1912 – 2006 · Economist
Milton Friedman
Nobel Prize–winning economist and champion of free markets who showed how economic freedom drives innovation and prosperity.
Read about Friedman →A small firm, built around two convictions.
Milton Maxwell is a small research-driven investment firm built around two convictions: that markets efficiently allocate capital when they're allowed to, and that technology, AI above all, is the single biggest force reshaping where capital should go next. We named the firm for Milton Friedman and James Clerk Maxwell to keep both of those convictions visible in everything we sign.
We started Milton Maxwell because we wanted to work the way we work best: small, opinionated, technically literate, close to the operators we admire, and unafraid to use software to do more of the thinking. Public markets are dense with signal that nobody has the time to read. Modern AI lets a small team read all of it.
That combination, old-school discipline about business quality, paired with a research stack that scales with software, is what the firm is.
Most of what we do happens in our incubator at SF Patchworks in San Francisco, surrounded by the engineers, founders, and operators whose work shapes the companies we follow. That proximity is part of the edge.
We're at the beginning.
Co-founder
Charlie Yuan
Engineering and operating background; runs the research stack and public-equity book alongside Alex.
Charlie's career runs from silicon to the AI build-out. He started in graphics hardware at NVIDIA and AMD, finished an MASc in distributed systems and cryptography at Waterloo, then spent a decade in consumer software at Cisco, Klout, Betable, and Lyft, where he helped start Lyft's Level 5 self-driving team and grew it to a few hundred. After Lyft, he explored AI, design, real estate, and finance at South Park Commons, and worked on computer-automation models at the frontier lab Adept.
He now runs Milton Maxwell with Alex, backing the AI build-out from private companies to the public markets. Alongside the firm, he co-runs SF Patchworks, an incubator in San Francisco for technical founders. He's an angel and advisor to a small set of operators (Tribe.ai, Fleetworks, Marathon Fusion, Anthropic, Swiftlane, Triply, and others), and an LP in SPC Fund, Iterative, Banana Capital, Sweet Spot Capital, AngelList Access Fund, and Mission St Capital.
Career
- 2024 →
Backing the AI build-out
Runs Milton Maxwell with Alex, backing the AI build-out from private companies to the public markets. Concentrated longs in companies at the frontier, shorts in incumbents being displaced, plus AI-adjacent real assets and special situations. Also co-runs SF Patchworks, an incubator in San Francisco for technical founders.
Milton MaxwellSF Patchworks - 2022–2024
Figuring out what's next
At South Park Commons, explored AI, design, real estate, and finance. At Adept, a frontier lab, worked with computer-automation models.
- 2017–2021
Self-driving
Helped start Lyft's Level 5 self-driving team and grew it to a few hundred. Built the visualization, triage, and debugging tools behind the program.
- 2008–2017
Consumer software, at scale
At Cisco, Klout, Betable, and Lyft, climbed the stack from enterprise networking to consumer products used by millions.
- 2002–2009
Silicon
Started in hardware. At Waterloo, co-op terms close to the metal: graphics at NVIDIA and AMD, ASIC verification at Ericsson, wireless protocols at BlackBerry. Finished with an MASc in distributed systems and cryptography.
Co-founder
Alex Soong
2x founder and engineer; runs strategy and research alongside Charlie.
Alex previously founded a pair of companies, most recently P2P Labs, exploring applications for zero-knowledge proving stacks, and before that Set Labs 2017, which built the first blockchain-based asset management platform. Before that, he was an engineer at Square, Caviar, Apple, and Zynga.
Relevant experience
- 012x founder: P2P Labs (ZK powered stablecoin on ramp), Set Labs (DeFi)
- 02IPO with Square (2014), earlier engineering roles at Caviar, Apple, Zynga
- 03LP: SPC Fund, Seven Hill Ventures, Sweet Spot Capital
- 04Angel: 20+ companies across AI, fintech, and infrastructure
Why the name
Two names, two convictions.
1831 – 1879 · Physicist
James Clerk Maxwell
Scottish physicist whose electromagnetic equations set off the electrical revolution that has powered much of human progress over the past 150+ years.
Read about Maxwell →Free markets and technological innovation, the twin engines of human flourishing.
Our space in San Francisco.
Milton Maxwell is based at SF Patchworks, our incubator in San Francisco.
It's a small community of technical founders, the engineers and operators working on the earliest version of their companies. We share the space with them, so we get to know founders years before their companies reach the public markets.
