Steve Schlenker has worked in direct investing almost nonstop since 1990, moving through buyout, growth investing, and then co-founding DN Capital, and he runs the firm's US operations from Sand Hill Road while staying closely involved in the UK and Berlin. He's known for digging into unit economics and backing models others doubted, like AUTO1's car-buying approach, while also pushing founders on practical trade-offs as they scale across cities and countries, holding weekly check-ins with CEOs, and caring about technology that helps everyday people, not just the most elite users.