This is it—the very first episode of We The Builders. Earlier this year, I sat down with Shahin Farshchi in LA. He is a General Partner at Lux Capital, a venture fund with $5B AUM. To kick us off, who better than the man who was investing in hard tech 18 years before it was cool:
Shahin has invested in companies manufacturing in space (Varda), building autonomous transportation systems (Zoox), providing robots as a service (Formic), automating industries (Covariant), using space to revolutionize the Earth observation industry (Planet), 3D printing rockets (Relativity Space) and many more.
The Jetsons Future I thought I would be living in 2025 is partly being built. We have a long way to go but this is exactly how we inspire the next generation. If someone from 1900 woke up and read this, they would call it science fiction. Thank you Shahin, for believing in and being a partner to these incredible companies and founders.
Shahin is an incredibly kind soul, helpful, accessible and a role model for younger aspiring venture capitalists. From what I have personally observed and heard from friends building companies, he will cheer you on and have incredible empathy for the fact that you had the courage to build. In many cases, more than capital, that is what you need most.
Hope you enjoy the conversation!
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Highlights & Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
02:13 Berkeley to Iran in teenage
05:01 Adapting to different education systems
09:05 Early transformative experiences
14:49 Mentors and role models
18:20 On breaking into research labs and flipping rejections
25:01 Story of getting into grad school, applying for funding, and early research
32:41 Going from research to venture capital
34:50 Commercializing his research and starting a company
38:04 Thoughts on ingredients of a good startup
45:11 Where do the best founders come from
50:34 Why PhDs are not equipped to commercialize
1:02 Breakthrough innovation timeline
1:05 Solving for shareholder demand
1:10:22 How to think about what problem to solve
1:14:10 State of the education system
Watch on YouTube here:
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