E73: Aydin Senkut on Building Felicis Ventures

What this episode covers

Today on Turpentine VC, we’re releasing one of our most popular episodes: Erik’s interview with Aydin Senkut, founder and managing partner of Felicis Ventures. Aydin discusses the evolution and distinct strategies of Felicis Ventures, their focus on mental health, and insights on successful generalist investing in venture capital. —  📰 Be notified early when Turpentine drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess   🙏 Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse   — RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️This Won't Last Eavesdrop on Keith Rabois, Kevin Ryan, Logan Bartlett, and Zach Weinberg's monthly backchannel. They unpack their hottest takes on the future of tech, business, venture, investing, and politics. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/id1765665937  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HwSNeVLL1MXy0RjFPyOSz  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWontLastpodcast   — SPONSORS: ☁️Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is a single platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, and AI needs. OCI has four to eight times the bandwidth of other clouds and offers one consistent price. Oracle is offering to cut your cloud bill in half. See if your company qualifies at oracle.com/turpentine  — LINKS: Felicis Ventures: https://www.felicis.com/ — X / TWITTER: @asenkut @eriktorenberg — HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE: Aydin Senkut started Felicis Ventures as a solo practitioner during the super angel era, proving an outsider could succeed in venture capital. The firm evolved through its middle stage by raising institutional capital and building its reputation. In its current stage, Felicis has established a successful track record and optimizes for ownership. Felicis pioneered investing internationally without opening offices abroad. The firm operates as generalists across multiple stages and sectors rather than specializing. They aim to have multiple successful investments rather than relying on one or two big hits. Each Felicis fund maintains 40-50 companies across uncorrelated sectors and geographies. The firm uses a "prepared mind" approach, thoroughly researching markets before meeting companies. Investment decisions are made unanimously as a team while maintaining quick decision-making capabilities. When hiring, Felicis looks for smart generalists with strong motivation and intuition. They particularly value people who have been underestimated and have a "chip on their shoulder." The firm provides attractive carry to all team members to encourage an ownership mentality. Felicis was the first VC firm to prioritize founders' mental health support. Through founder surveys, they discovered that mental health support was a crucial need. Trust emerged as the number one factor founders consider when choosing investors. The firm maintains a single fund structure rather than creating multiple specialized funds. Felicis focuses primarily on writing first checks as their core strength. In AI, they invest across six different sub-areas with a systematic approach. They largely avoided crypto investments due to uncertainty about value creation. Looking forward, Felicis believes early-stage investing won't be automated or replaced by AI. The firm emphasizes continuous learning and rapid adaptation as their key to future success. Instead of growing significantly larger, they plan to maintain their current fund size.