Marc Stad, behind the scenes, is winning ownership stakes in Silicon Valley’s hottest companies

Amid a legion of flashy investors who are hypersensitive about how the world sees them, Marc Stad has quite intentionally flown under the radar — eschewing press coverage even as he and his investment firm, Dragoneer Investment Group, find unique ways of getting access to some of Silicon Valley’s highest-profile companies.

Dragoneer’s go-to move? Invest in a company a few years ahead of its IPO, but avoid a traditional fundraising round — either through a secondary stock sale, as it’s pursuing with Uber, or through a convertible debt note, as it executed with Spotify.

Stad, only 38, is highly regarded by his peers but has largely avoided the limelight. But he’s being discovered.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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