Founders supporting founders.
I've built companies and backed founders for twenty-five years through different economic cycles and markets. North Third Projects is my playground where I continue doing both.
Not a fund.
A person.
I invest the way I want to be backed — early, honestly, and by someone who'd actually built something and is willing to get their hands dirty but also knows when to stand down and let the founder run.
I co-founded Small Door and spent years building it from nothing. Before that, I worked alongside some of the best early-stage investors and builders in the business at Softbank, Outbrain, Sphere, and Robertson Stephens. North Third Projects is the culmination of that experience.
I like to invest early but will occasionally come in later. My areas of focus: healthcare technology and services, business applications, pets, and crypto / web3.
Companies
Alpaca
FintechAnthropic
AIDiscern
Business ServicesDynasty
FintechMixLab
Pet HealthOpenFX
FintechPolymarket
CryptoPray.com
ConsumerSmall Door Veterinary
Pet HealthSmalls
ConsumerYomu
ConsumerZaiNar
Deep TechExits
ACV Auctions
IPO · NASDAQ: ACVA
2021
Kindara
Acquired by Prima-Temp
2018
Open Listings
Acquired by Opendoor
2018
Outbrain
IPO · NASDAQ: OB
2021
Reonomy
Acquired by Altus Group
2021
Sphere
Acquired by AOL
2008
Superhuman
Acquired by Grammarly
2025
Talkspace
Acquired by Universal Health Services
2026
UpNext
Acquired by Amazon
2012
The people behind
North Third
Josh Guttman
Managing Partner
Twenty-five years of experience building companies and backing early-stage founders through different economic cycles and markets. North Third Projects is where I continue doing both.
I co-founded Small Door Veterinary, a membership-based veterinary practice that reimagined the clinic experience for pets and their owners. I'm a vocal advocate for the veterinary profession and have written about the pressures facing veterinarians for the New York Daily News, Entrepreneur Magazine, and TechCrunch.
I've backed consequential companies including: ACV Auctions (IPO, NASDAQ: ACVA), Alpaca, Anthropic, Polymarket, Reonomy (acq. Altus Group, 2021), Superhuman (acq. Grammarly, 2025), and others.
I hold degrees from Duke University and Columbia University. I serve on the Advisory Board of Jewish Life at Duke and the Board of Trustees at Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy.
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