On any given day, Kurt Schmidt’s phone buzzes constantly with messages from founders, students and Duke alumni investors. Fostering these relationships is a big part of his job.
“It’s about people,” he says. “Always has been.”
Since 2019, Schmidt has been the managing director of Duke Capital Partners, the university’s early-stage venture investment arm, which this year is celebrating a decade in operation. Since its founding in 2015, DCP has grown into a $105 million portfolio, backing more than 60 Duke-affiliated startups – companies launched by Duke alumni, faculty or students – now collectively valued at more than $10 billion.
But behind the numbers is a philosophy that reflects Schmidt’s own path: Build meaningful relationships, lift others up and invest in people. That sense of purpose started early, in his mother’s home art studio in northeastern Pennsylvania.
“In my mother’s ability to take a blank canvas and create something out of nothing, I can see the beginnings of my interest in building a startup from just an idea to a successful company,” said Schmidt.
As an engineering undergraduate at Penn State, Schmidt combined his passion for entrepreneurship and technology by spending his summers in California, working with companies that were laying the groundwork for today’s modern communications infrastructure. That hands-on experience paid off: He was recruited by the founder of a GPS semiconductor startup, joining an entrepreneurial team with big dreams and a drive to innovate.
“I felt like I had found my tribe,” said Schmidt. “It was a team that shared a deep sense of purpose and possibility.” Working at a startup, Schmidt found himself wearing many hats. He reveled in picking up skills in partnerships, finance and operations – anything that would help the team. Through that experience, he gained a hands-on understanding of what it takes to build and run a company.
A decade and a successful IPO later, Schmidt and his wife, Jennifer, began looking for a place where they could put down roots and where he could share what he’d learned by helping build something new. The Triangle quickly stood out.
“With three amazing universities anchoring the area,” said Schmidt, “we fell in love with the Triangle.” He immersed himself in the local entrepreneurial community and gradually shifted into investing, drawn to the energy and potential of the region. At Duke, he found a chance to help build something new among the university’s engaged students, inventive faculty and innovative alumni community.
Perhaps closest to Schmidt’s heart are the students who participate in the DCP Associate Program, a two-year experience where trainees from across Duke join the team to run due diligence on the roughly 1,000 investment opportunities DCP looks at each year.
The opportunity to learn the investment process, hands-on, is exactly the kind of experience Schmidt wishes he had in college. “Now I get to pay it forward,” he said.
“You feel very calm around him in an otherwise very hectic, noisy business,” said Willa Townsend ’15, M.B.A.’23, who served as a DCP associate while at the Fuqua School of Business. In fact, the program was a major reason she applied to Duke in the first place, she said, and it helped prepare her for a job at venture capital firm Thrive Capital.
Kasper Kubica ’17, co-founder of DCP portfolio company Carpe, which makes antiperspirant products, said Schmidt and team’s support was crucial during the recent acquisition of the company. Kubica remembers a meeting with Schmidt and his venture partner Dave Neal during the hectic acquisition process. Kubica walked into the Durham Hotel with his head spinning.
“I thought we were going to hear: ‘Here’s more things you need to consider in your impossible puzzle of things to fit together to make the deal work for everybody,’” said Kubica. “And instead, they said: ‘You guys are doing amazing. What can we do to make this happen?’”
This community-building is infectious, connecting alumni investors back to Duke in a novel way. “Companies need more than capital,” Schmidt said. “They need guidance, mentorship and strategic connections.” For example, Dr. Neil Roth ’87, M.D.’91, an orthopedic surgeon and DCP investor, flew down from New York to test surgical procedures for a DCP-backed startup.
“Investing in startups is ultimately about investing in people and possibility,” Schmidt said.
It’s a belief rooted in those early days in his mother’s studio, where entrepreneurship emerged through emphasis on relationships. Through DCP, Schmidt now gets to help others grow their dreams. “I’ve seen how ideas become companies, and how people become leaders,” Schmidt said. “It’s a privilege to be part of their journey.”