SAN FRANCISCO – Inside Joe Montana’s office sits a box full of helmets waiting to be unpacked.
“We give these to our companies when they hit a billion dollars. We have 22 of them right now.”
These days, Montana is quarterbacking a venture capitalist firm called Liquid 2 Ventures.
So how exactly did the three-time Super Bowl MVP delve into the VC world?
“Two knuckleheads that I played with kind of talked me into it. They came to my house one day – Ronnie Lott and Harris Barton – and said, ‘We’re going to start this venture fund. We want to try to take care of high net worth individuals who don’t have access and athletes who don’t have access. We’re going to leverage our friendships into access into these funds.’ Got into the top tier funds because those guys were our neighbors, our friends, coaching our kids in sports. We ended up starting a small venture fund.”
It was called HRJ Capital LLC and its success was short-lived. Montana got out before the company eventually folded, but he jumped back in the game with some help from Ron Conway – one of Silicon Valley’s top angel investors.
“It was a lot more fun than the fund to funds. The fund to funds – all we did was raise money and give it somebody else,” laughed Montana. “Eventually Ron talked me into starting a fund.
“Lot more work than I expected. Ron forgot to tell me that part.”
But the hard work paid off. L2V is closing its third fund after one of its first investments – GitLab – went public on the Nasdaq with a $10 billion market cap.
It begs the question – what’s more exciting, winning a Super Bowl or his first IPO?
“The IPO is going to make me a lot more money,” Montana joked. “It’s exciting watching the companies grow. It’s exciting watching [my partners] go to work on helping these young companies in the areas they need help early.
“But, there is nothing like winning a Super Bowl.”
Montana doesn’t know what it’s like to lose one. He went four for four with the 49ers, creating a lifetime of memories for fans in the Bay Area. For Joe, one moment stands out – his game-winning touchdown pass to John Taylor in Super Bowl XXIII.
“As a kid in my backyard, I did it thousands of times. I used to make my neighbor dive for the ball. Having that opportunity to come back and win at the end of the game, probably as a quarterback, no better way to finish the season.”
The back-breaking drive against the Bengals was one of 31 fourth quarter comebacks in ‘Joe Cool’s’ illustrious career.
“I’m just a competitor to the end. It’s one of those things that – winning isn’t as important as losing is devastating. Winning is what you’re expected to do and that’s what I expected to do. I look back at it and go, ‘That was probably the reason we were behind, most likely.'”
Rarely did Montana feel any pressure. Except for maybe one Saturday night back in January of 1987, when he hosted SNL with Walter Payton.
“You’re in front of a lot of people all the time, but not like that,” Montana explained. “You’re staring right at people and you’re not doing things that you’re comfortable with. It was a total blast. Don’t get me wrong. But, it was nerve-wrecking.”
One man who took some of the heat off Montana during his playing days was Jerry Rice.
“Jerry was different. I just don’t know how he got behind so many guys. Not the fastest guy in the world, but you couldn’t catch him. I just can’t figure it out.
“The sad part is – John Taylor was a freak of nature. That guy would have been Jerry Rice on our team if Jerry hadn’t shown up. People would ask him what’s it like playing across from Jerry Rice. He goes, ‘I’m just running for my health.’ Never complained. He catches the touchdown pass in the Super Bowl – only pass he caught the whole game. I was shocked. Shocked. He only caught 14 passes that year because of Jerry. Every now and then we’d run duel routes on the side.
I’m going, ‘Oh, John Taylor, John Taylor. Oh, Jerry Rice.’ You look over there and JT’s wide open.
You go, ‘Oh. Sorry JT.’
‘No worries man. No worries.’
“When he first got here, for punt returns, everybody would get off our bench to watch it because the first guy, I don’t care how close you are, you aren’t tackling him. You might not even touch him. I felt bad for him. But, Jerry was phenomenal. I don’t even know how to explain it. Very easy for a quarterback to read. The body language that you learn and you see and get to understand quickly. He just came along too late in my career.”
Montana played 13 seasons in San Francisco and two more in Kansas City, racking up 40,551 passing yards, 273 touchdowns, 11 playoff appearances and nine division titles.
He made the Conference Championship with the Chiefs in 1993 and lost in the Wild Card in 1994, but Montana has no regrets about hanging it up when he did at the age of 38.
“When I look back on it, I could probably have played another year or two, but physically the game was different back then than it is now. They’ve taken some of those big hits out.
“I’ve had 25-27 surgeries – a new shoulder, a new knee, five-level neck fusion. I really retired because of my kids. I missed the girls growing up at those ages and the boys at that time. I was hoping I could savor the rest of my body to be able to go out and do things. I did for a certain amount of time and then it just all caught up to me at one time. I probably quit at the right time. I had enough concussions. I really liked playing in Kansas City. Wish I could have played a couple more years there. Great place to play. We had really had a good team, too. That was the sad part. We should have gone to the Super Bowl.”
While fans argue whether Montana or Brady is the G.O.A.T., the only legacy Joe’s focused on is his family’s.
“All four of the kids are within a mile of us or less. A lot of kids don’t want to be around their parents. They can’t wait. We go on vacation and we’re active – active as we can get with them – and they’re really active. Jennifer once, just for the boys and I, set us up going to New Zealand. We started off by jumping off the needle there, off the original bungee bridge, the second highest bungee jump, going through holes in the ground into these canyons of black, riding in rivers underneath. It was a crazy, insane trip.
“We try to do fun things. She keeps us pretty active. She’s the star.”