Talent Networks are your Greatest Asset | Adam Marchick | Superclusters | S4E9

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Jan 13, 2025

Adam Marchick, a partner at Acadian Ventures, shares invaluable insights from two decades in venture capital and entrepreneurship. He discusses the significance of talent networks and mentorship in startup success, drawing lessons from his experiences at Facebook and with influential mentors. Adam emphasizes the cultural pillars that drive great organizations and reflects on investment strategies, including his first investment in Dell. He also explores the evolution of voice interfaces in technology and the importance of maintaining personal connections in a busy world.

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ANECDOTE

Stanford Tech Internship Impact

Adam Marchick got his first internship at Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing through his mom's connection and willingness to take a low-risk chance on him.
He saw firsthand how university inventions can generate billions through commercialization, shaping his early understanding of tech business.

INSIGHT

Bring Personality to Work

Bringing your authentic personality to work reduces cognitive load and fosters a better work environment.
Adam observed that exceptional leaders at Meta, including Sheryl Sandberg and Justin Osofsky, excelled by being themselves.

ADVICE

Culture Pillars and Balance

Build a company culture of ambition, hard work, and natural curiosity to foster innovation.
Balance pushing for performance with stepping back to reassess and pivot when necessary.

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“When investing in funds, you are investing in a blind pool of human potential.” – Adam Marchick

Over the past twenty years, Adam Marchick has had unique experiences as a founder, general partner (GP), and limited partner (LP). Most recently, Adam managed the venture capital portfolio at Emory’s endowment, a $2 billion portfolio within the $10 billion endowment. Prior to Emory, Adam spent ten years building two companies, the most recent being Alpine.AI, which was acquired by Headspace. Simultaneously, Adam was a Sequoia Scout and built an angel portfolio of over 25 companies. Adam was a direct investor at Menlo Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures, sourcing and supporting companies including Carbonite (IPO), Rent The Runway (IPO), Rapid7 (IPO), Archer (M&A), and AeroScout (M&A). He started his career in engineering and product roles at Facebook, Oracle, and startups.

You can find Adam on his socials here: X / Twitter: https://x.com/adammStanford LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adammarchick/

And huge thanks to this episode's sponsor, Alchemist Accelerator: https://alchemistaccelerator.com/superclusters

OUTLINE:

[00:00] Intro

[03:14] Who is Kathy Ku?

[06:20] Lesson from Sheryl Sandberg

[06:39] Lesson from Justin Osofsky

[07:46] How Facebook became the proving grounds for Adam

[09:26] The cultural pillars of great organizations

[10:40] When to push forward and when to slow down

[12:39] Adam's first investment: Dell

[14:20] What did Adam do on Day 1 when he first became an LP

[17:00] Emory's co-investment criteria

[20:02] Private equity co-invests vs venture co-invests

[21:15] Teaser into Akkadian's strategy

[23:03] Underwriting blind pools of human potential

[29:03] Why does Adam look at 10 antiportfolio companies when doing diligence?

[32:11] What excites and scares Adam about VC

[35:36] Engineering serendipity

[37:52] Where is voice technology going?

[39:45] How does Adam think about maintaining relationships?

[43:20] Thank you to Alchemist Accelerator for sponsoring!

[44:20] If you enjoyed this season finale, it would mean a lot if you could share it with 1 other person who you think would love it!

Follow David Zhou for more Superclusters content: For podcast show notes: https://cupofzhou.com/superclusters Follow David Zhou's blog: https://cupofzhou.com Follow Superclusters on X: https://x.com/SuperclustersLP