Last month, we hosted Cade Ventures' first Annual General Meeting - bringing together LPs, founders, operators, and friends of the firm for a day of thoughtful conversation and reflection.
Last month, we hosted Cade Ventures’ first Annual General Meeting, bringing together an incredible group of limited partners, founders, operators, co-investors, and friends of the firm.
More than anything, the day was a reflection of what Cade has become in just a few short years: a growing community built around a shared belief that founders deserve operator-led capital, and that the best venture firms are built not just on access to deals, but on the ability to help companies execute.
We’re deeply grateful to everyone who joined us and helped make the day possible.
Opening Reflections: What We’re Building at Cade
Ryan opened the day with a brief reflection on Cade’s evolution from a scrappy, operator-led idea into an institutional fund with a growing team, portfolio, and network.
The core message was simple: in today’s market, where ideas and code are increasingly commoditized, durable advantage comes from execution, trust, distribution, and the ability to help founders win in the real world. That belief continues to shape how we invest across healthcare, consumer, and hardware — and how we’re building Cade for the long term.
Healthcare Panel: From Engagement to Outcomes, Building Intelligence in Modern Healthcare
Isabel Glass (Investor, Cade Ventures) moderated a discussion with Rebecca Kaden (Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures), Dion Camp Sanders (Chief Commercial Officer, Peloton), and Jesse Kesner (Co-founder & CEO, Alnu Health - Cade Portfolio Company).
The conversation centered on a major shift underway in healthcare: from delivering care episodically to sustaining behavior, adherence, and trust over time. The panelists explored how the most compelling companies in the category are not simply improving existing workflows, but reshaping who the customer is, where trust is built, and how outcomes are delivered.
A recurring insight was that the best healthcare businesses increasingly start with a product and evolve into a system of record — embedding deeply into workflows, creating stickiness, and generating measurable ROI. AI, while powerful, is only valuable insofar as it improves the experience and outcome for the user.
Consumer Panel: Product as Identity, Building Consumer Tech in the Age of AI
Alex Konrad (Founder & Editor, Upstarts Media) moderated a conversation with Tom Cortese (Co-founder, Peloton and Kernel Foods), Adam Cue (Product, OpenAI), and Allie Melnick (Co-founder & CCO, Climatic Health - Cade Portfolio Company).
The discussion explored what defensibility looks like in a world where products can be built faster than ever, but moats may be harder than ever to sustain. Across the conversation, one idea stood out: in consumer, advantage increasingly comes not from novelty alone, but from building products and experiences people identify with.
The panel touched on community, delight, ecosystem fit, and the importance of preserving the parts of an experience that people actually enjoy. In an era of AI-generated sameness, rich human experiences and strong brand affinity may matter more, not less.
Defense Tech Panel: The New Era of Warfare and the Industrial Base that Enables It
Col. Devon Capps (Investment Advisor, Thompson Machinery and Cade Ventures) moderated a conversation with Maj. Gen. Clayton Hutmacher (President & CEO, Special Operations Warrior Foundation), Col. Carter Smyth (Special Forces Officer, US Army Europe), and David Zagaynov (Founder & CEO, Poseidon Aerospace - Cade Portfolio Company).
They explored how global conflict is entering a Revolution in Military Affairs, what the most credible threats look like over the next decade, and what innovation must do to ensure the U.S. and its allies can build, supply, and adapt at the speed modern conflict demands.
The conversation made clear that global conflict, industrial resilience, and speed of adaptation are becoming increasingly central to the innovation landscape. The panel underscored the growing importance of modern supply chains, rapid iteration, and technologies that can respond to a dramatically evolving geopolitical environment.
Robotics, Data, and Physical AI Panel: From Lab Breakthroughs to Real World Systems
Oliver Hsu (Partner, Andreessen Horowitz) moderated a conversation with Connor Ling (Principal, Neo), Tony Berkman (Alternative Data Pioneer, ex-Two Sigma), and Josh Gao (Co-founder & CEO, Mecka AI - Cade Portfolio Company).
The panel focused on the widening gap between technical progress in AI and the realities of deploying physical systems in the real world. While autonomy continues to improve quickly, real-world adoption still depends on reliability, latency, cost, and the complexity of operating outside controlled environments.
One of the clearest takeaways was that data remains central to value creation in the physical AI stack. As hardware becomes more reproducible and models become more accessible - proprietary data, deployment infrastructure, and tight hardware-software integration are becoming more important sources of defensibility.
A Closing Conversation on Endurance
We ended the day with a fireside chat led by Ryan Engel (Founder & Managing Partner, Cade Ventures) with Michael Carmen (Managing Partner, Wellington Management) Cade’s first believer and earliest Limited Partner.
Their conversation was a thoughtful reminder that venture is ultimately a long-term business built on judgment, philosophy, and people. Michael spoke about the importance of backing exceptional individuals early, maintaining consistency of process, and building a firm with the discipline to evolve without losing its core principles.
It was a fitting close to the day - and to the broader message of the AGM.
What This Means for Cade // Looking Ahead
This AGM was not just a milestone for the firm. It was a reflection of the kind of platform we are working to build: one rooted in operators, collaboration, conviction, and long-term partnership.
To our LPs, founders, operators, and friends: thank you for being in the room, for building with us, and for helping shape what Cade is becoming.
We are just getting started.
