Two partners
One conviction

Thomas Schmidt invests across borders. Managing Partner at Oaksmith — the investment and advisory firm he co-founded — and Partner at Outridge, he brings more than a decade across alternative assets, private equity, and frontier technologies, investing where technological change and global capital create durable advantage.

Before Oaksmith, Thomas worked with Brookstone, a US-based investment fund managing over US$12 billion, leading strategy and growth in APAC — driving regional expansion and value creation for portfolio companies across Asia. That institutional grounding still shapes his approach to diligence, risk, and execution.

An early adopter and investor in AI and digital assets, his experience spans private equity, secondaries, early-stage ventures, and liquid strategies. He is drawn to the seams — where technological change, regulatory evolution, and shifting global capital flows create durable, long-term advantage.

Thomas holds a Master's in Finance from London Business School and is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean — a combination that opens relationships and diligence in markets often closed to international investors.

Jay Yao builds, then invests. Managing Partner at Oaksmith and Partner at Outridge, he pairs the discipline of institutional finance with the instincts of a founder who has scaled companies at the technology frontier himself.

A serial entrepreneur, Jay raised more than US$50 million across his last two startups — including a successful exit — with backing from Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Binance Labs. Having lived the operational realities of product, market structure, liquidity, and scale, he reads emerging-technology businesses from the inside out.

That perspective shapes how he invests. Jay works alongside founders as a mentor and sounding board — pressure-testing fundraising strategy, go-to-market, and the path from first product to a durable business.

He began his career at J.P. Morgan's Asset Management Division in New York and advised private-equity clients on M&A and commercial strategy at Strategy&. Jay holds dual bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Industrial Engineering from Columbia University. Off the desk, he teaches part-time as a snowboard instructor in Park City.