New
March 16, 2024

Sisu, a Venture Advisory Firm

Nurturing Uncomfortable Data Into Paradigm-Shifting Products, Without Geographic Restriction.

In a saturated landscape of advisory and venture firms, Sisu stands at the confluence of execution and innovation. Founded by Bear Matthews, Sisu began its journey amidst the fervor of election campaigns and humanitarian efforts. Matthews, while deeply involved in running campaigns for political figures, simultaneously dedicated himself to developing emergency infrastructure for impoverished communities across the globe. This dual commitment to both political strategy and humanitarian aid laid the foundation for what would become our small shop.

Beyond all else, Sisu was formed as a formality back in 2017 to provide LLC protections with early clientele. However as our portfolio has grown, we have increasingly contemplated our responsibility to curate public-facing research and other materials that create meaningful dialogue.

"Sisu", a term from Finland, describes perseverance in the face of adversity. Our suite of advisory services are grounded by a love for tackling unimaginably hard problems. Many of our clients often riff that we're their first call when they know no one else will pick up the phone. In a venture landscape, we communicate this as "nurturing uncomfortable data into paradigm-shifting products".

To give you a tangible sense of what that means, I leave you with a short anecdote from 2022.

When COVID-19 first became relevant to our everyday lives, I got a call from the Attorney General for the State of Hawaii. Around 01:00 MST on Christmas or New Year's Eve, it was to inform me that the State of Hawaii planned to imminently pass an emergency procurement grant to develop a tele-health counseling solution for their frontline workers. Unknown to most people in the United States, Hawaii has the highest residency suicide rate of any state. Nevertheless, the contract was ours, if we could deliver everything within the week. In under 96 hours from that phone call, Sisu's team designed, developed, and launched a platform that provided free tele-health counseling to all qualifying frontline workers. What's more, in that same time period we had structured, negotiated and signed strategic agreements with four of the five leading tele-health providers to split coverage responsibility and were in TechCrunch, Mashable and other publications on launch day. This platform, known as Isolated Not Alone, went on to be used by more that 200k frontline workers in the first 90 days.

As our firm has matured into the venture advisory form we hold today, we're proud to be trusted by a wide array of clients and partners around the world. These include Apple, Neuralink, the Hunt Family (owners of the Kansas City Chiefs), Compass Real Estate, the UNHCR, and so many more. We specialize in a range of services, including providing operational support, product development, go-to-market, deal-flow advisory and media purchasing.

Rooted in Aspen, Thriving in New York and San Francisco

Though born in the serene landscapes of Aspen, Colorado, Sisu has expanded its reach far beyond its mountainous origins. With offices now established in New York and San Francisco, our firm has cemented its presence on both the East and West coasts. This strategic expansion enables us to cater to a diverse clientele while staying true to our core values of integrity, innovation, and excellence.

Learn more about our comprehensive suite of services and the transformative impact we can have on your endeavors.