This episode covers Nikhil Kalghatgi's 'moonshot investing' strategy—finding opportunities others avoid, like asteroid mining (Planetary Resources, which he invested in, valuing water on one asteroid at over $1 trillion) and synthetic biology firm Ginkgo Bioworks (bullish, could cut costs 100x). He says crypto's biggest risk isn't price drops but liquidity freezes (can you sell when markets crash?), so his fund partners with exchange CEOs and Japan's SBI Holdings for exit routes. He also interviewed 160 billionaires and found happiness has no formula—it's about your own definition.
This episode of Invest Like the Best features CoVenture partner Nikhil Kalghatgi, who discusses his "moonshot investing" philosophy. The core idea is to seek sustainable, differentiated investment advantages and assess the types of markets and talent suitable for moonshot projects. Key takeaways inc
Nikhil Kalghatgi is a partner at CoVenture and CEO of CoVenture Crypto. This issue explores his "moonshot investing" philosophy—seeking "impossible" opportunities that others are unwilling to touch to gain a pricing advantage. Core judgment: Nikhil Kalghatgi believes that the biggest risk in the cryptocurrency space is not price declines, but liquidity freezes—whether you can actually liquidate assets when the market crashes is what determines success or failure.
Nikhil Kalghatgi argues that the core of moonshot investing is not about which industry to bet on, but about "finding what others are unwilling or unable to do" — that is a sustainable competitive advantage.
Nikhil Kalghatgi spent 18 months interviewing over 100 (ultimately 160) self-made billionaires and discovered three striking commonalities.
1. Happiness Has No Formula: These individuals have an extremely clear definition of "their own happiness" and are completely indifferent to others' definitions. "You cannot judge yourself by someone else's standards—this isn't just a platitude; it's how they truly live."
2. Relationships Require 'Sacrificial' Investment: They work diligently on their 2-3 most core relationships (typically spouse and children). Nikhil asked them: "How do you know you're giving enough attention?" They could clearly point out the greatest sacrifice they had made for that relationship. This question made Nikhil feel "very small"—"I hadn't even thought about 'what sacrifices I've made for my relationships.'"
3. Happiness Is Practice, Not a State: Happiness is like "a ball rolling down a hill"—it requires constant resistance. He gave a personal example: He used to go to a coffee shop every day (what he thought was his source of happiness). After moving to San Francisco for a month, he lost this habit and replaced it with having breakfast with his wife every day—only to discover that this was the huge source of happiness he had truly been missing. "People always overestimate what makes them happy and underestimate the uncertain things."
Nikhil Kalghatgi argues that the core of cryptocurrency investing is not predicting prices, but solving liquidity issues—the biggest structural risk in the entire industry.
Nikhil Kalghatgi learned two key capabilities from his experiences at SoftBank and in military intelligence: making decisions on a 100-year timescale and proactively doubling down during moments of network explosion.
| Position | Guest Stance | Key Data |
|---|---|---|
| Planetary Resources (Asteroid Mining) | Bullish (Invested) | Single asteroid water resource value >$1 trillion |
| Ginkgo Bioworks (Synthetic Biology) | Bullish (Invested) | Replacing traditional chemical processes with engineered microbes, costs can be reduced by 100x |
| Hyperloop | Bullish (Invested) | Specific data not disclosed |
| Ripple (Chris Larsen) | Missed (Not Invested) | Pitched in 2012, partner Savneet invested |
| Bitcoin | Neutral to Slightly Positive | Never hacked; can handle $700-800 billion in scale; but "not today's store of value, it's the closest" |
| Coinbase | Neutral (Mentioned as Industry Phenomenon) | Essentially a "bank," charges significantly higher fees than other exchanges |
| SBI Holdings (Japan) | Partner | Large publicly listed financial group, holds Japan's largest crypto liquidity pool |
1. Nikhil Kalghatgi believes that the essence of moonshot investing is not about backing big projects, but about "finding things others are unwilling to do"—because with no competition, you naturally have pricing power. Support: He invests in asteroid mining, synthetic biology, and Hyperloop, not because they are sexy, but because "other VCs think it's impossible, so no one bids."
2. Nikhil Kalghatgi finds that ultra-wealthy individuals have an extremely clear definition of happiness and completely disregard what others think—there is no formula for happiness, only your own definition. Support: After interviewing 160 self-made billionaires, he found the first commonality is that "they couldn't care less about others' standards of happiness."
3. Nikhil Kalghatgi argues that the biggest risk in cryptocurrency is not a price decline, but a liquidity freeze—when the market crashes, can you actually liquidate your assets? Support: His entire CoVenture Crypto business is built around "safest and most liquid," including calling an exchange CEO at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving to resolve an account issue.
4. Nikhil Kalghatgi revises the consensus that "retail comes first, institutions follow," arguing the actual path is: institutions first design products for retail (ETFs/retirement accounts), retail enters through these products, and only then do institutions themselves become direct investors. Support: He expects significant institutional capital inflows over the next 1-3 years, but the entry point is "regulated products distributed by institutions to retail."
5. Nikhil Kalghatgi believes the only metric for evaluating early-stage founders is product velocity—not PPT skills, not fundraising ability, but "how many major product iterations have been made in the past 16 weeks." Support: Product velocity equals learning speed, and it is the only way to gain feedback from the real world.
6. Nikhil Kalghatgi proposes a "manufactured serendipity" framework: regularly take a series of actions, not knowing which will succeed, but knowing that "at least one will turn out well." Support: When organizing a summit on Necker Island, the worst-case scenario is an invitation being declined (the recipient still receives a gift), while the best-case scenario creates lifelong friends and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment opportunities.
7. Nikhil Kalghatgi believes that cryptocurrency will not replace government-issued currency—"that's a joke, and I won't see it in my lifetime." Support: He views Bitcoin's value as "digital gold" and "the speed of capital formation and exchange," rather than a disruption of the existing financial system.
8. Nikhil Kalghatgi learned from SoftBank to "make decisions on a 100-year timescale"—looking back from a deathbed perspective, will this decision make me happy? Support: Masayoshi Son has a 300-year vision, and SoftBank has demonstrated the ability of "a large organization to still move flexibly" in deals like Alibaba and Sprint.