Renny McPherson is a former Marine Corps intelligence officer who brings pattern analysis and asymmetric risk assessment skills to venture investing, particularly in cybersecurity and data-intelligence companies. As a repeat founder-operator who co-founded RedOwl Analytics and other security companies before becoming a full-time investor, he has deep operational experience in the specific domains he now backs as a VC.

• A consistent focus on data science and analytics as fundamental business drivers rather than just backend technical tools. One notable example is sharing a perspective that establishing the right organizational structure and getting senior leadership on board is far more critical to data success than the actual software being used.
• Deep appreciation for military veterans transitioning into entrepreneurship and civic leadership. This is a recurring theme where attention is frequently drawn to veteran led businesses, including sharing roundups of top veteran founded startups across the country and celebrating specific founders with military backgrounds launching new ventures.
• Interest in intentional hiring practices and the realities of company culture. A great point to connect on is the idea that founders must strictly define what their workplace culture actually is before they can successfully evaluate candidates for a cultural match, along with an appreciation for startups building solutions to eliminate inherent bias from recruiting.
• Passion for the intersection of data and financial technology. There is repeated praise for companies using data science and smart design to rebuild financial services, with specific shoutouts to platforms that manage to process massive amounts of social media information to solve complex discovery problems for banks and hedge funds.