Most venture firms wave off small checks from individuals. Alumni Ventures built a business out of taking them - roughly $1.5 billion of them.
Potawatomi Ventures turns casino and enterprise profits into data centers, federal contracts and fresh-food gas stations - and measures every bet against the next 150 years, not the next quarter.
A practicing heart doctor built Encore Enterprises into a diversified real estate and private equity firm that develops apartments, runs emergency rooms and manages dental clinics - all from one office off the Dallas Parkway.