From Riff to Rooftop: Why I Invest at PWV
Inspired by the Get Back documentary: why investing means being truly invested: giving founders space to create, stepping in at the right moments, and building alongside people who turn ideas into lasting products.
Written by David Thyresson • 5 min read
From Riff to Rooftop: Why I Invest with PWV
Recently, I rewatched Get Back, the Peter Jackson-produced documentary about the Beatles creating what would become their final live performance. It’s eight hours of music, tension, experimentation, laughter, fear, boredom, and unexpected breakthroughs.
In other words: it looks a lot like building a startup.
What struck me most wasn’t just the genius of the four Beatles; it was the environment around them. The way the people in the room influenced creativity, for better or worse. The way space, support, and timing mattered as much as talent.
That dynamic reminded me exactly why I invest. I invest because I want to be invested. Deeply, thoughtfully, and in service of founders’ creativity.
Let the Band Play
In the early sessions of Get Back, you see the band messing around, riffing on half-formed melodies, swapping instruments, joking, wandering into tangents. They’re searching for something that doesn’t exist yet.
Around them is a small orbit of people. Some, like Michael Lindsay-Hogg, keep pushing big dramatic concepts: performing in a Libyan amphitheater, filming in random exotic locations. It’s well-intentioned, but intrusive. He’s not really listening; he’s trying to impose his vision, trying to turn them into something they’re not, and don’t want to be. And it pulls focus at the exact moment when the band needs room to explore freely.
Others in the room stay quieter. They’re present, tuned in, thoughtful, but they don’t interrupt the fragile spark of creation. They keep the studio feeling like a studio: open, loose, alive. They give the session the space it needs so the music can actually form.
This is exactly what great founders need.
Early in a company’s life, ideas are raw. The product is a whisper. The team is small, the path unclear. What founders need is not a heavy-handed pitch-deck critique or a calendar full of investor opinions. They need room to riff, iterate, and find their groove.
My job at that stage is simple: show up, stay observant, and let them play.
Creativity Also Needs Craft
But later in the documentary, the vibe shifts.
As the idea of performing comes into focus, new energy enters the room. George Martin’s calm, guiding presence becomes more visible. Glyn Johns starts shaping the sound from hours of tape. The conversations get more intentional. And someone floats the rooftop idea, which becomes one of the most iconic moments in music history.
The creativity didn’t go away. It evolved into craft.
This part, the movement from spark to structure, is where great supporting teams shine. They help translate ideas into action. They know when to step forward. They help the artists deliver.
In startups, this is when investors can be genuinely useful.
Not in the delicate early experimentation, but at key inflection points:
- helping think through product strategy,
- navigating hiring challenges,
- pressure-testing go-to-market paths,
- shaping a fundraise,
- turning messy insights into something shippable.
It’s not about taking over. It’s about amplifying the founder’s creativity with craft and experience.
This Is Exactly What Investing Feels Like
Investing, for me, is a creative partnership, not a transaction. I love the energy of the early-stage riff, and I love the discipline of helping shape the final “rooftop performance” moments.
It’s a rhythm every investor learns: step away, get back, jump in.
Knowing which mode to be in is the whole art.
Founders aren’t portfolio entries. They’re collaborators in building something that didn’t exist before.
And the joy, truly the joy, is helping them turn raw possibility into a product the world can feel.
Why I’m a GP at PWV
Preston-Werner Ventures is built around this philosophy.
PWV is designed for founder-first, craftsmanship-driven investing. We believe in giving builders room to create, and in showing up thoughtfully when the moment calls for it. We care deeply about products, people, and long-term creativity.
It’s not just capital.
It’s company-building community.
This is why being a GP here feels like the right place for me. It’s a fund built for riffers, makers, and people who want to ship meaningful things.
I Invest Because I Want to Be Invested
At the end of Get Back, the Beatles walk onto the rooftop with their instruments, vulnerable and alive, still figuring out lyrics and chords as the wind blows. And yet it becomes magic. It becomes legacy.
That moment wasn’t created by one visionary or one genius idea. It was created by a team that knew how to support the artists at the right time, in the right way.
That’s how I think about investing.
- I don’t invest to be on the sidelines.
- I invest to be part of the creative journey. To be invested in founder success, in the craft of building, in products that matter.
From riff to rooftop: that’s the work.
And that’s why I do it.
Prompt for the image using fal-ai/nano-banana-pro:
Late-1960s documentary-style scene on a London rooftop on Savile Row. A small, diverse group of creators and early-stage innovators collaborate around sketchpads, analog gear, and handwritten notes, captured at a key inflection point where ideas turn into strategy. Some review product plans, others test assumptions or shape a go-to-market path. In the foreground, a vintage 1960s film clapperboard reads ‘Why I Invest’. Cinematic grain, handheld documentary feel, overcast London sky, authentic ’60s wardrobe and props. Emphasize the transition from messy exploration to focused, shippable direction.