After Years as a Startup Advisor, Illai Gescheit Says Kindness Is Edge

The startup world is dog eat dog. “Move fast and break things,” so goes the Silicon Valley adage. For Illai Gescheit, this does not have to be the case: “You can still move fast and break things and be a kind person as well,” he says. The unconventional mantra is plastered on his LinkedIn headline. “Kindness is my strategy,” it reads. Indeed, it’s a practice that Illai must commit to in his day-to-day work as a startup advisor. He’s one of the founders of Gescheit & Partners — a global multi-stage venture advisory firm working with bold, visionary and resilient founders. Through Gescheit & Partners, Illai actively nurtures startup founders through the firm’s venture equity firm. He also serves on the boards of Atlas Capital and Barka Fund. Illai shares with Ethan lessons from years as a serial entrepreneur, and in the past working as a Venture Partner at Siemens Energy Ventures and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at BP. On this episode of Build to Last, Illai shares his first journey into the tech industry, the difference between corporate hires and startup hires, and (of course) why kindness is a great business strategy.