The 20% rule: How Giorgos Tsetis is disrupting family office philanthropy

Through his firm, Great Things, Tsetis has invested nearly $40 million over the past 18 months, committing an additional $7 million to various nonprofits. His strategy leverages the rapid gains of the AI sector—including a seven-fold return on an Anthropic stake—to fund causes like Bronx-based youth programs and medical research through Every Cure. By treating charitable giving as a primary profit-sharing interest rather than a legacy afterthought, Tsetis and his advisor, Gabriel Cooperman of UBS, have built a model that functions with the speed of a venture capital firm.

Despite the firm's aggressive pace, the approach is shifting toward caution. Tsetis and his partner, Roman Kalantari, are cooling on early-stage AI startups, favoring late-stage investments to ensure liquidity ahead of an anticipated market correction. Kalantari, who navigated the dot-com bubble, notes that while the firm has thrived on current volatility, the focus remains on identifying companies capable of surviving the inevitable downturn. With $60 million in projected deployments over the next two years, the Great Things model relies on a lean decision-making structure to maintain its commitment to both high-growth investing and immediate social impact.