Before co-founding Base Ventures, Kirby spent years as a Vice President at a boutique private equity firm focused on project finance and alternative energy, giving him unusually deep experience in complex, capital-intensive, infrastructure-like deals compared with the typical software-only VC background. He applies lessons from his private equity career to startup work, particularly around business model development and understanding unit economics at an early stage, while also serving as a board member and lead investor in Space Perspective, a space tourism company developing high-altitude balloon flights to the stratosphere.

• Enthusiasm for frontier technology and deep tech innovations, particularly in the aerospace and automation sectors. He frequently shares updates on portfolio companies pushing boundaries, such as celebrating a successful test flight for a spaceship designed to take passengers to the edge of the atmosphere.
• Commitment to uplifting underrepresented founders and diverse voices within the tech ecosystem. This is evident through his active participation as a judge for pitch competitions at major diversity-focused tech conferences and his promotion of literature highlighting the journeys of Black entrepreneurs.
• Strong interest in the intersection of digital identity and the metaverse. He closely follows and celebrates milestones for avatar-based technology companies, such as when high-profile media executives join their boards or when they secure significant capital to expand their web3 footprint.
• Focus on startups that solve systemic financial problems for students and younger generations. He has highlighted investments in platforms specifically designed to help users navigate complex financial aid systems to make higher education more affordable.
• Track record of actively publicly celebrating portfolio company milestones, ranging from seed stage to unicorn status. He consistently posts congratulations for funding rounds and growth achievements, such as applauding a predictive intelligence platform for reaching a billion-dollar valuation.