{"podcast":{"title":"Tacos and Tech Podcast","slug":"tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768","podcast_index_feed_id":534768,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1995075.rss","website_url":"https://risingtidepartners.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/1995075/64f2885d3a990179fa48dc2951daae6a.jpg","author":"Neal Bloom","episode_count":202,"summary":"Curating signal beyond the noise. Backing exceptional founders.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-10T06:19:03.251942+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768"},"episode":{"title":"Blueprint Equity’s $333M Bet on Early Growth Software","slug":"blueprint-equity-s-333m-bet-on-early-growth-software","published_at":"2026-03-31T18:12:07+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768/blueprint-equity-s-333m-bet-on-early-growth-software","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768","url":"https://risingtidepartners.substack.com/p/blueprint-equitys-333m-bet-on-early","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/190675682/a3c25d84d673b402f4d19aa0f8ce9c87.mp3","summary":"Blueprint Equity just closed a $333M Fund III - and they’re doubling down on a thesis that feels increasingly contrarian in today’s AI-fueled world. In this episode, Neal sits down with Sheldon Lewis and Bobby Ocampo, co-founders and managing partners of La Jolla-based Blueprint Equity, to unpack their “early growth equity” strategy - investing in bootstrapped SaaS companies doing $1–7M in ARR and growing fast. They share their journey from 2008 investment banking crash, near-billion-dollar exits, to building Blueprint from scratch. Along the way, they break down why they call themselves “anti-VC,” how AI is reshaping SaaS economics, and why raising less capital can actually create better founder outcomes. If you’re building in SaaS - especially outside Silicon Valley - this is one to study. Key Topics * What is Early Growth Equity? * From I Banking in 2008 to Building a Fund * The PayLease Story * Why They Call Themselves “Anti-VC” * How AI Is Changing SaaS (But Not Killing It) * Hands-On Portfolio Support * Fund III: $333M Closed * Why Great Companies Can Be Built Anywhere Links & Resources * Blueprint Equity Connect on LinkedIn * Sheldon Lewis * Bobby Ocampo This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe","meta_description":"Blueprint Equity just closed a $333M Fund III - and they’re doubling down on a thesis that feels increasingly contrarian in today’s AI-fueled world. In th…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2878,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768/episodes/blueprint-equity-s-333m-bet-on-early-growth-software/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/tacos-and-tech-podcast-534768/blueprint-equity-s-333m-bet-on-early-growth-software.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}