Justin Fishner-Wolfson is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of 137 Ventures, the firm that turned a contrarian read on private markets into a $15B platform and one of the largest SpaceX positions in venture. His firm now owns more than 1% of SpaceX, a stake worth roughly $20B at the company's $1.77T listing valuation.

He was on the SpaceX deal team at Founders Fund in 2008, left to start 137, and has since bought into the company roughly two dozen times, mostly through secondaries and tenders, without selling a share. He has been buying since SpaceX was valued at $1B. In this conversation he walks through the thesis that companies would stay private longer, why partial liquidity sharpens founder focus rather than dulling it, and how 137 concentrates capital in durable companies instead of chasing sectors.

We cover SpaceX's shift from cost-plus to fixed-price economics, the Falcon 9 reusability that made launch profitable, when Starlink became underwritable, the $240B secondary market, why he backed Cognition over the foundational models, his cash on cash discipline over ownership targets, and what he plans to do with the stake once the lockup lifts.

Justin Fishner-Wolfson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinfw

Molly O’Shea: https://x.com/MollySOShea

Sourcery: ⁠https://x.com/sourceryy

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒

YouTube: https://youtu.be/y_JN4WNu8JY

𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐒

• Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, & travel. https://brex.com/sourcery

• Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems. https://turing.com/sourcery

• VCX—VCX is the public ticker for private tech, allowing investors of all sizes to invest in venture capital. View The Portfolio at http://GetVCX.com

• Deel—Deel is the global people platform that helps startups hire, manage, pay, and equip anyone, anywhere. Trusted by more than 35,000 fast-growing companies, Deel is the people platform that just works, so teams can scale without the chaos. Visit: https://www.deel.com/sourcery

• Public–Investing platform Public just launched Generated Assets, which lets you turn any idea into an investable index with AI. With Generated Assets, you can build, backtest, refine, and invest in any thesis with AI. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all ETFs. https://public.com/sourcery

• Merge—The leading provider of customer-facing integrations and agentic tools for frontier LLMs, Fortune 500 organizations, and B2B SaaS companies. Visit https://merge.dev

Follow Sourcery for the latest updates!

https://www.sourcery.vc

Disclosure

Paid Endorsement. Brokerage services by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors LLC, SEC-registered adviser. Crypto trading provided by Zero Hash LLC, licensed by the NYSDFS. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool by Public Advisors. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. See disclosures at public.com/disclosures/ga. Matched funds must remain in your account for at least 5 years. Match rate and other terms are subject to change at any time.

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒

(00:00) Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at 137 Ventures

(00:51) The story of SpaceX

(02:50) Why companies are staying private longer

(04:15) What Liquidity actually means for Founders and Employees

(05:38) Why he left Founders Fund to start from scratch

(06:23) $240B Secondaries market

(07:01) What made SpaceX a generational bet

(07:52) How the Falcon 9 made the entire Space Industry obsolete

(10:59) When Starlink became the obvious winner

(13:29) How 137 Ventures turns Conviction into Compounding

(14:09) Backing SpaceX alumni: the Impulse investment

(14:32) Will the secondary market keep growing?

(15:15) Companies vs. Categories

SpaceX IPO: Inside the Firm That Owns 1%

Sourcery

SpaceX IPO: Inside the Firm That Owns 1%