Uncapped #34 | Mel Williams from TrueBridge

Uncapped with Jack Altman

Nov 25, 2025•41 min

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Episode description

Mel Williams is a co-founder and Partner at TrueBridge Capital Partners, a fund of funds with $8 billion in AUM focused on venture capital. Since 2007, Mel’s team has backed firms like Thrive, Founders Fund, Sequoia, and Alt Capital, and powers the data behind the Forbes Midas List. Before TrueBridge, Mel co-founded UNC Management Company (UNCMC), where he worked closely with the President/CIO to manage over $2 billion of endowment capital for the University of North Carolina.

We covered:

Investing in frothy markets
Doubling down on winners
Seed vs multi-stage
Picking managers

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Timestamps:

(0:00) Intro

(1:10) AI valuations and a frothy market

(4:35) Long term market risks

(7:18) Should VC funds keep getting bigger?

(9:37) 10% of the market is the signal

(14:08) Venture math debate

(18:05) Characteristics of great investors

(20:46) The case for seed stage firms

(23:09) Picking managers

(24:59) Big wins and big misses

(30:12) It’s hard to kill a good brand

(33:06) Building a concentrated portfolio

(36:53) Advice to young LPs

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