"When founder Jeff Cardenas took his first meeting with venture capitalist Adam Zeplain in 2023 he was expecting to answer questions about his robotics company's revenue, margins, and market share. But he talked openly, then provided Zeplain a list of everyone close to him-his wife, his coworkers, his childhood best friends. Zeplain called them all. The deal got done at a $250 million post-money valuation, and as of February, Apptronik is valued at more than $5 billion."
"Zeplain says he can't always predict which businesses succeed, but he's gotten quite good at understanding which people will succeed. 'This is not one-size-fits-all,' said Zeplain. 'Sure, there are certain tenets you can repeat and reuse. But this is a tailored approach to who someone is.'"
"Zeplain-whose investments include CrowdStrike, Reddit, Ring, Capella Space, and Anduril-gets to know founders in a way that's systematic and personalized. It's very much worth considering in an environment where the venture dollars are many, but clarity is scarce."
Adam Zeplain, cofounder and managing partner of Austin-based Mark VC, employs an unconventional venture capital approach centered on deeply understanding founders as people rather than evaluating only business fundamentals. His process begins with personal questions about founders' backgrounds and relationships, extending to interviews with people close to them—family, colleagues, and friends. This psychological methodology proved successful with founder Jeff Cardenas of humanoid robotics startup Apptronik, leading to a $250 million post-money valuation investment that later grew to over $5 billion. Zeplain emphasizes that while certain investment principles are repeatable, his approach remains tailored to each individual founder's character and circumstances. His investment portfolio includes notable companies like CrowdStrike, Reddit, Ring, Capella Space, and Anduril.
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