Depends on their Sharpe and capacity. Really, only prop shops have no customers, and even those were often backed by someone in the early days. RenTech's Medal

Depends on their Sharpe and capacity. Really, only prop shops have no customers, and even those were often backed by someone in the early days. RenTech's Medallion fund doesn't have customers, but it did for much of its history, and they have lower Sharpe programs with more market depth (and many customers). That said, the track record for Bay Area hedge funds trying to do things "the Silicon Valley way" without experienced founders (experienced in trading) is pretty grim. The ones who succeeded had a track record of doing it before.