OakBeyFamily Office

Approach

How we decide,
and on what terms.

Four tests, a generational holding period, and a set of parameters we would rather state plainly than leave to inference.

Four tests

What every holding has to answer.

Durability under abundanceIf the cost of the underlying intelligence falls to near zero, what is left that someone still pays for? We want the answer to be a network, a dataset, a licence, a trusted brand, a regulated position or a physical footprint, not a prompt.
Human agencyDoes the product expand what a person can choose, understand or do? We will invest in things people use to pass the time. We will not invest in things that work only because the user cannot see what is happening.
Compounding substrateWhat gets better as the company gets older? If nothing does, we are buying a product rather than an asset, and before long a product can be rebuilt by anyone in a weekend.
Alignment across generationsWould we be content to hold this in twenty years and explain it to the people who inherit it? This test removes the most deals, and it is the one we are least willing to relax.

Parameters

Where we play, in numbers.

Settled policy rather than guidance. If what you are building sits outside these lines and the thesis still fits, write to us anyway.

Stage
Pre-seed through growth, with most activity where the need is proven and the product is not.
Cheque size
£200,000 to £3m. Expertise is part of what we invest rather than a service bolted on afterwards.
Ownership target
No fixed target. We will hold a quiet minority or take an active seat, whichever the company actually needs.
Geography
International. No single-market mandate.
Structures
Equity, co-build and joint venture, licences and royalties, secondaries, and token or protocol positions where the asset requires one.
Follow-on reserve
Held against every position. We would rather fund a lean business whose growth compounds than one that needs topping up.
Consulting fee basis
Cash or equity, whichever suits the company better.
Holding period
Indefinite. We underwrite to hold, and treat a sale as a decision rather than an assumption.

Process

What happens after you write to us.

  • A conversation, not a form. The first call is with someone who can make a decision.
  • A written view. If we are interested, we write down what we think the company is and send it to you. You get to correct us before anything else happens.
  • Diligence proportionate to the cheque. Commercial, technical and regulatory, in that order, and we tell you who we intend to speak to.
  • A decision with a reason. If it is a no, you will be told why, in enough detail to be useful.

Stewardship

Holding digital assets for decades.

A generational horizon creates obligations a ten-year fund never has to think about. Keys, credentials and administrative control have to survive the people who set them up. Licences and intellectual property have to be renewed by somebody who understands why they were acquired. Governance rights have to be exercised by the next custodian rather than quietly forgotten.

We treat custody, documentation and succession of our holdings as investment work rather than back office, and we expect the same discipline from the companies we hold.