Chasing Demand in Early-Stage Venture at Felicis – Aydin Senkut (EP.526)
Aydin Senkut, founder of Felicis, joins Ted Seides to discuss the evolution of early-stage venture capital over the firm's 20-year history. Senkut breaks down his strategy of chasing demand rather than hype, Felicis's pivot toward capital-intensive sectors like robotics and physical AI, and how the firm engineers exits and scales internal decision-making to generate outsized venture returns.
- Felicis targets companies capable of delivering at least 100x top-line growth from entry, a threshold required to outpace public equity returns before broad market discovery. Read →
- Felicis is moving capital away from asset-light software toward physical AI and robotics after 20 years of early-stage investing. Read →
- Felicis dedicates 10% to 20% of its operational time directly to engineering exits rather than leaving liquidity to passive market timing. Read →
- Felicis generated its largest historic returns by backing infrastructure layers, including Shopify for digital storefronts, Adyen for global payments, and Credit Karma for consumer credit data. Read →
- Felicis guarantees founders that the firm will never vote against them, surrendering traditional governance leverage to eliminate concealment during operational crises. Read →