13f season is over for the second quarter of 2025. We now have access to all the buying and selling activities of the leading investors for the quarter ended June 30th.
The media has beat on the same few holders and by now Tibetan monks in remote caves know that someone to Berkshire Hathaway made a large purchase of United Healthcare (Ticker: UNH)un the quarter, Stanley Druckenmiller purchased a big slug of Entergis (Ticker: ENTG) as an AI play and Bill Acman loaded up on Amazon (Ticker: AMZN) and Alphabet (Ticker: GOOGL).
Those are interesting stories. They might even hep you make some money although it is tough to see how you can get an edge knowing the same things few million other people learned at the same time as you did.
I tend to write about the same firm every quarter as well.
However, I rarely write about the biggest and best known funds. I prefer to discuss that activities of those funds they no one is following that are consistently piling up big numbers away from the spotlight and media bubble.
One of these funds is Whale Rock Capital in Boston.
Whale Rock Capital Management is one of those firms that quietly became a major force in technology investing. Founded in 2006 by Alexander Sacerdote, the firm was built on his experience as a technology, media, and telecom portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments and his early career in both investment banking and the dot-com world. From the beginning, Whale Rock focused on one central idea: finding the points where technology industries hit inflection and begin to accelerate along the "S-curve" of adoption.
The S-curve is a way of describing how new technologies are adopted over time. In the early stages, growth is slow as only early adopters use the product. Then, as the technology proves itself and becomes widely accepted, adoption accelerates sharply, creating a steep upward climb in sales, profits, and market value. Eventually, growth slows again as the market matures, and most potential users have already come on board. Whale Rock's strategy is to identify companies positioned to dominate during that steep middle phase of the curve, when the potential for exponential returns is greatest.
Sacerdote's vision was straightforward but powerful. He wanted to back the companies that were not only riding the next big wave of technology but also had the competitive edge to stay ahead once growth began to compound. That framework has shaped Whale Rock's approach ever since. The firm looks for structural trends, whether in consumer internet, software, semiconductors, or now artificial intelligence, and works to identify which players will dominate as adoption ramps. Just as important, Whale Rock knows when to step back. Once an industry matures or a company's edge begins to fade, it is quick to move on rather than linger past the point of peak returns.
Philosophy has always been paired with a strong emphasis on research. Whale Rock's team conducts thousands of meetings each year with company management, giving them a ground-level view of industry changes before they show up in financial statements. This is not a passive shop that follows consensus; it is a firm that works to stay a step ahead by building relationships and digging deeply into the details.
Like all technology-focused investors, Whale Rock has had to live with volatility. At times it has endured difficult drawdowns, but Sacerdote has been clear that this is part of the territory. He often reminds his team that when performance is strong, they are not as smart as they think they are, and when it is weak, they are not as dumb as they think they are. That humility—anchored in process rather than short-term outcomes—has helped the firm endure the swings that come with concentrated bets on innovation.
Over the years, Whale Rock has managed billions of dollars, closing its flagship fund to new money when inflows grew too fast and reopening when conditions allowed. After a sharp rebound in 2024 that included a gain of more than fifty percent, the firm is once again taking in new capital. Its assets under management now sit in the mid-teens of billions, a sign of how much the firm has grown from its early days.
Whale Rock's story is one of consistency and conviction. It is a firm that marries a disciplined investment philosophy with humility, research intensity, and a willingness to adapt. In an industry full of noise, Whale Rock continues to stand out by focusing on the structural trends that truly matter—and by having the patience to ride them from the bottom of the curve to the top.
Whale Rocks five largest new purchases in the quarter all have the potential to be break out growth stock leaders
Coupang (Ticker: CPNG)
Coupang, often dubbed “Amazon of South Korea,” is widely recognized for its lightning-fast logistics, tech-enabled delivery systems, and growing e-commerce dominance in Southeast Asia. For Whale Rock, Coupang fits squarely into the S-curve framework: still in the fast-acceleration phase of mass adoption in digital commerce. By initiating a sizeable new position in Q2 2025, Whale Rock appears to be backing Coupang's potential to sustain exponential growth as more consumers shift to online retail powered by infrastructure advancements and consumer expectations.
TTM Technologies (Ticker: TTMI)
TTM Technologies is a key supplier of printed circuit boards (PCBs), essential components across consumer electronics, networking, defense, medical devices, and emerging tech like electric vehicles. Whale Rock's new position suggests a bet on the infrastructure of innovation—not flashy consumer brands, but the manufacturing backbone behind them. In line with their philosophy, TTMI resides on the accelerating part of the S-curve, with increasing demand from multiple high-growth verticals poised to drive elevated growth and market share gains.
Corning Incorporated (Ticker: GLW)
Corning stands as a foundational player in glass and ceramics for tech applications—think Gorilla Glass, optical fiber, and other high-tech materials critical to smartphones, data centers, and telecom. Whale Rock's fresh investment appears strategic: betting on structural enablers of growth across multiple technology sectors. As connectivity and ruggedized devices remain in their growth phases, Corning embodies the kind of infrastructure company that benefits quietly but powerfully during the steep part of the tech adoption S-curve.
JFrog (Ticker: FROG)
JFrog operates in a niche but fast-growing space, DevOps and software distribution, helping developers manage, secure, and accelerate software release pipelines. This area is clearly riding an S-curve as enterprises increasingly embrace cloud-native development and continuous integration pipelines. Whale Rock's entry into JFrog suggests confidence in the company's ability to capitalize on the inflection point of enterprise automation, where software tools become indispensable rather than optional, a hallmark of S-curve dominance.
Sea Limited (Ticker: SE)
Sea Limited operates across digital entertainment (Garena), e-commerce (Shopee), and digital financial services (SeaMoney) in Southeast Asia, markets still early in the tech adoption cycle. Whale Rock's new Q2 investment indicates a bet on Sea as it rides the S-curve: building comprehensive digital ecosystems perfectly poised to benefit from rapid user growth, expanding digital infrastructure, and untapped opportunity in emerging markets. It aligns with their pattern of investing in companies positioned to lead during high-growth inflection phases.
