Silicon Pastures

Silicon Pastures

John R. Schmidt launched Silicon Pastures in 2015 after a career in technology investment banking at Robert W. Baird & Co., where he sourced and led direct equity stakes in several private tech firms. The firm is structured as a single-family office, though its investment scope extends beyond traditional wealth preservation into active, thematic deployment. Strategy spans three pillars: direct minority equity in growth-stage enterprise software and industrial-tech companies, real-asset infrastructure (energy transition, logistics parks), and private-credit secondaries. Known positions include a co-investment in a $400M logistics-property fund and a direct stake in a modular-construction firm that supplies data-center infrastructure. Geographic focus is primarily North America, with adjunct real-asset exposure in Southeast Asia via a Hong Kong office. The team counts fewer than 15 professionals across four offices. A separate philanthropic vehicle, the Schmidt Family Foundation, supports civic-revitalization projects in Milwaukee County. In early 2025, the firm opened a small Hong Kong office to oversee infrastructure investments in Southeast Asia (per public record). Silicon Pastures unusual structure — a Midwestern family office that commits to direct tech equity alongside real-asset debt — reflects Schmidt's investment-banking deal-architecture background. The firm rarely co-invests with external GPs, preferring proprietary deal flow sourced through its own network of former Baird colleagues and Midwest industrial operators.