Hockey's approach to building Column is a direct rejection of the standard VC model. He self-funded the company by taking on immense personal risk, maintains 100% ownership with employees, and provides unique liquidity options like annual tender offers.
Hockey asserts that the most creative financial services are developed in emerging markets like the DRC and Kazakhstan, where constraints breed novel solutions. He criticizes the Silicon Valley 'consensus bubble' for losing touch with global realities and building products primarily for other elites.
A core belief of Hockey's is that modern founders are too de-risked, while early employees take on disproportionate personal and financial risk. He argues for founders to have more 'skin in the game,' believing the threat of personal bankruptcy fosters greater ambition, resilience, and alignment.
Hockey's method involves becoming the world's leading expert in a niche, even if it's perceived as boring. He advocates for obsessive study, citing his own practice of reading obscure, thousand-page books on historical banking to find single, high-leverage ideas.
Keep pulling the thread on William Hockey.