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The Chainsmokers didn't just conquer dance music—they applied the same growth-hacking mindset that built their musical empire to become serious players in Silicon Valley venture capital.
From cold-emailing indie artists to backing unicorn startups, Drew Taggart and Alex Pall reveal how their entrepreneurial approach to music translated into investment success with their Mantis fund.
Key Takeaways
- The Chainsmokers built their music career through systematic growth hacking, cold-emailing hundreds of indie artists and music bloggers to secure remix opportunities
- Their early networking with tech founders like Brian Chesky (Airbnb) and Drew Houston (Dropbox) opened their eyes to venture capital opportunities
- Mantis fund launched during COVID-19 when touring stopped, allowing them to focus entirely on raising capital and building investment expertise
- They prioritize investing in founders who will pursue their vision "no matter what," similar to their own obsessive approach to music creation
- The duo maintains that Chainsmokers music remains "the sun in their solar system" while venture capital orbits around their core artistic identity
- Their investment philosophy mirrors their music approach: focus on authentic passion over opportunistic trends like "AI is hot right now"
- They've evolved from writing $25-50K checks to seeking larger allocations while maintaining their hands-on, relationship-driven investment style
- The transition from celebrity investors to respected VCs required proving themselves through consistent performance and deep founder engagement
From Bedroom Producers to Billboard Champions Through Growth Hacking
The Chainsmokers' journey to venture capital success began with a lesson in systematic customer acquisition that would make any growth hacker proud. In 2012, Drew Taggart and Alex Pall weren't household names—they were two ambitious producers trying to break into dance music's increasingly crowded landscape.
Their breakthrough came through meticulous process optimization rather than lucky breaks. The duo discovered Hype Machine, an early viral music chart aggregating trending tracks from independent blogs. Instead of competing with established DJs remixing mainstream pop hits, they identified an underserved market: indie artists whose songs were already gaining traction but lacked dance music representation.
Pall developed a systematic outreach process that would become their template for relationship building. He would find contact information for every trending indie artist, craft personalized emails explaining their remix concept, then repeat the process with every music blogger who covered those artists. The key insight was understanding their audience—college-aged music bloggers who craved authentic personal connection over generic press releases.
This approach generated 30 number-one hits on Hype Machine within their first year, launching them from unknown producers to college tour headliners. The methodology—identify underserved markets, build authentic relationships, systematically scale outreach—would later define their investment philosophy.
The Accidental Education in Tech Entrepreneurship
The Chainsmokers' entry into venture capital stemmed from an unexpected source: their rise to cultural prominence between 2015-2018 coincided with Silicon Valley's most successful founder cohort. Through industry events and mutual connections, they befriended tech luminaries including Brian Chesky from Airbnb, Drew Houston from Dropbox, and Michael Seibel from Y Combinator.
These relationships provided front-row seats to how technology companies actually operate. Unlike many musicians who remained insular within entertainment industry circles, Taggart and Pall gravitated toward founders whose obsessive work ethic and systematic thinking mirrored their own approach to music creation.
The turning point came when these tech friends began questioning why successful entertainers typically invested in consumer packaged goods rather than innovative technology companies. As Pall recalls, "They were like, 'Why are you investing in water companies? There's a whole world of opportunity investing in really exciting companies.'"
This perspective shift coincided with their early angel investment in Uber's Series F round. Despite making only $6,000 on the investment, the experience of backing a company that genuinely transformed daily life convinced them to seek similar opportunities rather than pursuing traditional celebrity endorsement deals.
COVID-19 as Entrepreneurial Catalyst
The pandemic shutdown that devastated live entertainment became The Chainsmokers' venture capital accelerator. While touring revenues disappeared overnight, they discovered an unexpected advantage: sudden availability to focus entirely on fund formation and founder relationships.
Mantis fund's 2020-2021 fundraising happened entirely via Zoom, allowing them to conduct systematic learning sessions with experienced investors and founders. They spent months doing "10 hours of calls a day with any investor or founder that would speak to us," building knowledge through direct mentorship rather than formal education.
This intensive learning period revealed striking parallels between successful music creation and venture investing. Both required identifying authentic passion over opportunistic trends, building long-term relationships rather than transactional exchanges, and maintaining conviction through inevitable failures and criticism.
The timing also provided strategic advantages. While established VCs adapted to remote operations, The Chainsmokers entered the market already comfortable with digital relationship building through their social media and fan engagement experience.
Investment Philosophy: Betting on Obsession Over Opportunity
The Chainsmokers' investment approach centers on a simple principle borrowed from Redpoint Ventures' Alex Porter: "Invest in people that are going to do this idea no matter what." This philosophy directly mirrors their own musical journey, where authentic passion for dance music sustained them through years of industry skepticism and financial uncertainty.
They actively avoid opportunistic founders who chase trending sectors without deep personal investment. As Pall explains, "I think that really resonates with me versus the opportunistic like AI is hot right now, I'm just going to build an AI company." Instead, they seek founders with specialist backgrounds who've experienced problems firsthand and developed unique insights through direct exposure.
This approach led them to investments ranging from enterprise cloud platforms to nuclear energy startups. In each case, the common thread is founders with domain expertise and personal conviction that transcends financial incentives. They particularly value the "grind story" behind successful companies—the unglamorous relationship-building and customer development that creates sustainable competitive advantages.
Their due diligence process emphasizes founder psychology over market sizing. They want to understand what drives someone to pursue a difficult path when easier alternatives exist, similar to their own decision to quit stable jobs and risk everything on music careers.
Overcoming Celebrity Investor Skepticism
Launching Mantis fund required confronting legitimate skepticism about celebrity investors' commitment and competence. As Taggart admits, "On fund announce day, it wasn't like a positive vibe. People weren't like 'finally,' you know what I mean? The opposite. People were not stoked about it at all."
Rather than viewing this as insurmountable prejudice, they recognized it as market opportunity. Low expectations meant small improvements would generate disproportionate credibility gains. They committed to proving themselves through consistent performance rather than leveraging celebrity status for special treatment.
This strategy required developing genuine investment expertise rather than relying on brand recognition. They systematically studied successful VCs' decision-making processes, built relationships with top-tier funds, and focused on adding value through their unique strengths: authentic relationship building, rapid execution capability, and creative problem-solving.
Their evolution from $25-50K angel checks to institutional-sized allocations reflects growing respect within the venture community. Today, they're invited into competitive rounds based on investment merit rather than celebrity appeal, though their cultural platform remains valuable for portfolio company growth and recruitment.
The Creative-Commercial Balance in Dual Careers
Managing simultaneous careers in music and venture capital creates unique challenges around time allocation, identity, and decision-making. The Chainsmokers maintain that music remains "the sun in our solar system" while other ventures orbit around their core artistic identity.
This hierarchy prevents venture capital from compromising their musical integrity while ensuring both careers reinforce rather than compete with each other. Their VC experience provides fresh perspectives on creativity, innovation, and business building that influence their artistic evolution. Simultaneously, their cultural platform and relationship-building skills create unique advantages in founder recruitment and portfolio company development.
The key insight is viewing both activities as expressions of the same underlying drives: curiosity about emerging trends, passion for supporting talented people, and desire to participate in cultural transformation. Rather than compartmentalizing these interests, they've found ways to create synergies between artistic creativity and investment insight.
This integration required establishing clear boundaries and processes. They've evolved from trying to personally manage every aspect of both businesses to building teams that enable them to focus on their unique contributions: creative vision, strategic relationships, and high-level decision-making.
Scaling Relationship-Driven Investment Strategy
The Chainsmokers' early success stemmed from exceptionally high-touch founder engagement that became difficult to maintain as their portfolio expanded. Their initial approach of responding personally to every quarterly update and proactively offering specific assistance worked well with small check sizes but required systematic evolution.
Today, they've developed what they call a "utility player" philosophy—understanding each founder's unique needs and providing targeted support rather than generic value-add services. This might involve introductions to specific customers, help with technical recruiting, or strategic advice based on their own scaling experiences.
Their portfolio construction balances signal investing in competitive rounds led by top-tier VCs with contrarian bets on founders tackling unconventional problems. The former provides learning opportunities and market credibility, while the latter offers potential for outsized returns and unique value creation.
The evolution from relationship-driven angel investing to institutional fund management mirrors their musical journey from personal passion project to global entertainment business. In both cases, success required maintaining authentic core values while developing professional systems and processes.
Lessons from Music Career Applied to Investment Success
The transferable skills between music creation and venture investing extend beyond general entrepreneurship into specific tactical advantages. Both fields require pattern recognition across large volumes of content, whether evaluating hundreds of song demos or startup pitches.
Their experience building The Chainsmokers brand provides insight into authentic audience development versus manufactured popularity. They can distinguish between companies with genuine product-market fit and those artificially inflating metrics through unsustainable tactics.
The music industry's hit-driven economics closely parallels venture capital's power law dynamics. Most songs and startups fail to generate significant returns, making portfolio construction and risk management crucial for long-term success. Their comfort with creative failure enables rational decision-making about investment losses.
Perhaps most importantly, their artistic background provides intuitive understanding of creative processes and innovative thinking. They can evaluate founders' creative potential beyond technical execution, recognizing the intangible factors that often determine breakthrough success.
Future Vision: Building Enduring Investment Platform
The Chainsmokers envision Mantis evolving into a multi-generational investment platform that outlasts their individual careers, similar to how their music aims for lasting cultural impact rather than temporary commercial success.
This long-term perspective influences their approach to team building, investment selection, and portfolio company development. They're constructing systems and relationships designed to compound over decades rather than optimize for short-term performance metrics.
Their unique position at the intersection of entertainment and technology creates opportunities for portfolio companies seeking cultural distribution, creative talent, or consumer audience development. As both sectors increasingly converge, this positioning becomes more valuable for founders building lifestyle, media, and consumer technology businesses.
The goal is establishing Mantis as the preferred investor for founders who view business building as creative expression—entrepreneurs who prioritize innovation and cultural impact alongside financial returns.
Common Questions
Q: How do The Chainsmokers balance music careers with venture capital investing?
A: They maintain music as their primary focus while viewing venture capital as a complementary creative outlet that provides fresh perspectives on innovation and business building.
Q: What makes them different from other celebrity investors?
A: Their systematic growth-hacking background and deep founder relationships create genuine value-add capabilities rather than just brand association.
Q: Do they only invest in music or entertainment technology companies?
A: No, their portfolio spans enterprise software, consumer technology, and even nuclear energy, focusing on founder obsession rather than industry specialization.
Q: How has their investment approach evolved since starting Mantis?
A: They've progressed from small angel checks to institutional allocations while developing more sophisticated due diligence processes and portfolio construction strategies.
Q: What advice do they give to other entertainers considering venture investing?
A: Focus on building genuine expertise and relationships rather than leveraging celebrity status, and only invest in sectors where you can add authentic value beyond capital.
The Chainsmokers' transformation from club DJs to respected venture capitalists demonstrates how creative skills and entrepreneurial mindset can translate across industries. Their success stems from applying the same systematic relationship-building and authentic passion that powered their musical careers to the venture capital world.
