How Athletes Get Into the Top VC Funds | Ryan Nece, Next Legacy
How Athletes Get Into the Top VC Funds | Ryan Nece, Next Legacy  
Podcast: The Peel with Turner Novak
Published On: Thu Sep 03 2026
Description: Ryan Nece runs Next Legacy, a $4 billion fund of funds that connects athletes and philanthropists with the top venture capital firms in the world.Ryan is the only player in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as a rookie and go 0-16 in his final season. His dad, Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, started one of the first athlete-backed venture funds with Joe Montana in the late '90s.Ryan rebuilt that playbook a generation later, so almost nobody is better positioned to explain the similarities between pro athletes and the top founders / investors, how athletes actually break into Silicon Valley, the biggest mistakes they usually make, .Thanks to this episodes sponsors!Numeral: Sales tax on autopilot https://www.numeral.comFlex: Premium banking, 60-day credit, 0% APR https://home.flex.one/referral/bananacapitalAmplitude: AI analytics https://www.amplitude.comMerge: Every model, one API https://www.merge.dev/turnerMonaco: The revenue engine for startups https://www.monaco.com/Timestamps:(0:00) How a football family broke into Silicon Valley(4:33) A Super Bowl rookie year with four Hall of Famers(8:09) What separates the top 0.1% of athletes?(12:18) The mistake of having "a guy"(18:41) Vetting who to trust(20:18) The dumbest investments athletes make(22:45) How athletes can help founders(29:44) VC Power Law is just like sports(34:24) How to break in without connections(38:05) Building Next Legacy to $4B AUM(40:44) Why they give away all the profits(43:20) Early firm building mistakes(48:19) Learning to pitch institutional LP's(53:03) The emerging-manager barbell(55:45) “Your starting five tells me who you are”(57:47) The other AI: Authentic Interaction(59:55) Getting LP attention with the rule of three(1:03:40) Working the whisper network(1:06:03) Pick the kid who gets picked last(1:12:26) The Lions 0-16 season(1:14:43) The “Next Play” mindset(1:19:28) Mental toughness(1:21:32) What it’s like commentating an NFL game(1:27:14) Getting cussed out by Warren Sapp(1:31:13) His favorite athlete: Jerry Rice(1:35:15) Abe Lincoln and his grandfather's restaurantsReferencedNext Legacy: https://www.nextlegacy.com/Give and Take: https://www.amazon.com/Give-Take-Helping-Others-Success/dp/0143124986Three Feet From from Gold: https://www.amazon.com/Three-Feet-Gold-Obstacles-Opportunities/dp/1402784791Team of Rivals: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754Follow RyanTwitter: https://x.com/ryanneceLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-nece-abb07b8Follow TurnerTwitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovakLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovakSubscribe to my newsletter to get every episode + the transcript in your inbox every week: https://www.thespl.it/