How The Chainsmokers Built a $200M AUM Fund (Using 7 Proven Operating Principles)
How The Chainsmokers Built a $200M AUM Fund (Using 7 Proven Operating Principles)  
Podcast: Buyers and Builders
Published On: Tue Jul 08 2025
Description: Spacebar Studios is offering your company a free 90-day growth roadmap - Sign up for a free call here: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/Scalepath has a network of over 2,000 business owners across the U.S. and Europe. Book a call with the CEO Rand Larsen, he will introduce you to up to 3 business owners in your area. Relationships run the world, don’t forget that. Sign up for a free call here: https://www.joinscalepath.com/Few realize Drew and Alex of The Chainsmokers are world-class operators and disciplined investors --- with over 220 portfolio companies through their investment firm, Mantis.In this solo deep dive, I break down the real Chainsmokers story — from sleeping on floors and running fan CRMs to building a systemized investment engine backed by General Catalyst and Mark Cuban.Timestamps:00:00:00 - Why This Episode Exists00:01:54 - What Drives the Great Ones00:04:43 - Sponsor: Scalepath00:05:14 - Be Bad First, Then Get Good00:07:31 - Systems Before Scale00:10:29 - Two Questions Every Buyer Should Ask00:14:01 - Sponsor: Spacebar Studios00:15:14 - The Chainsmokers' Investments and Product Portfolio Today00:19:20 - If Your Revenue Doubled Overnight, Would Your Systems Survive?00:25:33 - Build Something Only You Can Build and Acquire00:32:25 - People Don’t Trust People They Don’t See00:34:58 - What It Looks Like in Year 1000:36:35 - What Makes Long-Term Investing So Powerful: Everyone Else Burns Out00:41:16 - Build a World, Not Just a Stack of Companies00:47:01 - Fix the “Plumbing” Before You Scale00:52:05 - Are You Building an Investment Firm Worth Joining?----------------------------------------------Subscribe on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/6lr5bE3SNZF2uEE7Nb0DHh?si=cP_nAarhRmep1lvnR6uk5gSubscribe on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holdco-builders/id1695713724Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuyThe Chainsmokers on Twitter: https://x.com/TheChainsmokersThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.