#12 | Eric Bennett: He Managed $10B. Now He Funds Brain Science.

Eric Bennett managed $10 billion as a chief investment officer before deciding the most interesting returns were in the brain.More on Eric Bennett and this episode: thedealtablepodcast.com/episodes/eric-bennettHe co-founded Talison Wealth Management and served as its chief investment officer, then became founding executive director of the Brain Performance Institute at the UT Dallas Center for BrainHealth in 2013, where he raised more than $105 million, built a new facility and served over 50,000 people. In early 2025 he launched Brain Capital Partners and the Brain Super Fund.The underwriting is the interesting part. Biotech can create value and even exit before it has any revenue, so he explains what he actually prices, how he separates evidence-based neuroscience from supplements that never had to clear the FDA, why the regulatory pathway is the gate, and why psychedelics became investable in the last five years when they were not before.He also covers brain-machine interfaces and the government's quiet role through DARPA, transcranial magnetic stimulation and implants, where AI accelerates both discovery and diligence, and how the Brain Performance Institute got military veterans through the door by offering better brain performance rather than treatment for PTSD.Eric Bennett is the founder of Brain Capital Partners and the Brain Super Fund, which put venture and growth capital into brain science. He co-founded Talison Wealth Management as chief investment officer and was the founding executive director of the Brain Performance Institute at the UT Dallas Center for BrainHealth.KEY MOMENTS00:00 Why the brain, and why now08:06 The fund structures, side by side10:45 Mental health, Alzheimer's, longevity20:26 Real science against snake oil26:18 How capital flows into brain tech29:21 Brain-machine interfaces35:30 DARPA and the government's quiet role38:40 Psychedelics, PTSD, and reframing it47:30 Valuations and exit paths54:38 Suicide, phones, and burnoutNewsletter: thedealtablepodcast.com/connectLane Carrick on selling a business, The Optima Advantage: amzn.to/48nLElWInstagram: instagram.com/thedealtablepodcast/LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-deal-table/The Deal Table is hosted by Ryan Harper and Lane Carrick, filmed in Dallas, and produced by Harper Belmont Media.