Daniel Gwak is the Managing Partner of Point72 Private Investments, the institutional private investing business of Point72 Asset Management. He oversees Point72 Ventures’ Defense Tech and Growth investment teams.
Before joining Point72, Dan was a Partner on the Investment Team at In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment firm of the CIA and U.S. Intelligence Community. At In-Q-Tel, Dan focused on enterprise analytics and infrastructure companies whose technologies aided the mission of the U.S. intelligence community.
Previously, Dan was an investment banking analyst in the M&A group at Credit Suisse, a private equity associate at The Carlyle Group, and a fireteam leader in the United States Marine Corps, where he was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon and Purple Heart for actions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
I’m a big believer in transforming traditional industries with AI.
Whether we’re helping an early-stage deep tech startup build a business around groundbreaking technology or giving established founders the capital to invest in the tools that power their business, I think the augmentation of human workflows through AI will unlock the next economic revolution.
I started my career as a non-technical person in a technical place.
I was a private equity guy. I would fall asleep reading books on neural networks so that I’d be prepared for the next day’s water-cooler conversation. It helped me get to the right questions to ask my colleagues.
The best way to learn is by talking to experts.
Someone who can synthesize a decade or decades of experience is like having a mountaineering guide; you learn to see the landscape in a totally different way.
Small-talk Cheat Sheet:
Wild places and how to get to them. Indonesia. Macroeconomics. Overlanding.
Early in my career, I spent time on the wrong questions.
I was always wondering, “what’s the right answer?” Now I spend that time thinking, “how do we drive the best outcome?” It’s a lot more human-focused, and a lot more effective.
