Aydin Senkut, Founder and Managing Partner at Felicis Ventures
“In this rapidly changing world, the biggest risk is being the last to adapt.”
We were excited to welcome Aydin Senkut (Founder and Managing Partner at Felicis Ventures) to Icons a few days ago. Under his leadership, Felicis has backed over 50 unicorns to date making early investments in industry-defining companies like Shopify, Adyen, Canva, Notion, Mercor, and n8n. It’s no surprise Aydin has been named to the Forbes Midas List for twelve consecutive years.
A few insights from our conversation:
Whether you are building a company or investing, the only way you’ll hire great people or invest in great companies is to have a strong community and a reputation. You might get the right answer from AI, but decisions, partnerships, and capital still move through people and trust.
Over the next decade, many of us will effectively become managers of both people and AI agents. Those who learn early how to work with and orchestrate both will have a significant advantage.
Founders often struggle hiring the right people not because the hire wasn’t smart or accomplished. A less accomplished candidate with huge motivation beats the one with a strong resume but low motivation. And even brilliant candidates can struggle if the working style, values, or pace of learning are misaligned.
We are grateful to Aydin for the time and insights he shared with our community!
Thanks to Silkroad Innovation Hub and CMT Digital for supporting the event.