Finding Genius: Rick Heitzmann, FirstMark Capital

KM: You started FirstMark Capital right before the last recession and found startup opportunities through that uncertainty. Can you talk about your process of seeing that opportunity at the time and your process of launching a venture fund? I started in Investment Banking out of college and went into Distressed M&A and investing. In distressed investing, in general, you are fighting over a shrinking pie. In distressed situations often the value of the company is shrinking and you’re fighting for your portion of that shrinking pie. It is optimistic about the future. At the same time, the internet was emerging and I wanted to be part of the disruptors and growth story instead of being a part of the disrupted, shrinking industries. I joined a venture capital fund for a short time and my main takeaway was that the internet was an incredibly disruptive force that would create tremendous opportunities that would last through my career. I graduated from business school, helped found a company

KM: You started FirstMark Capital right before the last recession and found startup opportunities through that uncertainty. Can you talk about your process of seeing that opportunity at the time and your process of launching a venture fund? I started in Investment Banking out of college and went into Distressed M&A and investing. In distressed investing, in general, you are fighting over a shrinking pie. In distressed situations often the value of the company is shrinking and you’re fighting for your portion of that shrinking pie. It is optimistic about the future. At the same time, the intern