Hey,
I'm Chris

Chris Petkas

I'm a general partner at Contrarian Thinking Capital, an early-stage VC and Main Street holdco focused on operating and investing companies across the real economy. Before this, I spent a decade in the Navy, training under pressure, leading teams, and learning what matters when stakes are high. Now I apply that discipline and contrarian lens to life and ideas worth wrestling with.

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When It Sounds Boring or
Unsexy…
There's Alpha

Chris Petkas at the microphone recording a podcast episode in a barn studio
Chris Petkas in a black rash guard during jiu-jitsu training

I challenge conventional ideas, dig into first-principles thinking, and share perspectives shaped by what I learn about the world around me.

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