Sandy Kory
Snapshot
Founder & GP @ Horizon (horizon.vc, pre-seed/seed). 15+ yr VC. Also co-founded Horizon Partners (boutique tech M&A, 2010). East-coast.
⚠️ Name spelling: Kory with a K (not “Cory”). Easy mis-hear when intro’d verbally.
Background
- Education: Stanford — B.A. Psychology; M.S. Management Science & Engineering.
- 2010: Co-founded Horizon Partners — M&A advisory for product-driven tech founders.
- 2022: Founded Horizon (the VC arm).
- Pre-VC: M&A advisory career (referenced as “young M&A banker” in his own LinkedIn writing).
Investing
Track record (Sandy + Horizon collectively): early investor in Palantir, Canva, BillionToOne, Flutterwave, Sendbird, plus other unicorns.
Palantir investment (Q1 2009 bridge round) — verbatim from his Substack
- Invested during Great Financial Crisis chaos.
- Reason: a friend joined Palantir as an early employee — “one of the most brilliant & determined people I had ever met.”
- His framing at the time: “giving a check to the smartest group of people I knew was the safest investment I could make.”
- Did not understand Palantir’s business model when he invested.
- Post-investment lean years: “My next few years were lean. I had to raid my 401k to pay rent.”
- Resumed angel investing 2011/2012 once cash flow returned; experimented with traction-based and market-based strategies.
HorizonVC strategy (his own framing, Palantir Substack post 2022-03-19)
- “Blank check founders” thesis: “investing in founders because they are amazing, without thinking too hard about things like TAM or traction or business model.”
- “We do think hard about business models — we favor investing in bottoms-up software businesses. But we care even more about investing in great founders.”
- “We want every investment to be in founders who are so impressive that we would consider them Blank Check Founders.”
Founders-first operating philosophy (LinkedIn post, 2026-01-14)
- “Maybe it’s foolish, but we try to put the interests of founders and portfolio companies above our own at Horizon. It’s the way we’ve always operated. Over time, I’ve come to realize it’s pretty different than most other firms.”
- “A lot of the most ‘pro-founder’ entities — yes, YC included — keep their own interests front-of-mind at all times.”
- “When I’m advising a founder, I’m thinking about what’s best for them and their company. Only after that do I sort through how Horizon’s interests might fit in.”
- Concrete examples he gives:
- Advising founders to raise less even when round is hot (against his own allocation interest).
- Giving free M&A advice when no economic upside.
- Origin: “trepidations I had early in my career about the incentives and morality of the finance industry.”
- “Being a young M&A banker who genuinely wanted to help was a differentiator.”
- “Fundamentally, I believe in the golden rule. And I wouldn’t want to be treated that way.”
Public voice
- Substack:
sandykory.substack.com— “seeking disruption” — published HorizonVC + Palantir & Blank Check Founders (2022-03-19). - LinkedIn: active publisher;
linkedin.com/in/sandykory. - Mixergy interview — “The Man Who Sells Tech Companies” (Horizon Partners angle).
- Venture with Grace podcast (Apple · Spotify · YouTube) — “Seed-Stage Tech Insights.”
Personal
Stanford ecosystem. East-coast based. ^[needs-research]
Fundraise Relationship (init.inc)
- Conversation log (newest first):
- 2026-05-28 — ⛔ PASSED. Sandy emailed: “Thanks for speaking with me yesterday. I really enjoyed our conversation. Unfortunately, I’ve decided this round isn’t a good fit for us. I’m impressed by your technical background” (email from sandy@horizon.vc, subject “following up”)
- 2026-05-27 — Zoom call (9am PT). Sandy sent calendar invite 5/27 00:32 PT.
- 2026-05-26 — Akshay intro’d; Sazzad iMessaged Sandy 4:48pm. Sandy proposed Wed 5/27 9:30/10am ET or Thu 5/28 9/11:30am ET.
- Status: LOST — passed 2026-05-28
- Mutual connections / warm path: Akshay (intro source).