Matthew looks for founders before the company has a financial model or has appeared on any VC's radar.[1]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on founders before any VC radar, and Anthropic (41:14)Episode Increasingly he advises rather than invests, sometimes taking equity for the work.[2]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on building a thesis and advising for equity (19:33)Episode He spent about 12 years on Wall Street at Oppenheimer & Co and CIBC World Markets, finishing as a managing director, then left in 2007 for a private equity firm that bought half a dozen industrial manufacturing companies.[3]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on Wall Street, private equity and building Field X (00:29)Episode He has been on staff at Harvard Business School for around eight years, where he built the Field X course with Professor Randy Cohen and has worked with more than a thousand students coming through it.[3]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on Wall Street, private equity and building Field X (00:29)Episode He also advises Harvard Ventures.[4]Harvard VenturesOur advisorsCompany[3]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on Wall Street, private equity and building Field X (00:29)Episode
Decoded before it's obvious.
Matthew Sutton is an early-stage investor and advisor in frontier technology, on staff at Harvard Business School, and an advisor to Harvard Ventures, which lists him as a private investor.[4]Harvard VenturesOur advisorsCompany[3]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on Wall Street, private equity and building Field X (00:29)Episode[2]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on building a thesis and advising for equity (19:33)Episode He spent his first career on Wall Street.[3]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on Wall Street, private equity and building Field X (00:29)Episode
The Harvard Business School entrepreneurship course he built with Professor Randy Cohen and has taught on staff for around eight years.[3]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on Wall Street, private equity and building Field X (00:29)Episode More than a thousand students have come through it, with guests including Jason Calacanis, Tim Draper and Kevin O'Leary.[3]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on Wall Street, private equity and building Field X (00:29)Episode
Signals that show up before anything else does.[5]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on super early stage signals (40:17)Episode He focuses on founders whose idea has not taken form yet and has no financial model attached.[1]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on founders before any VC radar, and Anthropic (41:14)Episode
He invests in and advises early-stage companies, with a focus on defense and AI, and met the Perseus founders through Y Combinator.[2]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on building a thesis and advising for equity (19:33)Episode[6]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on defense tech and Perseus (51:43)Episode
About 12 years on Wall Street at Oppenheimer & Co and CIBC World Markets, ending as a managing director, then roughly six years at a private equity firm buying industrial manufacturing companies.[3]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on Wall Street, private equity and building Field X (00:29)Episode
By investing time before money.[7]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on investing time before any transaction (26:17)Episode His stated approach is to understand what motivates someone and help where he can, whether or not a transaction ever follows, and increasingly to advise companies rather than write a check.[7]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on investing time before any transaction (26:17)Episode[2]Deeptech DecodedMatthew Sutton on building a thesis and advising for equity (19:33)Episode
Last updated Oct 23, 2026
