Key Takeaways
- • At the 31st annual Sohn Conference, seven emerging hedge fund managers—including founders from Coatue, Lone Pine, and Kynikos—pitched four long and three short investment ideas to the institutional investor community.
- • Rahul Kishore, founder of Epicenter Capital (launched post-Coatue), pitched Axon Enterprises with a price target of doubling by end-2028, citing the company's AI-powered suite for police report generation and transcription as the primary growth driver outpacing traditional taser and body camera revenue.
- • The "next wave" cohort has historically produced significant industry figures, including onetime Tourbillon founder Jason Karp and Diameter founder Scott Goodwin, establishing the program as a proving ground for emerging hedge fund talent.
- • Investment themes presented aligned with broader market trends, particularly artificial intelligence applications and GLP-1 related opportunities, reflecting investor focus on structural secular growth vectors.
- • The Sohn Conference's emerging manager track continues its decade-plus tradition of providing a high-visibility platform for fund founders to introduce themselves and their theses to institutional capital allocators.
Summary
The 31st annual Sohn Conference featured pitches from seven emerging hedge fund managers, several of whom built careers at established firms including Coatue, Lone Pine, and Kynikos. The "next wave" session, a long-standing component of the conference, presented four long positions and three short positions to an audience of institutional investors at Lincoln Center on Tuesday morning.
Rahul Kishore, founder of Epicenter Capital, which launched in 2025 following an eight-year tenure at Coatue, opened proceedings with a pitch for Axon Enterprises, a manufacturer of tasers and body cameras used by law enforcement. Kishore employed an AI agent assistant named Eve to introduce the thesis, highlighting the novelty of artificial intelligence in the pitching process itself. The core investment case centers on Axon's emerging AI suite, which includes transcription tools that generate first-draft police reports from body camera footage. Kishore projects the stock will double by the end of 2028, with AI-driven tools growing faster than the company's legacy taser and camera businesses.
The Sohn Conference has dedicated time to emerging managers for more than a decade, using the platform to introduce next-generation fund founders to institutional investors. Prior cohorts have produced notable industry figures, including Jason Karp (onetime Tourbillon founder) and Scott Goodwin (Diameter founder), establishing the program as a significant talent incubator. Pitches presented at the 2026 session reflected prominent investment themes, particularly artificial intelligence and GLP-1 related opportunities, indicating manager focus on structural growth trends. The conference structure ensures that absent investors receive detailed information about presented stocks and their pitchers, maximizing the networking and capital-sourcing value of the event.
Rahul Kishore, founder of Epicenter Capital, which launched in 2025 following an eight-year tenure at Coatue, opened proceedings with a pitch for Axon Enterprises, a manufacturer of tasers and body cameras used by law enforcement. Kishore employed an AI agent assistant named Eve to introduce the thesis, highlighting the novelty of artificial intelligence in the pitching process itself. The core investment case centers on Axon's emerging AI suite, which includes transcription tools that generate first-draft police reports from body camera footage. Kishore projects the stock will double by the end of 2028, with AI-driven tools growing faster than the company's legacy taser and camera businesses.
The Sohn Conference has dedicated time to emerging managers for more than a decade, using the platform to introduce next-generation fund founders to institutional investors. Prior cohorts have produced notable industry figures, including Jason Karp (onetime Tourbillon founder) and Scott Goodwin (Diameter founder), establishing the program as a significant talent incubator. Pitches presented at the 2026 session reflected prominent investment themes, particularly artificial intelligence and GLP-1 related opportunities, indicating manager focus on structural growth trends. The conference structure ensures that absent investors receive detailed information about presented stocks and their pitchers, maximizing the networking and capital-sourcing value of the event.
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