By James Spann
Founder & General Partner, Boyd Street Ventures

Legacy Meets Liberation

On July 4, 2025, a sweeping piece of legislation called the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) quietly changed the game for family offices across America. By locking in permanent estate tax exemptions and preserving dynasty planning tools, OBBBA eliminated the time pressure that has long shaped family wealth strategy. The result? For the first time in decades, family offices can shift from reactive, tax-driven decision-making to strategic long-hold planning.

This opens the door to a new chapter in private investing and venture capital may be the biggest beneficiary.

What This Means for Venture Capital

With tax cliffs removed and multigenerational planning empowered, family offices now have a green light to:

• Hold assets like early-stage venture investments for 10–20 years
• Deploy capital into Opportunity Zone-based startups with zero capital gains tax
• Use SPVs, co-investments, and direct partnerships to structure investments on their terms

Venture investing once seen as too risky or illiquid, now fits squarely into the patient, flexible, impact-aligned family office playbook.

Introducing Venture Capital 2.0

This next generation of venture investing isn’t about chasing unicorns on the coasts. It’s about:

• Sourcing under-the-radar companies with real value
• Partnering with emerging managers who operate closer to the ground
• Aligning capital with long-term themes like healthcare, infrastructure tech, and regional innovation
• Exercising control, transparency, and customization. The qualities family offices care about most

What I’ve Learned Since Launching Boyd Street Ventures

Since launching Boyd Street Ventures, I’ve learned that building a first-time fund isn’t just about proving a thesis, it’s about earning trust, building the right team, and evolving your model.

Here’s what we’ve learned:

• We pivoted from a narrow focus on a single university academic tech to leveraging our university alumni network and other universities that align with our mission, which unlocked a wider aperture of high-quality deal flow
• We upgraded our analytics by building AI algorithms to match startups to our investment thesis moving beyond intern-based diligence
• We leaned into our Venture Studio to build end-to-end support, not just for portcos, but to scale our winners with precision
• Most importantly, we built the right team; operator-minded, value-aligned, and focused on long-term outcomes

All that being said, emerging VCs with the right strategy, model, and team can win, quietly.

Why Boyd Street Ventures (BSV)?

We’re a minority- and veteran-led venture firm focused on high-potential, overlooked markets, particularly in the Midwest and Oklahoma.

Our LPs, family offices and institutions, partner with us because they want:
• Better pricing and alpha from undercapitalized regions
• Access to Opportunity Zone-qualified companies
• Hands-on support from our Venture Studio to drive founder success
• A fund manager that aligns with their values, goals, and legacy planning

We’re not just investing. We’re building with discipline and purpose, and with the right partners.

Call to Action

If you're a family office or advisor looking to build a smarter, longer-term venture capital strategy. Let’s have a conversation.

James.spann@boydstreetventures.com
www.boydstreetventures.com