How David Tisch’s BoxGroup turned a $750K bet on Cursor into a $1 billion exit by breaking all the VC rules

Decades before David Tisch began investing in startups, he was wheeling and dealing sports cards as an 11-year-old kid in the suburbs of New York.

“I’ve been a collector forever,” the founder of venture capital firm BoxGroup said from his Meatpacking District office, surrounded by an assortment of whimsical collectibles.

The crown jewel of Tisch’s collection, however, isn’t so easily displayed on a shelf: Tisch and BoxGroup were among the very first investors in AI coding startup Cursor , which this month was acquired by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for $60 billion, the largest VC-backed acquisition of all-time.

The returns are staggering: BoxGroup first wrote a $750,000 check to Cursor CEO Michael Truell , plus two follow-on checks, ultimately proffering a return that should shake out to around $1 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Fortune .

It’s the kind of home run most VCs dream about their whole career and, for Tisch, there are all sorts of throughlines.

For one, investing is a form of collecting—from portfolio construction to placing your bets—and Tisch, 45, sees a parallel between investing in startups and the sports cards of his childhood.

“Especially in early-stage investing, you’re buying something, someone, at the earliest stage, and then you get to see their careers play out.” For Tisch—warm with a sardonic edge and, yes, a scion of one of business’s most famous families —the Cursor acquisition also affirms the strategy he’s been chasing all along: That the person you’re backing matters most.

And Cursor was sourced by then-principal Claire Smilow (now a partner).

So, back in 2022, it was a bet by Tisch on both a young investor and a young founder who, at the time, seemed like he was off-point.

“Michael’s original idea was to do AI for CAD [computer-aided design],” Tisch said.

“The decision to get excited about investing in Cursor was never about AI for CAD.

It was always about the people.” Over the last 15 years, venture capital’s gotten bigger by the numbers, and louder by pretty much any metric.

Firms and their VCs tussle for relevance, ownership, and board seats.

Money is everywhere: A billion-dollar fund now is de rigueur.