Q&A with Rob Biederman, Managing Partner of Asymmetric Capital Partners

Rob Biederman, Managing Partner of Asymmetric Capital

Can you share a bit about yourself and what led you to found Asymmetric Capital Partners (ACP)?

• At my core, I consider myself a founder. Launching and scaling Catalant (originally HourlyNerd) was the defining experience of my career before starting Asymmetric. It also shaped how we approach investing—at ACP, we see founders as the true heroes of the venture journey, and our role is to be a trusted partner, helping them navigate the adventure.
• My path to venture started in private equity. I began my career at Goldman Sachs before moving to Bain Capital, where I worked on the flagship private equity fund. I was fortunate to gain exposure to businesses operating at real scale, focusing primarily on technology and healthcare. At Bain, we were deploying $200 million to $1 billion in companies usually worth many billions, which gave me an early perspective on how foundational operating decisions can drive long-term equity value.
• After two years at Bain Capital, I attended Harvard Business School, fully expecting to return after graduation. But while at HBS, I had the unexpected opportunity to start a company with my classmates – something I likely wouldn’t have done outside of a class project. Entrepreneurship can be intimidating, and I might not have seen myself as a founder otherwise. In 2013, at 26, my co-founders and I launched what is now Catalant Technologies.
• Today, Catalant is the market leader in flexible talent for Fortune 25 and Fortune 50 companies. We scaled the business from zero to over $100 million in gross revenue, grew to 300 employees, and raised $125 million from top-tier investors, with General Catalyst as our largest backer.
• Throughout my career, I’ve experienced private capital from every angle – first as an LP, then as an investor at a major buyout firm, later as a portfolio company founder and CEO, and now as a GP at my own firm. That breadth of experience informs how we invest and support our companies at Asymmetric.
• Outside of work, I was born in New York City and grew up in Chappaqua, NY. My grandfather was originally from Boston often, and I eventually moved there in 2010. Today, I live in the West Village in New York. I have a fluffy (and I’m biased, adorable) four-year-old goldendoodle named Duke.

Can you introduce ACP and walk us through your investment strategy? What geographies, check sizes, and sectors do you focus on? Beyond capital, how does ACP support startups operationally? 

• Asymmetric is an early-stage technology investment firm focused on vertical software, digital health and consolidations of cash-flow positive businesses, with a strong presence in the New York and Boston markets. We take a hands-on approach with our founders—something that’s relatively uncommon at the earliest stages. From 2021 to 2024, we built a portfolio of 29 companies through our core Fund I, where we typically lead or co-lead rounds. Our team of five, based in New York, Boston, and San Francisco, comes from both private equity and operating backgrounds, bringing a blend of investment expertise and real-world company-building experience. Our first fund was $105 million, backed primarily by family offices of private equity firm founders and GPs in the Northeast.
• I’m most passionate about the zero-to-one and one-to-ten phases of company building. While our team’s background equips us to invest at later stages, I find early-stage startups—particularly those in the pre-revenue and pre-launch phases—far more compelling. That’s also where we’ve seen we can deliver the most value, both to founders and to the limited partners who invest with us.
• Investment Strategy: We typically write checks between $500,000 and $5 million in pre-revenue or cash-flow positive technology companies. Many of these companies are either newly formed or have launched within the past year. In some cases, we even help start the company from scratch, assembling the founding team. Our focus is on the U.S., with particularly strong inbound deal flow from our networks in New York, Boston, and the Bay Area.
• Beyond Capital/How We Support Startups: We take a deeply engaged approach to working with founders, far beyond the typical investor model of writing a check and attending quarterly board meetings. We work side by side with our companies on a daily or weekly basis, helping them refine product-market fit, land their first customers, shape their product roadmap, and execute marketing and launch strategies. Having built companies ourselves, we know how critical these early decisions are, and we roll up our sleeves to support founders through them. Few firms at our stage engage at this level, and it’s something our portfolio companies find invaluable.

What do you look for in founders? Are there traits that immediately impress you? Conversely, what are red flags?

• We look for founders who think big. People who see broken industries and envision how technology can transform them. A demonstrated track record of success is key. Many of our investments come through a trusted network of referrals from people we’ve worked with in various professional and academic settings. These references give us insight into how a founder has performed in previous roles.
• We’re especially drawn to individuals who have successfully turned ideas into revenue. They don’t necessarily need to have been founders before, but they do need to have shown an ability to see how a market should evolve and then convince others that they’re right.

Let’s talk about the portfolio. Can you highlight five companies whose journeys make you particularly proud? How do you assess the long-term potential of portfolio companies, especially in rapidly changing conditions? 

• One of our standout companies is EvolutionIQ, which provides AI-driven claims guidance solutions for insurance carriers in the workers’ compensation and disability sectors. They quickly found product-market fit, built deep customer relationships, and executed on their vision with impressive speed and cutting through the usual enterprise sales cycle in a way that’s rare. The company scaled incredibly rapidly after our investment and was acquired by CCC in January 2024, for $830M.
• Elevva, an e-commerce company operating in Latin America, has navigated a turbulent market with exceptional discipline. They’ve remained well-capitalized, cost-efficient, and laser-focused on customer pain points, allowing them to capture market share even in challenging conditions. 
• I’m excited about the future being built by Counsel. Counsel’s mission is to multiply the world’s healthcare capacity. They’re building an AI-first medical practice from the ground up that automates across the entire clinical stack, allowing in-house clinicians to provide superhuman medical advice that is near-instant, highly personalized, and always available. They have already formed partnerships with leading healthcare organizations and are on track to serve hundreds of thousands of patients within the next year.
• HeadStart is a “business-in-a-box” solution enabling autism care providers (BCBAs) to build and run their own, independent practices. We’re passionate about their mission to increase patient access to quality care and create compelling work opportunities for BCBAs, and we’ve been excited about their early progress.
• I’ve also been incredibly impressed by Onescreen.ai, an AI-powered marketplace for out-of-home advertising. They had a clear vision from day one, and the market validated it. The demand from customers has fueled rapid growth, and their platform delivers a vastly improved buying experience for an already-budgeted spend category.
• And while there are several more in stealth mode that we’re excited about, we can’t talk about them just yet!

Emerging trends often play a big role in venture—how does ACP think about technology and industry trends?

• At Asymmetric, we approach trends with a contrarian and deeply analytical mindset. We don’t chase hype cycles, instead, we look for underserved markets where technological applications can drive outsized value. Our core thesis is rooted in three areas: backing exceptional founders at the earliest possible stage, investing heavily in healthcare technology where AI and data are creating new efficiencies, and identifying cash-flow-positive businesses with consolidation potential. This approach allows us to capitalize on market inefficiencies while avoiding overhyped sectors where valuations outpace fundamentals.

On the deal side, how do you structure investments to balance risk and reward for LPs, particularly given evolving valuations? How do you approach scaling companies across different market cycles to maximize long-term value?

• We are disciplined investors who prioritize long-term equity value over short-term financial engineering. Every investment begins with rigorous underwriting of unit economics and competitive dynamics. While we invest through preferred securities, we expect our returns to be driven entirely by securities that convert at exit, emphasizing alignment with founders. Importantly, we focus on entry valuations that are fair rather than extractive. We’d rather back a well-incentivized, high-caliber founder at market terms than squeeze for a discount that could create misalignment down the road.
• Having operated through multiple market environments, we believe consistency is key. Our deployment strategy remains steady across macro cycles, avoiding the temptation to time markets. We work closely with our portfolio companies in their early days to set them up for scale. Helping refine go-to-market strategies, optimize early customer acquisition, and build strong operational foundations. Our team’s background in both private equity and operations allows us to provide hands-on support, particularly in pivotal moments like pricing strategy, fundraising, and team building. For select companies with fund-level upside, we remain involved long-term to ensure they reach their full potential.

Let’s shift to exits—what has been your most successful exit strategy, and what made it work?

• While we are still early in our journey as a firm, our most successful exits have been driven by disciplined company-building rather than financial engineering. We focus on businesses that can sustain strong unit economics, expand profitably, and ultimately become must-have acquisitions or standalone public companies. Our approach is to build companies that don’t need an exit to survive. They are resilient, high-margin businesses that attract strong acquisition or IPO interest when the time is right.

On the LP front, how does ACP maintain transparency and communication, especially in volatile markets? How do you align interests with LPs to drive long-term value while mitigating risk?

• We take LP communication as seriously as we do investing. Our philosophy is built on trust and transparency, whether the news is good or bad. While our fund performance has been strong, we proactively communicate any challenges, knowing that long-term success is built on credibility. Beyond performance updates, we also engage LPs as thought partners, keeping them informed about our best-performing companies and potential co-investment opportunities.
• Alignment starts with skin in the game. Our team invests heavily in our own funds (~5% commitment), and our carry and distribution structures are designed to ensure we only win when our LPs win. This structure, combined with our disciplined investment strategy, has placed us in the top decile of our vintage in terms of DPI.

Finally, looking ahead, how is ACP positioning itself for the next five years? What trends are shaping your outlook?

• The next five years will see a dramatically different venture landscape- fewer firms, fewer funds, and a return to fundamentals. We welcome this shift, as it rewards disciplined, fundamentals-driven investing. We are particularly bullish on three areas: the continued maturation of AI-driven healthcare applications, consolidation opportunities in fragmented vertical markets, and the resurgence of early-stage venture as capital becomes scarcer. With strong LP support and a portfolio of high-quality founders, we are excited to build enduring businesses in the years ahead.