2024/09/05/tec…

Nature is healing

Around ~17 paragraphs into the The New York Times story re: asylumventures is this: Nicholas Chirls' previous Notation funds are top 5% funds. He sees the future, shoots the shot, and is an amazing friend along the way. Congrats to mackenzie regent, Jon Wu and Nick. Proud to be part of the fam.

.Nicholas Chirls and Jon Wu are high-conviction investors who are curious, open-minded, and unafraid of being contrarian — which means they see the truth and make bold bets before it’s obvious. Congrats on asylumventures - excited for what’s to come!

Nick was not just the first to see the potential of Runwise, he also backed it with the biggest check his fund had ever written. It’s not an exaggeration to say he has multiple times reinvented this industry by doing things different and better. Which is why it’s so

Most VC firms either act like big banks now or aspire to become them. Had a really fun, contentious debate with Harry Stebbings on The Twenty Minute VC about our approach at asylumventures: We treat founders like artists, not assets.

1/ 🆕‼️ Where is an investor willing to take more risk: As an 👼investing your own money - or institutional VC taking on LP capital? We asked Jack Altman, founder of Lattice and GP at Alt Capital, in the latest episode of the Origins Podcast - out now / links below!👇

1/ How do two leading venture investors, one at seed and one at growth, pick a winner? In the latest ep of Origins, co-hosts Beezer Clarkson (LP at Sapphire Partners) & Nicholas Chirls (GP at asylumventures) are joined by two legends 🥁🥁🥁 Mike Maples, Jr, seed investor at Floodgate, and

In a world of noise, how do you find signal? Today we’re announcing The Clearing Company has raised a $15m seed round led by Fred Wilson USV with support from Haun Ventures Variant & more. We’re building the first onchain, permissionless *and* regulated prediction market.

👀 new things in the asylum

"Some argue taste is now the last remaining competitive advantage in venture (and investing more broadly). But I think it’s Courage, which is in even shorter supply." Nicholas Chirls I love this piece