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David Goldberg

David Goldberg is a co-founder and general partner at Alpaca VC, a seed-stage venture capital firm based in New York [1]. He came to venture investing by an unconventional route: after earning a JD/MBA, he spent three years as an assistant district attorney in Kings County, Brooklyn, before moving into finance with stints at Merrill Lynch and Jefferies [3][5][6]. He then left banking to found Freshneck.com, a membership-based sharing-economy business that let customers, primarily men, rent and trade fashion accessories such as ties, pocket squares, and watches; he built the company for roughly three to four years and sold it profitably in 2013 [4][6][3]. That experience, he has said, gave him operating expertise, a strong network, and clarity that he wanted to remain in the startup ecosystem long-term [4][6].

Goldberg subsequently partnered with Ryan Friedman to launch Alpaca VC, describing their aim as being investors "by founders for founders" who support companies through their earliest, formative months in the way friends, family, and accelerators traditionally have [4]. The firm operates as a thematic generalist, running structured "field studies," 90- to 120-day research sprints in which the team identifies a market catalyst, builds a thesis, maps the landscape, and then publicizes its focus to attract relevant deal flow [3][5]. Using this method over roughly eight years, Alpaca has built a portfolio Goldberg has described as containing somewhere between 65 and 75 companies spanning proptech, marketplaces, and other sectors that on the surface look unrelated but share underlying thematic logic [3][5][4].

Goldberg has directed much of his own attention in recent years to blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs, an area he says he entered somewhat later than the first wave of crypto investing because he felt Alpaca lacked sufficient conviction and expertise at that time [4]. Running a field study on NFTs led him to identify gaming, the metaverse, decentralized finance, and infrastructure as the segments with the clearest venture-scale opportunity, resulting in investments such as Rare Circles, a platform he compares to a "Squarespace for NFTs" that lets large companies mint tokens and run branded marketplaces [3][5]. He characterizes Web3's underlying technology as being in the "fourth or fifth inning" of development while its actual use cases remain much earlier, in only the "second inning," meaning current applications are largely experimental steps toward familiarizing users with the technology rather than durable end products [4]. Given his consumer rather than technical background, he has said his personal interest centers on consumer-facing tools, gaming, and virtual real estate, which he views as likely on-ramps for broader Web3 adoption, while Alpaca as a firm also targets underlying infrastructure and scaling solutions that could benefit regardless of which specific applications win [4][3][5].

On the broader venture landscape, Goldberg has argued that both the supply of capital and the supply of quality founders and opportunities have grown enormously since he started his own company around 2009, when he raised a $500,000 seed round on a $1.5 million post-money valuation, a figure he contrasts with the far larger pre-launch valuations common in later years [6]. He attributes part of this shift to venture and entrepreneurship becoming a mainstream career path rather than a niche pursuit, and to talented people migrating into crypto and blockchain from law, finance, technology, and creative fields, which he treats as a leading indicator for where investment opportunity will emerge [6][3][5]. He has also cautioned that the venture industry's more recent acceleration, faster and larger rounds with less diligence, is not straightforwardly positive, and has advised founders and investors alike to study the history of prior cycles and to focus on the long-term value of what they are building rather than chasing short-term trends [3][5][6].

Insights & ideas

David Goldberg describes Alpaca VC as a generalist fund that invests thematically, using "field studies," 90 to 120-day research sprints in which the firm identifies a market catalyst, builds frameworks by landscaping an entire sector, and then brands itself externally to become a magnet for relevant deal flow [1]. He is currently focused on blockchain, crypto, and NFTs, having run a field study on NFTs that led him toward gaming, metaverses, DeFi, and infrastructure as scalable venture opportunities, exemplified by his investment in Rare Circles [1].

Goldberg argues that venture is a long-term game and advises investors to become "sponges" who learn continuously, get embedded in actual communities like Twitter, Discord, and Telegram rather than only talking to other investors, and zoom out to avoid chasing short-term trends [1]. For founders, especially in crypto, he stresses learning from history since most younger founders have only experienced bull markets, and building for what will matter three, five, or ten years out rather than what is hot right now [1]. He also sees talent migration from technology, finance, legal, and creative fields into crypto as the strongest leading indicator of where investment should follow [1].

Experience

  1. CoFounder & General Partner
    Alpaca VCJun 2017 to Present
  2. Principal
    Alpaca VCJun 2014 to May 2017
  3. Kauffman Fellow
    Kauffman FellowsJun 2017 to Present
  4. Member Board Of Directors
    The InsideAug 2018 to Apr 2022
  5. Member of the Board of Directors
    Perch Interactive, IncApr 2015 to Jan 2022
  6. Member of the Board of Directors
    Minibar DeliveryMay 2017 to Dec 2021
  7. Member of the Board of Directors
    MeuralJan 2016 to Feb 2018
  8. Founder & CEO
    FreshNeckOct 2011 to Jun 2014

Education

Media & appearances

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