He ran fishing boats at 13. Now he invests in deep tech with Abe Murray

At fifteen, Abe Murray was hiring and firing crew members, some of whom had pulled knives on him, to keep his family's fishing business alive. There was no adult coming to fix it. He was the adult. Decades later, he is a General Partner at AlleyCorp leading deep tech investing across aerospace, energy, manufacturing, and robotics, following fifteen years at Alphabet across Android, Google AI, and Verily. In this episode, Claire and Abe unpack the rule his father gave him as a teenager, a rule that happens to match exactly what neuroscience shows about regulation under threat. They talk about why there is no single fix for chaos, only the discipline of doing the next right thing. Abe explains how an introvert who says he hates networking built a network that spans a thousand people across the world, simply by building things he loved with people he liked. And in the rapid fire round, Abe gives his one word for leading under pressure: smile. Abe was also part of the research behind Claire's upcoming book, The Leadership Skill Nobody Taught You: Calm Under Fire in the Age of Disruption, and his perspective on pressure appears in the closing pages. Topics Covered Growing up in a family aquaculture and fishing business Stepping into an adult leadership role as a teenager during a financial crisis His father's rule for separating emotion from action The neuroscience of regulation under real threat Why there are no silver bullets, only lead bullets Rebuilding a network as an introvert engineer without traditional networking Authenticity and intention as the foundation of connection What You'll Learn Why separating emotion from action is a trainable skill, not a fixed trait Why authenticity, not extroversion, is what actually builds followership Why there is no single fix for leading through chaos, only the discipline of doing the next right thing How to reframe networking as curiosity instead of performance Why "no silver bullets, only lead bullets" outperforms waiting for the one right answer Timestamps [00:00:00] Opening: The teenager running a fishing business with no adult left to fix it [00:01:00] Introduction: Welcome to The NeuroLeadership Edge and today's guest, Abe Murray [00:02:00] Guest Introduction: Abe Murray, General Partner, AlleyCorp [00:03:00] The pressure moment: stepping up at fifteen when the family business needed him [00:05:00] What it felt like to be a teenager carrying adult financial stakes [00:08:00] His father's rule and the family history of building through hardship [00:10:00] The story that stuck: put other people first, get over yourself [00:13:00] What Abe wishes more leaders understood about leading through chaos [00:17:00] Why he calls himself an introvert who hates networking [00:21:00] Authenticity, intention, and the ambivert balance [00:24:00] Rapid fire questions with Abe Murray [00:27:00] Closing thoughts and where to find Abe Mentioned in This Episode Pressure and Performance Scorecard: https://clairehayek.com/pp-scorecard The Leadership Skill Nobody Taught You: Calm Under Fire in the Age of Disruption (Early Readers Club): https://clairehayek.com/book Abe Murray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abe-murray/ Connect with Abe Murray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abe-murray/ The Leadership Skill Nobody Taught You is coming September 9, 2026. Preorder here.Ready to train your brain for resilience and high performance? Join Claire's Mental Fitness Masterclass hereUse code: NLEdgePodcast for 50% OFF exclusive to my podcast listenersFor free resources, assessments, and everything else: https://clairehayek.com/book-resources(Pressure Archetype, PP Scorecard, Reset Scripts, and more all live here)Follow Claire Hayek on LinkedInRead Claire's newsletter on Substack hereSubscribe to The NeuroLeadership Edge Podcast for brain-based strategies to lead with clarity, courage, and impact. clairehayek.com/podcast The NeuroLeadership Edge Podcast is produced by Claire Hayek. All opinions are those of the host and guests. For more leadership resources, visit clairehayek.com