Stepping Into the Conversation
By Carin Charon
As a CFO, I’m always a bit cautious about requests to “put my two cents out there.” But when Matthew asked, he’s the kind of guy — and we have the kind of relationship — that makes you want to engage.
Backing up a bit to give you some context: I’m a bit of a Jill of all trades, probably over-trained and over-schooled. I went to college, then law school for my JD, then earned a master’s in accounting. After that, I got my real estate license to facilitate some real estate investing projects with my husband. I’ve worked in all of these fields, but most recently I’ve ended up as CFO for investor and business builder Adam Rossi — which happily lets me wear all those hats at different moments.
Meeting Matthew
Matthew first came into our orbit through Kim Cobb of Covey Co. (also featured in Maevlo’s blog last year!). I’m sure you’ve all had those moments when you see someone and just know you need to get to know them. Kim was one of those people. I saw her on stage at a networking event and thought, She looks really accomplished — I’d like to be something like her in ten years.
So I basically marched up and said, “Can we grab lunch?” and she didn’t tell me to get lost! If you’ve read Kim’s blog, you can guess how Matthew came next.
Matthew is a bit of a unique character in the investing world. While he’s obviously interested in deal-making, he seems to care even more about the relationships he builds along the way. Usually when you meet a manager, they can’t throw their pitch at you and get subscription docs in your hand fast enough. But by the end of our first meeting, Matthew hadn’t gotten to it, so I finally had to ask, “Where’s the pitch?”
He laughed and said, “I don’t have one right now. I just thought it’d be good to get to know each other a bit and start the conversation. Who knows what deals may come!”
We picked up the conversation occasionally over the next six months, sharing insights and thoughts about the world and investing. So when he finally did call to say he was rolling out Maevlo Fund IV, we had already covered a lot of relational due diligence and were ready to dive in. As in most parts of life, who you work with matters as much as what you’re doing.
Maevlo Fund IV – Why Now, Why Maevlo?
Maevlo Fund IV is our first investment with Matthew, and our first energy investment. I’m in the Dallas area, so the energy industry is all around me, but we hadn’t come across the right combination of people and strategy until now.
First, we like investing in tangible assets. If we own something, we like it to be a real something — we don't chase after financial wizardry. We run real businesses with tangible products — think beekeeping supplies and ballistic shielding (mull that combo over for a while!) — so we like investing in things of real, lasting value. Oil and gas royalties couldn’t be more tangible or necessary.
Second, we gravitate toward a slightly more Gen Z mindset: if we aren’t in the driver’s seat we like to stay agile, keep options open. We love Matthew’s 3–5 year mindset for his funds. The quick cash flow from day one is also attractive, no waiting around 10 to 15 years for a closed-end fund to finally pay out.
The Bitcoin Treasury Piece
The Bitcoin treasury element of Fund IV is another place where we feel like Matthew sees the world the way we do. Inflation is one thing, but the wholesale devaluing of fiat currency is something we’ve been watching with concern for a while.
As a mom of four, I’ve had the exact experience at the Chick-fil-A drive-through that Matthew spoke about in his sound money series. Practically speaking, for my family, my personal inflation rate in recent years feels like 50%. It shouldn’t feel extravagant to buy chicken sandwiches and milkshakes, but these days, it does.
I’ve also watched many entrepreneurs and how they think. It's not directly about making money, it's about seeing an industry in a new way and finding how you can add real value. If you can add value, the money will follow. If someone can invent a washing machine that folds its own clothes or create a better sous vide machine, they’re generating value no matter what the currency looks like. People who understand that mindset can thrive in any economic environment. Matthew is just that kind of guy.
So we’ve long believed the situation was ripe for a solution like Bitcoin and have been investing in the space for a while. Matthew's Mineral Royalty/Bitcoin Treasury fund just adds that next layer of value. The idea of taking earnings from a hard asset and putting them into Bitcoin just makes sense. And truly, the downside here feels minimal. You’re holding hard assets. Even on the Bitcoin side, I don’t think it is going anywhere. In one form or another, it’s here to stay.
Looking Ahead
So we’re jumping into Fund IV and looking forward to the journey. We’re grateful for the camaraderie and the opportunity. I hope we’ll get to meet some of you other Maevlo friends sometime and widen the circle of like-minded investors!
