Rogers Healy on Building VC Firm Morrison Seger and Backing Great Founders

In this episode of Double Take, Lauren speaks with Rogers Healy about his career across real estate, venture capital, entrepreneurship, and investing.

The conversation explores Rogers’ transition from real estate into venture capital, including the role COVID played in prompting him to reassess what he wanted his next chapter to look like. He discusses what draws him to startups, the traits he looks for in founders, and why gut instinct, curiosity, and a strong sense of personal drive often matter as much as formal experience.

Rogers also shares the thinking behind “Lunch with Legends,” his practice of meeting several new people each day, and how consistent relationship-building has influenced both his personal and professional life. Beyond investing, he reflects on the importance of family, faith, music, and maintaining a clear sense of purpose outside of work.

From investments in companies like SpaceX, Mike’s Hot Honey, Foxtrot, and Sanzo to advice for young professionals beginning their careers, this episode offers a thoughtful look at how relationships, conviction, and openness to change can shape an unconventional career path.

Episode Transcript:

Lauren Stenger: Thank you so much for your time today. I'm super excited to meet you and really looking forward to this conversation all about your career. You know, I've never seen so many LinkedIn experiences on someone's profile. So I'm really looking forward to learning more about you and your career.

Rogers Healy: Thank you. Yeah, it's obnoxious. But thank you for including me, and I’m excited to get to know you better and hopefully have this be a great interview.

Lauren Stenger: I would love to kick off this conversation about something we both have in common, which is going to SMU. So back when you were a student at SMU, what did you kind of envision for your career? And then how do you think that vision has remained constant or totally evolved over time?

Back when you were a student, what did you envision for your career, and how do you think that vision has remained constant or evolved over time?

Rogers Healy: Yeah, definitely the latter. I don't think anybody really knows what they want to do until they know what they don't want to do first. For me, I never grew up wanting to be X, Y, Z when I got older. I just always was, you know, I still am, if there's something that interests me, I want to learn about it until I'm nauseous, whether you're 45 or whether you're 20 or 19.

“I don’t think anybody really knows what they want to do until they know what they don’t want to do first.”

I don't think there's any way for anyone to really know exactly what they wanted to do later in life. So I just took advantage of the fact that SMU had great programming and, you know, great networking, and there were a lot of opportunities, especially as an undergrad to just learn.

I studied advertising and journalism and psychology, which were three very different things, but I kind of fell in love with people and with relationships and with business and with creative and kind of found a way to put it all together into what I'm doing now.

Lauren Stenger: Yeah, and it really seems like looking at your career, you've been able to blend a lot of those subjects together. And now it seems like you're putting a lot of your time and energy into Morrison Seger and venture capital. So what excites you most about the startup world in particular? I mean, I know you invest in such a diverse, you have such a diverse portfolio. So what excites you most about CPG and SaaS investments?

What excites you most about the startup world, and CPG and SaaS investments in particular?

Rogers Healy: Yeah, the people and you know, my background is real estate and I had a relatively large company for a long time, but you know, I never could sleep at night because you just never know what agents are going to do. It's high turnover and high drama. Not that there's not drama in the consumer and startup space, but yeah, I just love the people and I love being able to connect with founders and leaders and learning what made them successful. And you know, every once in a while I'm able to actually help based off of experience, which is frankly, really just liberating. It's really special. And I couldn't really do that in real estate. I think if you do anything long enough, it becomes kind of routine. And that had happened to me in real estate, where I was just kind of burnt out and I needed something that was a little bit more invigorating. My wife was very supportive and encouraged me to kind of bet on myself.

Lauren Stenger: Was there kind of like a catalyst moment where you knew you were going to go all in on VC or was it kind of a natural progression?

Was there a catalyst moment where you knew you were going to go all in on VC or was it kind of a natural progression?

Rogers Healy: I mean, it was COVID. It kind of gave me an opportunity for the first time in my adult life to slow down and reassess. It was an emotional time; it was a weird time. And no matter how old you were, you know, we were all just forced to sit still. And I had just gotten married to my wife, and I was just going through a little midlife crisis thing and just realized that what I was doing isn't what I wanted to do forever. And that was a very painful realization. But when I got there, I was just obsessed with trying to figure out how to really get to where I'm at now. It just took time, you know, and everyone's story is different. I think mine is in large part baptism by fire, which was fun for a while, but you get baptized enough by fire, you want to avoid it.

“I think mine is in large part baptism by fire, which was fun for a while, but you get baptized enough by fire, you want to avoid it.”

Lauren Stenger: Yeah, and as I was saying earlier, your portfolio is really diverse. You're investing in Foxtrot, which was my favorite coffee shop at SMU. I miss it so much. I wish they had one in Ithaca.

Rogers Healy: Maybe one day.

Lauren Stenger: Yeah, SpaceX, Mike's Hot Honey, all of these companies. Do you look for like a common denominator in all these companies or does it differ per sector or is it about the founder, the people you know, the connection?

Do you look for like a common denominator in all these companies or does it differ per sector?

Rogers Healy: Yeah, I mean, in my experience, it's a gut instinct, right? And whether it's a honey company that's infused with jalapenos or it's a sparkling water company or it's a technology company, you know, you got to feel good about it, especially when you're raising money. And a lot of these brands that we're in, I've been a significant fundraiser for them. And that means I've got to have a strong conviction that when I'm pitching this to potential investors, I got to really believe that it's going to work.

“Whether it’s a honey company that’s infused with jalapenos or it’s a sparkling water company or it’s a technology company, you know, you got to feel good about it, especially when you’re raising money.”

That means diligence which includes meeting with the founders, meeting with the executive teams, but also just feeling good about it. And it doesn’t matter how smart you are or where you went to college, it's got to be something that you can really, really get behind. And that's kind of been the story of my relative success in whatever vertical I've participated in.

Lauren Stenger: What traits have you noticed from your time in real estate? What traits have you noticed have kind of carried over to your career with investing?

What traits have you noticed from your time in real estate that have carried over to your career with investing?

Rogers Healy: Yeah. I mean, it's the gut instinct stuff, right? And I think that when I was full-time real estate, I would tell people my favorite type of employee or agent was someone that had something to prove, right? That doesn't have something handed to them because they want to taste it and they want to earn it themselves. And I think in this space, it's very similar. There are just people that no matter their background, you want to just bet on them because they just have a fire in their eyes and you just know they're going to figure it out.

“There are just people that no matter their background, you want to just bet on them because they just have a fire in their eyes and you just know they’re going to figure it out.”

And I think that was kind of my story. I didn't have a background in being successful, but I had enough ignorance and ego and determination to figure it out in a very, very crowded space. And so, yeah, I think that's just kind of part of it. And those skillsets as a leader and as a founder myself, that can be crossed over to really any vertical, but I think the most natural one for me was investing.

Lauren Stenger: And I can imagine that there are a lot of moving parts, being a father, a husband, an investor. What are some habits or routines that you go to when things are feeling a little bit hectic or you have a lot on your plate? Are there kind of those like non-negotiables for you?

What are some habits or routines that you go to when things are feeling a little bit hectic or you have a lot on your plate?

Rogers Healy: Yeah, my family. My dad is my hero. He traveled a lot growing up and I became a dad later in life. I became a dad at 42 and, understandably, it changed my entire life the minute I found out my wife was pregnant. I went from working in a pretty large office that had my name literally on the building to working from our back house.

And I think just making sure that I put myself in these settings that keep me relatively balanced is crucial because my career now, my job is still high stress, but I don't have the desire to let it get to me after hours and on weekends because my real job is being a husband and a dad. Easier said than done, but I'm a very extreme person that really just goes all in on stuff that I believe in and I believe in my family and I have to just make sure that I'm doing everything I can to lead them well.

“Making sure that I put myself in these settings that keep me relatively balanced is crucial because my career now is still high stress, but I don’t have the desire to let it get to me after hours and on weekends because my real job is being a husband and a dad.”

Lauren Stenger: I love that because on your LinkedIn, I love how your title is father, Christian, girl dad, boy dad. So I think that really says a lot about a person like highlighting those attributes.

Rogers Healy: Yeah, I appreciate it. And yeah, I mean, look, there's no greater title to me than being a Christian. And then on a worldly perspective my job is to love my wife better than any husband has ever loved a wife. And my other job is to love my kids. And, you know, I think it's hard to find balance no matter what you do, but there's a lot of blessings to being a dad later in life. And one of them is that I've lived a pretty fun life, a pretty selfish life before my wife and kids. And there's nothing that would interest me or excite me more than just being home at night and being home on the weekends. And it's pretty simple decisions for me. And it makes me kind of lethal with my time during work hours. I'm really good at saying no. I'm really good at being efficient. And I don't think that was really me prior to having a family.

Lauren Stenger: Are there any investments that you've made that like your family or your kids have been particularly excited about or it's been kind of a family, like a group excitement?

Are there any investments you've made that your family has been particularly excited about or it's been a group excitement?

Rogers Healy: Yeah, you know, I hate to say it, but like kind of all of them are fun. But the one my wife loves the most is there's a drink called Sanzo. It's a sparkling water that is actually based out of New York. And my wife drinks seven or eight of them a day. So that's really fun. They're all special. It's just a matter of kind of the one, frankly, they are using most frequently. And I think that eventually the most fun deal for us is going to be the one that makes us some money because these things just take some time to kind of happen. But, you know, right now it's just a matter of getting in there and really believing in it and making sure the family's behind me because we invest a lot of our own money in these things as well.

Lauren Stenger: Something that I saw you do which I find super interesting is, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's called like “Lunch with Legends”. Do you try to meet with someone new or a friend daily or weekly?

Tell me about your “Lunch with Legends” initiative, where you meet with 3-5 new people every day.

Rogers Healy: I try to do three to five in-person meetings every single day with somebody new.

Lauren Stenger: Oh my gosh, every day?

Rogers Healy: Yeah, six days a week, not on Sundays. But yeah, every day. And it's been life-changing. I've been able to kind of build a brand around it, which is crazy. But yeah, I just get to meet new people. And that to me is what life is all about, is just relationships and trying to add value and seeing how you can help them out. And that's been something that I have been doing since right after COVID ended. It's been fantastic. I just really love, you know, getting to know people and what made them successful and what makes them tick and eventually finding ways to help them out. And in turn, you know, it really has helped me too.

“I just really love getting to know people and what made them successful and what makes them tick and eventually finding ways to help them out.”

Lauren Stenger: Yeah, I just think that is such a unique, like beneficial idea. I try to do something similar with this podcast, you know, reaching out to people who I think are really interesting and have like impactful career stories and journeys. So that's really cool to see you're doing that so many times a day. I'm sure you're learning so much and yeah.

Rogers Healy: Yeah, I'm just an excessive person. My mom called me a hoarder as a kid and I was like, no, I just love memories. And yeah, it's just I feel like a pit bull that's been released from a tree. And yeah, I'm having a blast. So thanks for saying that.

Lauren Stenger: Yeah, and I also saw your big love for music and all of that. So my question was going to be like, how do you fill up your time when you're not working? So I'm assuming, you know, it's a lot of stuff with music. Could you talk a little bit more about that and if there's other stuff you like to do when you're not working?

How do you like to fill your time when you are not working?

Rogers Healy: Yeah, well, first of all, I'm always working. I love working and it's kind of my hobby, but I also collect music memorabilia and yeah, we have a back house with a bunch of fun stuff and I work here now. So it kind of takes away a little bit of the innocence of it. But yeah, my wife and I go to concerts and we go to different museums and a lot of it is just really centered around music. And it's been kind of something that's been a foundation for our relationship that has been absolutely amazing.

So yeah, love music, named my venture capital firm after musicians. We have three kids named after musicians and, I just usually always have music playing whether it's literal or just in my head. And that to me has been just a cornerstone of my life.

Lauren Stenger: That's so cool. Do you make music? Are you musical in that way?

Rogers Healy: No, no, I don't have a good voice. I don't play an instrument. Yeah, no, I just love music and I've been attached to it since I was about three years old. No one understands it. No one can explain it. I just love music and I love musicians. I love making friends with them if I can. And I am just so blessed to really be a part of, you know, kind of this, what do you call it? Like a music historian, if you will.

Lauren Stenger: Yeah no totally. So switching gears a little bit back to more Morrison Seger, what is kind of on the horizon that is exciting you over the next few months or year or so?

What is on the horizon that is exciting you over the next few months or year or so?

Rogers Healy: I'm going to launch a fund in the next few months, which will be great. Everything I've done to this point is just all one-off raises, which has been a blessing, but just a different kind of tired. I'm tired from it. I sold my real estate companies a while back and that was in large part to give me the freedom to pursue the fund full time, and so I think that'll be a different challenge and might require a little bit of travel. But the fund will be cool and I'm looking for our next few deals to invest in as well.

Lauren Stenger: That'll be so exciting. I'm definitely going to be watching that. Yeah. And my last question for you is if you have any advice for someone just starting out their career and someone particularly who might want to go down the investing path or even the entrepreneurial path, just if you have any advice for young adults like me.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out their career?

Rogers Healy: Yeah, don't think too much. You know, you're going to a great school and you went to a great school at SMU. But if there's something that interests you, you got to go for it. You know, I met my wife because she was at dinner with her mom and I thought she was very attractive and had a great smile. I went up and introduced myself and now we're married. I think just don't let the world get in your way of something that could give you a lot of joy. And that's been kind of a big theme in my life for as long as I can remember. So do that as long as you're being true to yourself and you'll find a way that God just kind of takes care of the faithful and will give you opportunity to open up a lot of doors.

Lauren Stenger: Well, thank you so much for that advice and for the conversation. I really enjoyed it.

Rogers Healy: Yeah, you're welcome. Congrats on what you're doing. Reach out if I can ever help.