Tory Patterson comes from a multi-generational family of educators including a grandfather who was a public school superintendent, which shaped his decision to devote his investing career specifically to education rather than treating it as just another sector. He was one of the earliest dedicated edtech VCs, founding one of venture's first education investment practices at Catamount Ventures when raising money from traditional VCs for companies selling to school districts was nearly impossible, and later pioneered venture-scale funding in edtech by making $5-12M concentrated bets on just nine companies at Owl Fund I.