Somak Chattopadhyay focuses on overlooked, secondary markets and real-economy sectors like manufacturing, construction, and trucking, believing these areas can produce standout startups if given real support rather than just money; he judges founders partly by whether he'd want to spend a long travel day with them, and he sees venture investing as a craft built on strong local networks rather than just scale. He also pays close attention to the quality of other investors joining a company, drawing on Georges Doriot's early approach to backing entrepreneurs, and he serves on Governor Hochul's Emerging Technology Advisory Board to help Upstate New York ecosystems grow in the coming wave of technology.