Giorgos Tsetis, co-founder and former CEO of Nutrafol, launched the Great Things family office to aggressively deploy capital into high-growth startups while mandating that 20% of annual net realized profits go directly to philanthropy. Structured by UBS Wealth Management, the firm has deployed nearly $40 million over the past 18 months, leveraging quick venture liquidity to fund non-profits.
The Structural Mechanics of Rapid Liquidity and Giving
Family offices traditionally operate with multi-generational investment horizons, favoring capital preservation and slow, compounding asset allocation. Great Things breaks that mold entirely. Formed nearly a year ago after Tsetis sold his remaining stake in hair-growth supplement brand Nutrafol to Unilever (NYSE: UL) at a $3.5 billion valuation, the firm mirrors the aggressive velocity of private equity and venture capital.
Here is the math. Over an 18-month deployment window, Tsetis and partner Roman Kalantari—the former chief experience and technology officer at Nutrafol—put nearly $40 million to work. At the same time, the firm committed about $7 million to nonprofits through direct gifts and multi-year pledges. That output is anchored by a structural mandate: 20% of annual net realized profits must flow into philanthropic channels.
“Basically what he’s done is just turned the profit-sharing interest into a charitable-sharing interest,” said Gabriel Cooperman, Tsetis’ financial advisor and a managing director at UBS Wealth Management, who helped design the vehicle.
To insulate the non-profit commitments from market volatility, Great Things utilizes a donor-advised fund as a balance sheet buffer. If portfolio realizations dip in a given fiscal year, the buffer absorbs the variance. The firm typically deploys capital via three- to five-year pledges, supporting targeted organizations such as an after-school boxing academy in the Bronx and Every Cure, a biotech non-profit focused on repurposing existing drugs for rare diseases.
The Bottom Line
- Aggressive Deployment: Great Things has invested nearly $40 million over an 18-month period, targeting a further $60 million deployment across the next two years.
- Charitable Floor: The family office hardcodes a 20% allocation of annual net realized profits toward philanthropy, utilizing a donor-advised fund as a financial shock absorber.
- Strategic Pivot: Following outsized gains—including a seven-times return on Anthropic via a secondary exit—the firm is pulling back from early-stage AI hype to focus on late-stage liquidity and proprietary tech stacks.
Decoding the Exit Strategy Amid the Artificial Intelligence Boom
Much of the capital fueling the Great Things model stems from early bets on generative artificial intelligence. The firm generated a seven-times return on Anthropic within an 18-month window by capitalizing on secondary market liquidity. But the principals are pivoting away from indiscriminate venture allocations in the sector.
“Anyone who tells you there’s not going to be a slowdown or a correction of some kind has really bought into the hype machine,” said Kalantari, whose career spans back to the dot-com bubble. “When I look at these AI companies, I really try to think about who’s going to survive that correction.”
Instead of backing application-layer startups dependent on third-party foundational models from OpenAI or Anthropic, Great Things is shifting capital toward companies with proprietary technology. A prime example is Lila Sciences, a three-year-old startup building automated robotic labs designed to accelerate scientific research. Great Things recently participated in a follow-on investment for the firm.
Balancing Unconventional Portfolios and Scale
Maintaining a high-velocity investment model while executing on an aggressive impact mandate requires operational leanness. Investment decisions rest exclusively between Tsetis and Kalantari, removing the friction typical of institutional investment committees.
However, running a lean operation forces strategic compromises. Tsetis noted that adding a traditional impact investing lens could restrict the firm’s capacity to scale. The portfolio routinely tests conventional boundaries, notably with an investment in prediction-market platform Polymarket.
“This was a conscious decision to participate and see if we can generate significant returns and do what we believe is right with those returns,” Tsetis stated, “and at the same time, continue to monitor the situation and see how it evolves.”
Because Great Things prioritizes short-to-medium-term liquidity over generational holding periods, positions in high-demand assets like Polymarket can be liquidated rapidly via secondary markets if regulatory or reputational risk profiles shift.
| Metric | Figure | Timeframe / Context |
|---|---|---|
| Historical Deployment | ~$40 Million | Past 18 Months |
| Philanthropic Commitments | ~$7 Million | Gifts and Pledges (Multi-Year) |
| Profit Allocation Rule | 20% Minimum | Annual Net Realized Profits |
| Projected Deployment | $60 Million | Next 2 Years |
If current investment pacing holds, Great Things expects to push an additional $60 million into private markets over the next two years. By marrying private equity velocity with structural charitable giving, Tsetis and Cooperman hope to establish a template for modern wealth creators seeking immediate civic impact rather than traditional, delayed end-of-life foundations.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
