Colin Greenspon

Colin Greenspon is a co-founder and partner of Narya Capital, the venture firm he launched in 2019 alongside JD Vance (now U.S. Vice President). The two had previously worked together on the investment team at Peter Thiel's Mithril Capital, where Greenspon served as a Managing Director. Narya was formally launched in 2020, raising roughly $93 million from a roster of high-profile backers including Peter Thiel, Eric Schmidt, Marc Andreessen, and Scott Dorsey. The firm's name — a reference to Tolkien's "Ring of Fire" — fits the Thiel network's habit of Tolkien-inspired naming (Mithril, Palantir, Valar).

Before his venture career, Greenspon trained and practiced as a lawyer. He was a Senior Associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and earlier an Associate at Linklaters, giving him a legal/deal background that he carried into investing. His firm bio describes him as having been "a senior leader at several prominent venture funds, leading investments in multiple groundbreaking companies across a variety of esoteric sectors" prior to founding Narya — including a stint associated with Revolution in addition to Mithril.

Greenspon holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law and an A.B. in Political Science/Government from Dartmouth College. At Narya he is one of the firm's principal decision-makers alongside partner Falon Donohue (formerly of VentureOhio), and he is a recurring speaker on thesis-driven, contrarian investing — including appearances at the Greenwich Economic Forum and on founder-focused podcasts.

• Contrarian, thesis-driven investing: Narya aims to build conviction on themes "3–5 years before they gain mainstream traction," deliberately investing ahead of hype cycles rather than chasing them.
• Build toward monopolies on a long timeline: Greenspon frames the core question as "how would you create a monopoly on a 10-year timeline?" while advising founders in the short term to "zoom in and work on pushing out your version of the Tesla roadster, not the Optimus humanoid robot."
• What makes them say yes: the biggest markets, unique/non-consensus ideas, the right (or assemble-able) team, and a differentiated business model — solving "significant societal challenges" in areas like Medicare access, food production, advanced therapies, defense, and affordable insurance.
• Stage & checks: primarily pre-seed, seed, and Series A, with checks from several hundred thousand to several million dollars; the firm will occasionally lead or co-lead larger rounds (e.g., a $28M Series C in AppHarvest, co-leading Rumble).
• Geography as edge: an explicit tilt toward the Midwest and non-coastal America, reflecting the firm's Ohio base and "reindustrialization" orientation.