For decades, if you wanted to build a world-class tech company, you had to move to Silicon Valley. AI just changed that. When SF deploys new AI infrastructure today, the entire world gets access within 24 hours. For the first time in tech history, a founder in Belgrade has the same tools on day one as a founder in San Francisco.Tiho Bajic lived this shift firsthand. He went from war refugee at age 9 to first engineer at Rypple (acquired by Salesforce) to founding CTO at Nitro to building the Long-Term Stock Exchange with Eric Ries. Now, as GP at Fifth Quarter Ventures, he's investing in overlooked geographies, particularly the Balkans. In this conversation, we cover his "first follower" philosophy, the distribution hacks that actually scaled Nitro, what pre-seed/seed means in 2026, and why geography still matters—just differently. Silicon Valley still has speed and capital density, but it lost its monopoly on technology. The opportunity now is understanding what each geography uniquely offers.

Joshua Berkowitz, Managing Principal at Berkocorp, shares how he runs his family's investment office as a one-person investment team—and why that's actually an advantage.In this episode of Mantle Mondays, Josh reveals:- Why most investors are "investing not to lose their job, not to make money"- How family offices win by being contrarian when institutions can't- The data stack and AI tools he uses daily (Mantle, Attio, ChatGPT)- Why top quartile VC returns have never exceeded 3X net—and how to beat that- His approach to "weird" investments that institutions won't touchLearn more about Mantle Portal: withmantle.com/portal

In this episode of Mantle Mondays, Amar Varma sits down with Narayan Chowdhury, Co-founder and Managing Director at Franklin Park, for an in-depth conversation about how AI is fundamentally transforming institutional investing and what it means for LPs navigating this transition.Narayan brings a unique perspective as both a technical builder and an institutional investor. From writing code to selecting venture managers, he shares candid insights on the challenges and opportunities facing LPs in 2026, including why firms built in the pre-LLM era face a critical dual pivot, how the cost of operations is trending toward zero, and why experience still matters in an increasingly automated world.Learn more about Franklin Park: www.franklinparkllc.comLearn more about Mantle: www.withmantle.com0:00 - Narayan's background7:00 - What is Franklin Park?14:03 - Franklin Park's philosophy17:21 - How AI is transforming LP operations26:26 - The dual pivot problem29:35 - The Goldilocks paradox34:03 - Advice for aspiring LPs39:14 - Rapid fire42:18 - Life lessons from hockey and closing thoughts