Rich Gill

Rich Gill is a Founder of Wealth Partners Capital Group and a former Principal for Oxonian Ventures Fund I, and an LP for Fund II and IIII. Rich studied English Language and Literature at St. Catherine’s College, matriculating in 2000. While at Oxford he participated in College and Varsity Boxing.

What drew you to Oxonian Ventures?

Oxford is a wonderfully intellectually rich environment and I enjoyed participating in traditions that stretched across a thousand years. However, I believe Oxford is still building the entrepreneurial infrastructure you might see at a place like Stanford. What drew me to Oxonian Ventures is the opportunity to help fill that gap.

Oxonian Ventures is a wonderful community and, as a founder myself, I appreciate hearing from people in the early part of their journey. Being part of that rich environment is a pleasure in and of itself. I also find that I've started stepping into a mentorship role, talking about the difficulties and joy of starting a business, especially when searching for early success and starting to get to scale.

Are there characteristics that you think give Oxonian founders and Oxonian Ventures an edge?

Oxonians have been exposed to some of the most brilliant minds in the world in a purely academic environment. There is no "trading" mentality of building a business for sale. It's more likely you find founders with a passion for their subject. Business expertise can - to a degree - be taught, but there's no replacement for the fascination of someone truly immersed in a problem with a vision for the solution. I think Oxford is uniquely positioned to produce students like that.

Advice for Oxonians considering becoming an LP?

Joining Oxonian Ventures as an LP is an opportunity to make a contribution to an institution that has no doubt deeply influenced your life. We'd all be better off if more of the brilliant, world changing ideas from Oxford undergrads and researchers were successfully launched into the world. One of the wonderful things about Oxford is that it's so purely intellectual and not commercial at its core. However, ideas need translation into our modern economic life. That's where Oxonian Ventures comes in! If you have the means and situation in life to help make that a reality I hope you consider joining Oxonian Ventures in helping brilliant and entrepreneurial Oxford students realize their dreams and ambitions. Make the world better and get a reasonable rate of return - sounds like a solid deal to me.