The world's most visionary venture capital fund.
Founded on one man's unwavering belief that he is always the smartest person in the room.
The world's most visionary venture capital fund.
Founded on one man's unwavering belief that he is always the smartest person in the room.
At Bachmanity Capital, we don't just invest in companies — we inhabit them. Literally. Our incubator model requires founders to live in a house in Palo Alto where mentorship, kombucha, and unsolicited life advice flow freely.
We look for founders who are hungry, humble, and willing to give up a significant percentage of equity in exchange for a room that may or may not have a door.
Our due diligence process consists of one question: "Does this make me feel something?" If Erlich feels it, we fund it. Simple. Effective. Occasionally catastrophic.
Serial entrepreneur. Thought leader. Owner of a house in Palo Alto. Erlich burst onto the Silicon Valley scene as the creator and CEO of Aviato — the revolutionary aviation software platform that… did something with planes. The important thing is: he built that.
After an extremely profitable exit from Aviato (the details of which are "confidential"), Erlich pivoted to what he does best: telling other people how to run their companies. His incubator has produced some of the most talked-about startups in Silicon Valley — for various reasons.
Erlich's leadership style has been described as "aggressive mentoring" and "unsettlingly confident." He has been known to compare himself to Steve Jobs, but notes that he would never have worn a turtleneck — "Kimonos are the power garment of the future."
When he's not disrupting industries, Erlich enjoys artisanal edibles, naming things, and reminding everyone about Aviato.
A carefully curated selection of companies that Erlich has personally guided to… varying degrees of success.
Middle-Out Compression
The crown jewel of the Bachmanity portfolio. Pied Piper's revolutionary middle-out compression algorithm achieved a Weissman score previously thought impossible. Erlich's contribution? He provided the house. And the name. And the emotional volatility that kept the team sharp.
"Without me, there is no Pied Piper. I am the spiritual and — more importantly — equity-holding father of this company." — Erlich
Failing Upward, Incorporated
Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti is living proof that in Silicon Valley, you don't need to know what you're doing — you just need to be in the right room. After accidentally becoming a multi-millionaire at Hooli, Big Head partnered with Erlich to form Bachmanity — a venture that funded a lavish party on Alcatraz and little else.
"Big Head is the luckiest man alive. I say that with love and also genuine confusion." — Erlich
The One That Started It All
Erlich's magnum opus. Aviato unified the world's air travel information into a single platform. It was acquired. The terms are NDA'd. But trust us — it was very impressive. Erlich still has the vanity plates on his car to prove it.
"You know Aviato?" — Erlich, to literally every person he has ever met
Pre-Seed (Exploring Strategic Options)
A high-caffeine beverage for coders who want to feel like they're committing a crime against their cardiovascular system. Currently in stealth mode, which is what we call it when we haven't figured out how to make it legal yet.
"The market for energy drinks that sound threatening is completely untapped." — Erlich
Erlich has personally negotiated an exclusive collection of perks and discounts for the startups in his incubator. These deals were secured through a combination of aggressive handshaking, prolonged eye contact, and what Erlich calls "the Bachman stare."
From cloud credits to legal services to artisanal snack subscriptions — if it helps a startup scale (or if Erlich got a good deal on it), it's in there.
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Located in the heart of Palo Alto, the Bachmanity Incubator is a 4-bedroom house that Erlich has generously opened to founders in exchange for 10% of their companies.
Amenities include: Wi-Fi (usually), a garage converted into an open-plan office, a fermentation station for Erlich's kombucha experiments, and a whiteboard that still has Pied Piper's original compression algorithm on it (please do not erase).
The incubator has a strict "no shoes in the meditation room" policy and an even stricter "Erlich always gets the master bedroom" policy.
"This is where the magic happens. And by magic, I mean equity dilution." — Erlich
"Erlich once told me my idea was 'the stupidest thing he'd ever heard' and then invested anyway. That's the kind of conviction you want in a VC."
"Erlich helped me spend twenty million dollars in ways I still don't fully understand. But we had a great time doing it."
"I have never met anyone with more confidence and less justification for it. It's genuinely remarkable."
"He called me at 3 AM to pitch an app that rates people. I said no. He said 'You're a 2.6.' Then he hung up."
"Erlich pitched me a 'revolution in cloud storage' over a four-hour lunch that I paid for. Turns out it was a Dropbox folder. But he had such conviction that I almost wrote the check. Almost."
"Erlich showed up to my car — the McLaren, obviously — and said, 'I need you to invest in me, not a company, just me as a concept.' I respect that."
Now Accepting Applications
Bachmanity Capital is actively seeking the next generation of visionary founders. We're looking for hustle, heart, and a willingness to sign documents without reading them.
Erlich personally reviews every application while wearing his lucky kimono. Successful applicants will receive a room in the incubator, mentorship of questionable value, and — most importantly — proximity to greatness.
As Erlich's famous t-shirt once proclaimed: he knows H.T.M.L. — How To Meet Ladies. Imagine what he can teach you about business.
Applications are reviewed in the order Erlich feels like reading them.
Unlike every other VC who leaves you on read, Erlich will personally review your application. He might even reply. From a hammock. But he will reply.