Chad Byers grew up selling Beanie Babies on eBay at age 11 and later helped digitize the electric grid at Silver Spring Networks, giving him an unusual combination of early internet commerce experience and regulated infrastructure expertise. He describes building Susa Ventures using startup language—calling their first fund a $25M seed round with no product—and focuses on companies with strong data network effects or scale economies rather than generic brand defensibility, while maintaining a low 6-8 company ratio per partner to stay deeply involved.

• A strong belief in applying artificial intelligence to the real economy rather than just building thin software layers. He argues it will likely take decades to fully integrate digital intelligence into physical industries and explicitly looks for founders building full-stack AI services, such as tax automation platforms, rather than products that can be easily crushed by infrastructure changes.
• Prioritization of founder speed and clarity of vision. He frequently highlights the importance of urgency in execution, praising an entrepreneur who provided real-time customer support on social media and shipped new features within 24 hours.
• Long-standing commitment to supply chain, logistics, and hard tech sectors. He notes that he has been investing in supply chain startups for over a decade and views the energy sector as one of the few bottomless markets, evidenced by his enthusiasm for companies building microreactors for mission-critical power.
• Values long-term relationships and resilience through non-linear growth. He often celebrates acquisitions or milestones by noting he has known the founders for over ten years, emphasizing that winning with friends is the best outcome and that the path to a billion-dollar valuation is rarely a straight line.
• Respect for responsiveness and high-velocity communication in the industry. He observed that the most successful and busy investors often reply to deal inquiries in under fifteen minutes, suggesting he views rapid communication as a hallmark of competence and professionalism.