Emerging Managers - Why the Future of Venture Is Hard Tech, Drones & Physical AI | Ian Rountree

Join José as he hosts another episode of the Emerging Managers series on the Delphi Podcast, sitting down with Ian Rountree, founder and managing partner of Cantos. Ian details the ten-year journey of Cantos, moving from early vertical software into hard tech and physical AI, while announcing the launch of their $70M Fourth Fund. They dive into the reality of venture capital returns, the power law dynamics of outlier funds, and why traditional SaaS playbooks fail in frontier markets. Ian shares the frameworks Cantos uses to evaluate hard-tech founders, the mechanics behind portfolio companies like Neros and Castilleja, and why vertical integration is required to displace entrenched incumbents.