The New Money Masters: Joshua Kushner

Joshua Kushner, 30

Hometown: Livingston, N.J.

Alma Mater: Harvard, M.B.A., A.B.

Specialty: Venture capital

Day Job: Managing partner, Thrive Capital

Cred: Manages just under $1 billion; doubled his money when Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion three days after he invested in the mobile photo app.

Pay-It-Forward Wisdom: "Pushing myself to build and invest at the same time is the best investment I have made. Entrepreneurship is romanticized, and, in reality, building a company is incredibly difficult," says Kushner, who cofounded Oscar with a computer scientist and a former customer relations management director at Microsoft . Oscar, an ObamaCare startup focusing on health insurance, was recently valued at $1.5 billion. "Building has made me a better investor, and investing has made me a better builder."

Best Idea: Disruptive tech is in its infancy. "The potential impact of software on some of the world's most significant industries remains largely unrealized today. New technology has the power to transform industries by reducing the cost economics in various stages of the supply chain," says Kushner. "While many industries will continue to be created from the proliferation of technology, many more will be destroyed--at least in the form that they have existed in the last century." Examples: financial services, government services and education. Kushner has targeted finance by investing $30 million in one-click mobile-payment platform Stripe. Kushner's investments are private, but consider companies like Zendesk (ZEN), which is using a software-based approach to customer service.