Lehman Brothers survivor. Blockchain visionary (briefly). Concert-streaming pioneer (also briefly).
Current custodian of Paris Hilton's net worth.
Occasional surfer. Full-time legend.
↓ Scroll to learn more than you probably should ↓
⚠️ Important Legal Notice: This website is a work of satire and admiration, assembled from publicly available information.
Ross Hinkle did not ask for this. Ross Hinkle probably doesn't know this exists. Ross Hinkle is, by all accounts, a very serious financial professional, and we are treating him with the gravity he deserves.
"Handmade represents the highest level of craftsmanship: attention to detail is the life of the work."
— Ross Hinkle, Founder of Handmade Capital
(Said, presumably, while wearing a very well-fitted blazer)
Chapter One
Who on Earth Is Ross Hinkle?
Great question. Ross Hinkle is one of those people who has somehow been present at nearly every interesting
financial crossroads of the past two decades — the way Forrest Gump kept accidentally stumbling into
historical events, except Ross did it on purpose and charged a management fee.
He started his career at Lehman Brothers — yes, that Lehman Brothers — as a
healthcare M&A analyst. This is a bit like saying you learned to swim by jumping into the Titanic. To his
enormous credit, Ross got out before the building became a cautionary tale taught in every MBA program
on earth. Whether he saw the signs early or just got lucky is between him and the SEC.
From there, Ross went on to accumulate a career so diversified it would make an index fund blush:
private equity, live-streaming, blockchain, family office management, venture capital adjacency,
and somehow, Southern Theatres. We'll get to that.
Today, Ross runs Handmade Capital — a boutique single family office advisor based in
Los Angeles, where he manages the assets of the Reum brothers (M13 founders) and Paris Hilton.
Yes. Paris Hilton. The man manages Paris Hilton's money. Let that marinate for a moment.
He lives in Los Angeles with his son Ari. He surfs. He skis. He hikes. He reads.
He is, in short, aggressively well-rounded — the human equivalent of a diversified portfolio.
By The Numbers
The Ross Hinkle Stat Sheet
1
Major Bank Survived (Lehman)
8+
Corporate Boards Served
3
Wildly Different Industries Conquered
1
Concert Streaming Platform Founded (Liveset)
∞
Blockchain Meetings Attended (est.)
🏄
Known Hobbies That Require Balance
Chapter Two
A Career Timeline That Refuses to Stay in One Lane
Early Career
Healthcare M&A Analyst
Lehman Brothers
Ross began his professional life at Lehman Brothers, which at the time was one of the largest
and most prestigious investment banks in the world, and at a later time was a museum exhibit
about hubris. Ross analyzed healthcare mergers and acquisitions, presumably with great rigor
and absolutely no premonition of what was coming.
Fun fact: "Lehman Brothers Survivor" is not yet an official LinkedIn badge, but it should be.
Ross wears it with quiet dignity.
The Private Equity Years
Private Equity Investor
Brown Brothers Harriman (1818 Fund Group) & Veronis Suhler Stevenson
After Lehman, Ross migrated into private equity — specifically BBH's 1818 Fund Group
(named for the year BBH was founded, before America had decided what kind of country it wanted
to be) and Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a firm focused on media buyouts. Ross cut his teeth
buying and selling media companies, which at the time were worth real money.
VSS was one of the most respected media-focused PE firms of its era. Ross was essentially
buying the kinds of magazines you'd find in a dentist's waiting room, just at institutional scale.
The Pivot
Founder
Liveset — Live-Streaming Concert Platform
Here is where Ross Hinkle becomes interesting. In the early 2010s, while most of his
finance peers were doing sensible finance things, Ross founded Liveset:
a live-streaming concert platform. This was before Twitch was really a thing. Before
live-streaming was cool. Ross was essentially trying to put concerts on the internet before
anyone's internet was good enough to watch concerts.
Visionary? Absolutely. Well-timed? The broadband speeds of 2012 have some opinions.
Ahead of his time? Definitively. Ross saw the future; the future just buffered a lot.
The Summit Era
Co-Manager & CFO
Peak Street Management — Elliott Bisnow's Family Office
Ross became CFO of Peak Street Management, the personal family office of
Elliott Bisnow, founder of Summit — the famous gathering of entrepreneurs,
celebrities, and people who describe themselves as "change-makers" in alpine ski resorts.
Ross co-founded Peak Street Capital and PSC Ventures alongside Elliott and Aaron Kwon,
creating investment vehicles focused on blockchain ecosystem fund managers.
Yes, there was a blockchain chapter. This was the late 2010s. Everyone had a blockchain chapter.
Ross's was at least well-capitalized.
Today
Founder & Managing Partner
Handmade Capital
Ross's current and arguably most inspired act: Handmade Capital, a boutique
single family office advisor in Los Angeles. The name is a statement of philosophy —
"handmade represents the highest level of craftsmanship." In an era of algorithmic trading,
robo-advisors, and AI portfolio managers, Ross is out here doing it by hand.
Literally artisanal wealth management. Farm-to-table finance.
Clients include Carter and Courtney Reum (founders of M13, one of the top-ranked VC firms globally)
and Paris Hilton. Yes. That Paris Hilton. She's not just hot, she's well-managed.
Chapter Three
The Client Roster (Or: People Whose Money Ross Guards)
Most financial advisors have clients you've never heard of. Ross Hinkle has clients you have
absolutely heard of, which is either a testament to his network, his skill, or the fact that
rich and famous people mostly know other rich and famous people.
Carter & Courtney Reum
Founders, M13 Ventures — Ranked #3 VC Globally by HEC Paris
The Reum brothers are, by any measure, a legitimate big deal. After leaving Goldman Sachs,
they founded Veev (an açaí liquor — because why not), then launched M13, a venture firm
that has backed 18 unicorns at seed or Series A. Richard Branson backs M13.
Richard Branson. The guy with the island and the spaceship.
Ross manages all of this. He is the man behind the scenes of the men who are behind
the scenes of the companies that might eventually be the apps on your phone.
The financial food chain is truly something.
Paris Hilton
Heiress, DJ, NFT Pioneer, Entrepreneur, Cultural Institution
There is so much to say about the fact that Ross Hinkle manages Paris Hilton's money that
it's hard to know where to start. Paris Hilton, who was once primarily famous for being famous,
has quietly built a business empire estimated to be worth over a billion dollars.
She was doing "personal brand as business" before anyone had the vocabulary to describe it.
And Ross is the person keeping the spreadsheets. Somewhere in a well-appointed Los Angeles
office, Ross Hinkle is looking at a column of numbers and those numbers belong to Paris Hilton.
He has our deepest respect.
This also makes Ross Hinkle, by proxy, one degree of separation from Tinkerbell the chihuahua.
A fact his Wikipedia page (if he had one) would absolutely include.
Chapter Four
The Board Seat Hall of Fame
Truly great executives don't just run companies — they oversee other companies from a tasteful distance,
usually via a board seat that involves quarterly meetings and a nice dinner. Ross has collected these
with the enthusiasm of a philatelist and the range of a man who genuinely cannot say no.
Advanstar Communications
B2B media powerhouse. Ross oversaw the glamorous world of trade publications. Yes, there are trade publications for everything. Yes, they have boards.
Access Intelligence
Media & events company. Ross helped guide a firm that helps other firms communicate. Meta. Very meta.
Southern Theatres
A regional movie theater chain. In an era of streaming disruption. Ross looked at the movie theater industry and said "yes, I'll board that boat." Courage or hubris — you decide.
Cannella Response Television
DRTV and infomercials. Somewhere, at some point, Ross Hinkle was partly responsible for a 2am infomercial about a kitchen gadget. This is not a knock. This is a celebration.
Ascend Media
Healthcare and professional media. Back to healthcare — Ross's first love. Full circle. Very poetic.
Sandow Media
Design and trade media. For when you want your board portfolio to have an artistic flair. Ross approved.
Summit Powder Mountain
Elliott Bisnow's crown jewel — a ski resort community in Utah. This one is self-explanatory and also sounds incredible.
myLaurel
In-home healthcare services. Current board seat. Full circle from Lehman healthcare M&A days. Ross Hinkle always comes back to healthcare. Some things are destiny.
Chapter Five
The Philosophy of Ross Hinkle
On Craft
"Handmade represents the highest level of craftsmanship: attention to detail is the life of the work."
This is Ross's north star. In an industry where "quant fund" and "algorithmic" are compliments,
Ross has staked his reputation on the idea that the best financial stewardship is personal,
deliberate, and built by hand. Like a fine Swiss watch, or a really good bespoke suit.
But for your portfolio.
On Timing
Ross has consistently been near massive trends just before they peaked or just after they emerged.
Concert streaming in 2012. Blockchain in 2017. Family offices when everyone decided to start one.
Is this bad timing? We'd argue it's actually great timing — you learn more from being slightly early
than from arriving comfortably late. Ross has been wrong at the right moments, which is arguably
the most important kind of being wrong.
On Portfolio Construction
Look at Ross's career and you'll see something that no textbook would recommend but every thoughtful
person quietly aspires to: genuine diversification of experience. Healthcare. Media. Music.
Crypto. Theaters. Ski resorts. Infomercials. Family offices. He has not optimized for a single niche.
He has followed genuine curiosity across every asset class of human experience.
The returns are immeasurable. Literally. They cannot be benchmarked against the S&P 500.
Chapter Six
The Man Behind The Managing Partner
Finance is Ross's profession, but a man is more than his AUM. Herewith, an examination of what
Ross Hinkle does when he is not arranging capital for people who are famous.
🏄
Surfing
Ross surfs. This tracks. Los Angeles. The Pacific. A man who manages risk for a living has decided his leisure activity should also involve significant physical risk.
⛷️
Skiing
Skis, too. Probably at Summit Powder Mountain, since he's on the board. That's what we call synergies.
🥾
Hiking
The sensible middle ground between surfing and skiing. Just walking uphill. Very grounded, very Californian.
🎵
Music Appreciation
Not just a hobby — a throughline. He loved music enough to build Liveset. Now he just listens. A man who left the industry and became the audience. Poetic.
📚
Reading
Ross reads. We do not know what. Probably not the Lehman Brothers Wikipedia article. Probably something that makes him a better investor. Or a good novel. We respect both.
👦
Being Dad to Ari
Lives in LA with his son Ari. We imagine Ari is going to grow up with a very unusual understanding of how money works. Lucky kid.
Testimonials
What People Are Saying (Disclaimer: They Are Not Saying These Things)
"Ross told me that the highest level of craftsmanship is attention to detail.
I said, 'That's very nice, Ross, but can we talk about my Q3 returns?'
He smiled knowingly. The returns were great. The man knows what he's doing."
— A Hypothetical Client
* This testimonial is entirely fictional and for satirical purposes only.
"I asked Ross to recommend a good microSD card and he somehow turned it into a conversation
about portfolio diversification. By the end I understood both his investment thesis
and why 512GB is probably overkill for a Nintendo Switch."
— Also Fictional Person
* Still fictional.
"When Ross told me he once ran a live-streaming concert platform in 2012,
I tried to imagine explaining that to the Lehman Brothers recruiting committee.
The man has range. Tremendous range."
— Elliott Bisnow (Probably Not)
* Elliott Bisnow did not say this. We just admire his Summit brand.
"That's hot."
— Paris Hilton (Almost Certainly Not About Ross's Fund Performance)
* Entirely fabricated. Paris Hilton is a serious entrepreneur and Ross is her very competent advisor.
Chapter Seven
Frequently Asked Questions About Ross Hinkle
Wait, he actually worked at Lehman Brothers?
Yes. Lehman Brothers. The one that collapsed in 2008 in the largest bankruptcy in American history.
Ross was gone before then. He is not responsible for the global financial crisis.
We want to be very clear about this.
What exactly is a "single family office advisor"?
Great question. A family office is essentially a private wealth management firm serving
ultra-high-net-worth individuals or families. A single family office serves one family.
An advisor to a single family office is the person who helps that family office function well —
investment strategy, manager selection, portfolio oversight.
Ross is, in short, the person the very rich call when they need someone even more competent
than they are to handle their money. It's a very specific and important niche.
Handmade Capital currently does this for multiple families, which makes it technically a
multi-family-office-adjacent operation, but calling it that would ruin the branding.
Is Handmade Capital actually accepting new clients?
Unknown. If you have to ask via a satirical tribute website, the answer is probably no.
If you are Courtney Reum's neighbor and happen to have a few hundred million you'd like
curated by a craftsman, reach out through more conventional channels.
What happened to Liveset?
Liveset was a live-streaming concert platform Ross founded in the early 2010s.
It was a bold, early bet on what streaming could do for live music. The technology
eventually arrived. Whether Liveset survived long enough to benefit is a question we
will leave as an exercise for the reader. What matters is that Ross saw it first.
That counts for something.
Can I hire Ross Hinkle to manage my finances?
Unless your name rhymes with "Schmarris Schilton" or you co-founded a VC firm that has
backed 18 unicorns, probably not. But you can aspire. We all aspire.
Who made this website?
A person who finds Ross Hinkle's career genuinely interesting and thought it deserved
a monument. This is that monument. You're welcome, Ross.
In Conclusion
Here's to You, Ross Hinkle
In a world of specialists, Ross Hinkle is a generalist of the highest order.
He has survived financial catastrophe, pioneered technology too early, ridden the blockchain wave,
and ended up handcrafting portfolios for celebrities.
He surfs. He skis. He reads. He built a concert-streaming platform before that was a thing.
He serves on the board of a company called Cannella Response Television, which is a beautiful detail.
He is, by every available metric, exactly the kind of person who would have a wildly over-designed
tribute website about them, if only someone would take the time.
🥂
To Ross. May your AUM be ever upward, and your waves be ever clean.