From Manpower to Mind Power: An AI Investor’s Manifesto
The glass and concrete canyons of Midtown Manhattan don’t just look different than they did fifteen years ago; they feel different. They vibrate with a new kind of light, a new velocity. I should know. I used to play the old game, and now, I have the profound privilege of scouting and sponsoring the dawn of a new one.
Back in my investment banking days, power was a game of mass. It was manpower. The firm with the biggest army of analysts, the most VPs on a pitch book, that was the titan.
We were the human capital that fueled the engine of Wall Street, organized in vast bullpens, convinced that scale was synonymous with strength. Look at all those suits. We had an entire army clad in Italian wool. There was no way we could lose.
Today, from my family office in the West Village of New York, I am betting my family’s future on a radically different and infinitely more exciting truth. It’s a principle that powers every investment I make. The old adage was, "The amount of manpower you control is a proxy for your power." The new reality, the one that fills me with boundless optimism, is this: In the age of AI, the power to unlock human power is the only metric that matters.
This isn't just a turn of phrase.
It’s the blueprint for a better world, and for those of us who left the rigid structures of the past, it’s the most thrilling adventure imaginable.
The Joyful Leap: From Spreadsheet to Script
My departure from the old world wasn’t an escape as much as an awakening.
As a Director on Wall St working at one of the oldest privately-held investment banks in New York, I was surrounded by brilliant minds, yet we were all tethered to tasks that felt profoundly beneath human potential.
We were performing feats of endurance, not creativity. I spent all night on worksheets and flip books, not creating true value.
The catalyst for my leap was a moment of pure magic. An M&A deal had our team of twelve drowning in spreadsheets for two weeks, manually updating models after a not-so-minor data change. The work was draining our energy and our spirit. That weekend, driven by a spark of curiosity, I dove into an online Python course. This was long before AI could have taught me how to use AI. It was challenging, humbling, and then, suddenly, illuminating.
I wrote a simple script.
A few dozen lines of code designed to perform the exact analysis that had chained my team to their desks. I hit ‘Run.’ Twenty-seven seconds later, the work was done.
Flawlessly.
In that instant, I saw the future. It wasn't a future where machines replaced us, but one where they liberated us. I saw a world where human brilliance was freed from the shackles of repetitive labor and unleashed to do what it does best: create, dream, discover, and connect. That twenty-seven-second script wasn't just a tool for efficiency to me… it was a glimpse of a future where every person could have their creative and intellectual powers amplified a thousand-fold.
I left the bank not out of frustration, but with the exhilaration of a convert.
The McDonagh Family Office was founded on this singular, joyful principle: to seek out and support the architects of this new, leveraged world. I didn't need a floor of analysts; I needed a front-row seat to the revolution being built by a new generation of founders. The builders, the dreamers, the nerds.
Our Thesis: Investing in a Renaissance
Our mandate is to fund the future.
I focus on two domains that I believe are the twin engines of the coming renaissance: Artificial Intelligence and Bitcoin. They are the tools that will build a more intelligent, decentralized, and prosperous world for everyone.
Artificial Intelligence: Our Partner in Creation
Investing in AI is not about backing software, if you think about it.
It’s about investing in the amplification of human curiosity. It’s about building partners that will help us solve our oldest and most intractable problems. The old model was to hire a smart person. The new model is to empower every smart person with a brilliant, tireless collaborator.
Look at one of my portfolio companies who are currently in stealth.
They aren't just a "software startup" they are a team of ten bio-engineers working alongside a proprietary AI to design novel proteins for new medicines. A decade ago, this work involved slow, painstaking trial and error in a physical lab. Today, their AI can simulate millions of molecular interactions a day, proposing new therapeutic candidates that no human could have conceived of. The team isn't just "managing" the AI; they are in a creative dialogue with it. They bring the intuition, the inspiration, and the guiding questions. The AI brings the scale, the speed, and the encyclopedic knowledge.
This is the future of all scientific discovery, of all art, of all creation. It’s a partnership. We are on the cusp of a world where every scientist, every doctor, every artist has an AI collaborator, helping them push the boundaries of what’s possible.
This brings us to the most exciting frontier: the AI agent.
This isn't the story of a new power elite; it's the story of radical democratization.
Soon, every child will have access to a personalized AI tutor, an infinitely patient and encouraging guide tailored to their unique learning style. Every family could have an AI health advisor, helping them navigate complex wellness decisions. Every entrepreneur with a great idea will have an AI business strategist to help them build a plan.
We are not building a new hierarchy of power; we are building a platform for universal empowerment.
Bitcoin: A Foundation for Global Opportunity
If AI is the engine of creativity, Bitcoin is the foundation of sovereign wealth.
My years in banking showed me that the friction in the global financial system disproportionately harms those with the least. Access to capital, protection from inflation, and the ability to transact freely are privileges, not rights.
Bitcoin changes that. At its core, it is a technology of empowerment. It provides a global, transparent, and incorruptible savings and payments system that is open to anyone with an internet connection. It’s a lifeline for people living under regimes with hyper-inflating currencies, like the United States.
It's a tool for developers in emerging markets to get paid by global clients without exorbitant fees. It's a foundation for a new internet of value, where creators can connect directly with their audiences. It protects all of us from the merciless printing from the Elite who seek to transfer purchasing power from the masses to themselves at faster and faster rates.
When I invest in this ecosystem, I’m not betting against banks. They made their bed. They can sleep in it.
I’m betting on the people.
I’m betting on a future where your economic opportunity isn’t determined by your zip code. Bitcoin and its related technologies are creating a more level playing field, building a financial system whose integrity is guaranteed by math and open to all.
It's the automation of opportunity. If you think there’s no such thing as a free lunch, wait till you find out how much owning USD has cost you. The dollar is worth $.02 of the original $1.00 in value we entrusted to the Federal Reserve not-that-long-ago in 1913.
“Those bastards” doesn’t begin to describe it.
The View from Today
From my desk, the cranes over the city skyline no longer look like monuments to the past. They look like foundations.
They are the launching pads from which we will build something far grander and more creative than ever before.
The founders I meet every day are the architects of this future. They are overflowing with optimism, not because they ignore the world's problems, but because they are building the tools to solve them. They are driven by a profound belief in the power of technology to amplify the best of human nature.
We are at the dawn of a new Renaissance, where the collaboration between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence will solve our oldest challenges and unlock destinies we can barely imagine. The future doesn't belong to the masters of men or the architects of machines, but to the optimists who dare to build with both. And from my vantage point in New York City, I can tell you with absolute certainty: the future is brighter than we ever dared to believe.
Let's get to work building it.
Friends: in addition to the 17% discount for becoming annual paid members, we are excited to announce an additional 10% discount when paying with Bitcoin. Reach out to me, these discounts stack on top of each other!
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I started Wealth Systems in 2023 to share the systems, technology, and mindsets that I encountered on Wall Street. I am a Wall St banker became ₿itcoin nerd, ML engineer & family office investor.
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