Yoni Rechtman
Partner at slow-ventures
Reviewed Updated May 1, 2026This profile is AI-generated. If you spot an error, please help us fix it by sharing a URL to the correct information.
Background
Yoni Rechtman is a Partner at Slow Ventures, the early-stage venture firm founded by Kevin Colleran and Sam Lessin, where he leads the firm’s New York investing efforts and invests nationally 12. He is based in Brooklyn, New York 3.
Before Slow, Rechtman spent five years at Tusk Ventures, joining as an Analyst in January 2017 and rising through Associate (2018-2019) to Principal (January 2020 - December 2021), where his work covered sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio support 4. Earlier, he worked at the ecommerce startup Mouth.com and interned in experience design at Critical Mass and in public affairs at APCO Worldwide and the Glover Park Group 4. He studied at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, focused on the history and philosophy of science and technology, after two years at Amherst College studying economic history 4.
Rechtman joined Slow Ventures as a Principal in March 2022 43. In October 2025, Slow announced his promotion to Partner — a notable exception to Slow’s deliberately non-expansionary model, which has historically avoided promoting from within 25. Slow’s blog post on the promotion described it as one of the rare cases where the firm makes “exceptions to hard rules” 2. Rechtman has stated that he is “leading our efforts in NY and investing across the country” and that his focus areas include real-world businesses, geography-based operations, healthcare, and fintech while continuing as a generalist 52.
In addition to his investing work, Rechtman writes the Substack newsletter 99% Derisible (99d.substack.com), which has tens of thousands of subscribers and covers his views on early-stage venture, distribution, and AI 67.
Stated Thesis
Rechtman publicly describes himself as a stage-specialist generalist with a particular orientation toward pre-seed and seed bets where the firm’s capital can underwrite founder time before a company is fully formed. He has written: “If I can get to a founder/newco early enough, I’m down to invest as a total generalist,” adding “we mostly don’t divide up the world into sectors and coverage groups” 8.
He has explicitly framed pre-seed as the part of the market where venture capital matters most: “VCs don’t add anything to execution but can be helpful in preplanning and conception,” and “the earlier you go, the more it looks like ‘true venture’: card flips and big bets versus sustaining execution” 9. He says he aims to “help really good people underwrite their time the same way we underwrite our capital” 9.
On distribution and go-to-market, Rechtman has written: “The cold email and autodialer are going the way of the banner ad. The Great Ignore has begun.” His stated view is that “the distribution models of the future will all be based on some combination of captive/proprietary distribution, virality, and organic growth, and inbound demand” 10.
On the Slow Ventures Creator Fund — a $63M vehicle to back creator-entrepreneurs that Slow announced on February 14, 2025 — Rechtman wrote: “we’re partnering with creators by bringing minority capital to build, launch, and scale real businesses,” and “the next generation of great (consumer and B2B) brands will organically find an audience and then build a product” 1112.
Inferred Thesis
This analysis is based on a small sample of independently verified, personally-attributed deals (notably Superdial). Slow Ventures does not assign deals to individuals publicly on its portfolio page, and Rechtman’s role spans sourcing, leading, and supporting investments alongside other Slow partners 1. Public attribution comes primarily from his own writing on 99% Derisible and from third-party coverage of his Partner promotion 213. Percentages are therefore not computed; this section is qualitative.
Stage: Predominantly pre-seed and seed. Rechtman has written explicitly that he carves out smaller checks for very early stages and prefers to back founders “while they’re still in their job” 98. His check size at Slow is reported at $500K-$2M with a $1M sweet spot 3.
Sectors: Generalist, but with self-stated bias toward (1) creator-economy businesses (driven by the Creator Fund he co-leads), (2) “real-world” / geography-based operating businesses, (3) healthcare workflow and vertical AI (Superdial), and (4) fintech 5211. He has flagged third-party signals in Web3/crypto, SaaS, consumer internet, social networks, and DTC 3.
Founder profile: Rechtman emphasizes “non-consensus, ‘real-world’ business models in underserved geographies (notably New York)” and founders willing to “bet early…and risk looking stupid together” 35. On Superdial’s founders Sam Schwager and Harrison Caruthers he wrote: “exceptionally gritty, high velocity, high agency” 13.
Distribution thesis: Strong stated preference for “alternative GTMs and/or quantitative value props at seed” — explicitly skeptical of outbound sales motions at early stage 1011.
Co-investor patterns: As a sourcing-stage investor, Rechtman has co-invested through Slow with SignalFire (Superdial Series A) and the broader Slow Ventures partner group (Kevin Colleran, Sam Lessin, Will Quist, Megan Lightcap, Clay Robbins) 131.
Sample-size caveat: Only Superdial is independently verified as a Rechtman-sourced/led deal by his own first-person account; SuperDial and Heave appear together in third-party coverage as deals he sourced 213. The portfolio table below is therefore deliberately short. Slow’s portfolio includes many companies that Rechtman may have touched but to which he is not publicly attributed.
Portfolio
This table lists only investments where Yoni Rechtman’s personal involvement (sourcing, leading, or board-level engagement) is supported by a primary source.
| Company | Year | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superdial | 2022 | Seed (first investment at Slow) | 13 |
| Superdial | 2025 | Series A ($15M, SignalFire led; third time backing the company) | 13 |
| ~unknown | Heave | n/a | n/a (sourced by Rechtman per Slow promotion coverage) |
Notes: Slow Ventures’ broader portfolio (which Rechtman supports) is documented on slow.co; specific personal attribution beyond the above could not be independently verified from primary sources and was therefore omitted.
In Their Own Words
On pre-seed as the highest-leverage stage:
“VCs don’t add anything to execution but can be helpful in preplanning and conception. The earlier you go, the more it looks like ‘true venture’: card flips and big bets versus sustaining execution.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Why We’re Backing Pre-Seeds,” 99% Derisible, 2024 9
On underwriting founders’ time:
“help really good people underwrite their time the same way we underwrite our capital.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Why We’re Backing Pre-Seeds,” 99% Derisible, 2024 9
On sector specialization:
“We mostly don’t divide up the world into sectors and coverage groups.” — Yoni Rechtman, “When to Call Me,” 99% Derisible 8
“If I can get to a founder/newco early enough, I’m down to invest as a total generalist.” — Yoni Rechtman, “When to Call Me,” 99% Derisible 8
On distribution as the defining problem of the next venture cycle:
“The cold email and autodialer are going the way of the banner ad. The Great Ignore has begun.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Six Themes for 2025,” 99% Derisible 10
“The distribution models of the future will all be based on some combination of captive/proprietary distribution, virality, and organic growth, and inbound demand.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Six Themes for 2025,” 99% Derisible 10
On the Creator Fund:
“we’re partnering with creators by bringing minority capital to build, launch, and scale real businesses.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Our Creator Fund,” 99% Derisible, February 2025 11
“the next generation of great (consumer and B2B) brands will organically find an audience and then build a product.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Our Creator Fund,” 99% Derisible, February 2025 11
On signing up to stay at Slow:
“I’m signing up to stay on as a Partner at Slow. Big things take time. And now I have more time to see things through at Slow.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Taking It Slow,” 99% Derisible, October 2025 5
“I’m leading our efforts in NY and investing across the country as we partner with great founders pursuing weird takes on the most important stories in the biggest markets.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Taking It Slow,” 99% Derisible, October 2025 5
On AI and the app layer:
“the app layer is where we’ll find our winners: those who can use new technologies to pioneer new products.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Six Themes for 2025,” 99% Derisible 10
On Superdial’s founders:
“Sam Schwager and Harrison Caruthers…exceptionally gritty, high velocity, high agency.” — Yoni Rechtman, “Superdial’s $15M Series A,” 99% Derisible, 2025 13
What Founders Say
No independently sourced founder testimonials found at the time of profile creation.
Connections
- Slow Ventures partners — Rechtman works alongside Kevin Colleran (Managing Director), Sam Lessin (GP), Will Quist (GP), Megan Lightcap (Partner, Creator Fund), Billy Parks (Creator Venture Partner), and Clay Robbins (Forward Deployed Partner) 1.
- Tusk Ventures alumnus — Principal at Tusk Ventures from January 2020 to December 2021; prior Analyst/Associate roles at Tusk from January 2017 4.
- Co-investor: SignalFire — SignalFire led Superdial’s $15M Series A in 2025 alongside Slow’s follow-on participation 13.
- Publicly endorsed by Slow leadership on his promotion: Sam Lessin (cited Rechtman’s “real impact” on the prior fund cycle), Will Quist (“shocking that someone in his generation is committing to something long term”), and Kevin Colleran 2.
Sources
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Slow Ventures, “About,” accessed May 2026. https://slow.co/about/↩↩↩↩
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Melia Russell, LinkedIn post — “In the world of venture capital, the path…” (coverage of Rechtman’s Partner promotion at Slow Ventures), October 2025, accessed May 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/meliarussell_in-the-world-of-venture-capital-the-path-activity-7386752966168322049-25gk↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Signal by NFX, “Yoni Rechtman’s Investing Profile - Slow Ventures,” accessed May 2026. https://signal.nfx.com/investors/yoni-rechtman↩↩↩↩↩
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Tusk Ventures, “Members of Team Tusk — Yoni Rechtman,” accessed May 2026. https://tuskventures.com/team-member/yoni-rechtman/↩↩↩↩↩
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Yoni Rechtman, “Taking It Slow,” 99% Derisible, October 2025, accessed May 2026. https://99d.substack.com/p/taking-it-slow↩↩↩↩↩↩
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Yoni Rechtman, 99% Derisible (Substack publication), accessed May 2026. https://99d.substack.com/↩
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Yoni Rechtman, “About — 99% Derisible,” accessed May 2026. https://99d.substack.com/about↩
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Yoni Rechtman, “When to Call Me,” 99% Derisible, accessed May 2026. https://99d.substack.com/p/when-to-call-me↩↩↩↩
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Yoni Rechtman, “Why We’re Backing Pre-Seeds,” 99% Derisible, accessed May 2026. https://99d.substack.com/p/why-were-backing-pre-seeds↩↩↩↩↩
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Yoni Rechtman, “Six Themes for 2025,” 99% Derisible, accessed May 2026. https://99d.substack.com/p/six-themes-for-2025↩↩↩↩↩
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Yoni Rechtman, “Our Creator Fund,” 99% Derisible, February 2025, accessed May 2026. https://99d.substack.com/p/our-creator-fund↩↩↩↩↩
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Slow Ventures, “Slow Ventures’ Newest Seed and Opportunity Funds… More Of The Same!” Medium, accessed May 2026. https://medium.com/@slow/slow-ventures-newest-seed-and-opportunity-funds-more-of-the-same-9cc5a7e9312f↩
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Yoni Rechtman, “Superdial’s $15M Series A,” 99% Derisible, 2025, accessed May 2026. https://99d.substack.com/p/superdials-15m-series-a↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩