As the saying goes, it's hard to find a needle in a haystack. That’s exactly how it felt as Boris and I spent the past few years looking to grow our team. But just as we began to slow down our efforts, the perfect person appeared. It’s funny how, in both life and venture capital, the right opportunities often emerge when you least expect them.
Please welcome Josh Nussbaum as Version One’s venture partner!
I met Josh in the summer of 2015, and we instantly bonded over our similar paths in venture capital. We both started our careers as analysts around the same time—Josh in December 2012 with Metamorphic (now Compound) and me in September 2013 with V1. We essentially “grew up” in VC alongside these funds. Over the years, Boris and I had the privilege of co-investing with Compound/Josh, sharing a love for companies at the edges and founders building crazy things.
Venture capital is often described as a lonely profession (I’ve previously written about the importance of building a tribe). And Josh became a key part of my tribe. He and I turned to each other to celebrate the wins (i.e. becoming general partners at our respective funds at around the same time) or to share the losses (i.e. the investments we lost, our anti-portfolios). We spoke weekly, sharing life and work lessons, challenges, and insights. Diversity of thought is invaluable in this field, and Josh became one of my most trusted sparring partners.
In late 2019, Josh decided to step down from Compound and pursue a mission deeply important and personal to him. He co-founded Halcyon Health, a virtual substance use disorder (SUD) treatment startup. At the time, I was selfishly sad to “lose” one of my closest friends, but was happy that we could back him on his new journey to bring cost-effective care of the highest quality to millions of people suffering from SUD.
Fast forward to 2025. Josh called with an update that he is moving on from his entrepreneurial “tour of duty” and contemplating a return to his investing roots. We immediately jumped at the opportunity to have him join our team. It was a no brainer. He not only aligns with our core values, but also brings the perfect combination of experience, curiosity for emerging tech, love for the craft of VC… and most importantly the highest empathy for founders.
So please join us in welcoming Josh back to VC as a venture partner at Version One! We cannot be more thrilled to be backing the next generation of founders who are early in new areas with him on our team.
You can follow Josh on [X] and LinkedIn, and/or email him directly: josh at versionone dot vc. Also, make sure you subscribe to Version One’s blog as well as us on [X] and LinkedIn as Josh will be sharing what he’s excited about shortly.
