Sherman Williams II, ’12, launched the Academy Investor Network, a New York–based venture capital fund and investment syndicate for US Service Academy graduates, in 2020 with cofounder Emily McMahan. It was the culmination of a journey that included formative stops in Afghanistan and Southeast Asia as a US Naval Intelligence officer, Chicago to earn his MBA at Booth, then New York as an investment banker. It was the Private Equity/Venture Capital Lab at Booth that sparked his interest in investing to make an impact. “I call it the double bottom line,” he said. “I invest not only for the bottom line, but also with purpose.”
It’s an exciting time for AIN, which recently announced that USAA is making an anchor investment into AIN Ventures Fund I. While working at AIN as a full-time investor, Williams also mentors startups through Techstars, a venture capital accelerator program focused on entrepreneurs. His days require that he show up early and stay late.
“I’m in grind mode right now,” said Williams. “I’m at an aspirational point of my life.”
5:15 AM First thing in the morning, I peel off as many emails as I can. I always try to be at Inbox: 0 by Saturday at noon. The trick is to never let it go above 200.
7 AM Every day, I either do yoga at home or walk to the gym. I protect this part of my mornings for my own deep work and health so I can show up fully for my partners and companies for the rest of the day.
8:30 AM I walk three minutes to my office space in downtown Manhattan to begin investor outreach. I’m looking for limited partners who share our vision. This is my top priority, so I block out my calendar from taking any other calls.