Nate Singer

CEO @HeronIntel. Solving qualitative data challenges for investors using human-led rigor + AI for scale. Former Buyside Investor.

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

Announcing HERON INTELLIGENCE

When I first came across Blue Heron many years ago, I recognized a rare formula for finding the "ground truth" through sophisticated, investigative conversations.

It was the exact "human access" edge I had been looking for as an investor.

Since then, my focus has been on bringing in depth qualitative research into the modern era - investing in team, tech, and developing an industry-leading set of capabilities.

This week, those pieces officially come together.

I’m thrilled to announce that Blue Heron is now Heron Intelligence. We are solving the problem of collecting, analyzing, and consuming the highest quality human-centric intelligence at scale.

By merging 20 years of investigative rigor (and a massive archive of 75,000+ proprietary interviews) with a new AI-driven intelligence layer, we are establishing a best in class capability suite for qualitative management and business insights.

To our clients and partners: The mission hasn’t changed, but the tools have been substantially upgraded. This means more signals, less noise, and the same investigative intensity you’ve always relied on.

To the Heron team: You are the engine behind this legacy. I couldn’t be prouder to lead this team as we bring data, custom analysis, and leading AI tech to the world’s top asset managers.

The future of qualitative intelligence is here.

https://t.co/NBP5wPGVzo

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

@petergyang 3 month boundless cohorts are the best imo

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

We’re in the business of selling data, but needed the old SharePoint docs to be manually scrubbed (painful in the age of AI). Was about 9 months and peaked at over 70 people - getting the workflows defined for an ad-hoc effort like that had a human cost too. But now we can run a ton of analysis that is laying foundation for the next chapter. So it was definitely worth it.

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

@MarcusSpillane @FundamentEdge 100% on sharepoint - we had to do that conversion when I joined Heron last year - was a real heavy lift

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

We're always interested in meeting top talent that fits that ideal team member profile. If so, drop me a DM with a quick note - I'll make sure it lands in the right place internally.

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

This was a really exceptional article that gets to the core of defining and promoting firm identity.
As CEO at Heron, I increasingly face this question - are we the best place for investigative researchers (Heron's legacy)? tech talent? builders who love investing?

With a question this critical, I'd ideally have a definitive answer. Heron's objective is to provide the highest quality insights to investors - specifically people-centric data.

Value investors, quant funds, distressed debt holders, growth PE, and other asset managers - all turn to us to surface unique hard to access insights.

I think the common theme that powers our success is the relentless pursuit of the "nuggets" of insights that make the whole mosaic make sense.

If you are unstoppable and passionate about the process of digging for those nuggets - ready to aggressively build the infrastructure to power that exploration - oriented to the type of intense team participation required to be truly world class in this pursuit - and if you are really curious about investing and how the economy works, Heron is increasingly likely to be your aspirational home.

[Jaya Gupta @JayaGup10]

https://t.co/5vDrndcmFn

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

@peter_ackerson @AlphaSchoolATX @mackenzieprice @jliemandt It does work. It was obvious within our kids’ first month there that Alpha has a better model.

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

Six findings. Some had clear convergence. A couple had sharp splits. Heron captured the debate and presented both side.

That is what good earnings research looks like. Not always clean narrative. The actual picture.

Faster and more comprehensive than the analyst community could historically execute.

The AI tsunami is here in 2026 - it is just not yet evenly distributed.

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

Historically it took too long and too much work after earnings to systematically collect high quality expert perspectives.

Below is a snippet from Heron’s upcoming Events launch.

What stood out from our Meta Q1 work was how detailed the perspectives were from formers…

[Heron Intelligence @Heronintel]

$META 's Q1 pricing miss. Sell-side called it cyclical. Six former practitioners saw it differently.
One of six findings from our Heron Events Meta Q1 2026 deliverable.
https://t.co/IV8h0E02UG

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

On pricing, three of five saw a structural ceiling forming. Not cyclical. One disagreed on personalization grounds.

On Reality Labs, the executive closest to Ray-Ban Meta said licensing is the realistic monetization path. A senior ads executive saw it differently.

[Adam Shuaib @adamshuaib]

Across 5000+ founder meetings, the single rarest success trait we saw was pathological determination (<1% of founders). Having a good work ethic is not enough; these individuals possess a borderline-delusional ability to run through any wall they meet, and don’t have an off switch. It’s not easy to see and most investors don’t ask the right questions in founder meetings to uncover it.

We have 10-15 proxy signals that we use to turn determination into a data point. Across hundreds of founders, we looked for a desperate desire to prove someone/something wrong, multiple previous failed businesses, early-life adversity and irrational optimism when most others would quit.

Our early findings showed that founders with a high determination index were significantly more likely to build bigger companies, even if it took them longer on average. Determination wasn’t correlated with confidence or charisma. The most determined founders were more introverted and did not light up rooms.

Most investors overvalue raw talent and ignore the sheer power of persistence. Brilliance is fragile. Obsession is anti-fragile. When vetting a startup, back the team that refuses to stay dead.

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

Brett, recommend you think a little more expansively about programmatic application of primary research. It is expensive, but whole new frontier. Agentic iterative process so much more comprehensive than an analyst or team of analysts could ever effectively execute, digest, … sci fi in 2025, reality in 2026

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

100% - an engineering mindset is increasingly powerful and required. When even primary research can be executed and analyzed programmatically, the idea of just having 5 portal data logins and reading 10 transcripts on Tegus is so “quaint”.

Whether we call that an “AI fund” or “quantamental” or just “baseline” doesn’t matter. Today, most friends at the big multi managers are still doing things mostly the same - we’re at most 10% of the way right now. Top tier analyst has a very different set of workflows in this new world.

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

This is a very powerful capability Heron is rolling out…

Get past the information vacuum / echo chamber and form unique views before the crowd.

Paste in your coverage list and we’ll help connect you to critical insights faster

https://t.co/M9rrMDB2Nm

[Heron Intelligence @Heronintel]

Danaher reported Q1 and announced the Masimo acquisition.
Within 48 hours, we had 5 former executives on record. 6 insights.
One that matters right now: Masimo's innovation culture is at risk under DBS integration.
Tell us your watchlist. Access the link in the post or DM us.

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

If you’d like to follow for the latest as well @Heronintel is ramping up. Worth a look - let us know what you think!

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

Flattering that Grok decided we are the canonical answer to the latest updates on some of these companies

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

There is SO much debate about "the future of software" - ServiceNow is the bellwether and the crowd is DOUR. Yet the Heron initial conversations were surprisingly positive... who will prove to be right? Can we vibe code the core tech systems for multi-nationals yet?

[Heron Intelligence @Heronintel]

ServiceNow dropped 18% after earnings. Revenue up 22%. Stock still got crushed.
Within 48 hours, we interviewed former executives to find why.
What they said: fundamentals intact, AI driving pricing power, customers buying before they know how to use
Heron Events: Launching Soon

[Heron Intelligence @Heronintel]

Netflix reported Q1 on Thursday. Within 24 hours, we had 5 former executives on record. 6 insights, each tagged by conviction, delivered before consensus forms.

This is what we built Heron Events for.

Get your watchlist covered. https://t.co/IV8h0E02UG

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

Real conversations with well-placed sources. Synthesized in real time for research decisions today.

Send us your watch list - we’ll send you alerts and much more: https://t.co/M9rrMDB2Nm

[Nate Singer @NateSinger_BH]

The upcoming Heron Events release drives the formation of a new class of engaging financial media, based on selective release of our proprietary data.

This is what journalism once was.

But now for the AI era.

@Heronintel