FirstMark Capital is a beast of a venture firm out of New York. I have become friendly with Rick Heitzmann over the years and he has always made time for me to ask questions and chat about the industry.
I wanted to hear his takes on the markets, SPAC’s, venture investing and New York and he dished them out.
You can listen to the podcast here on Apple or Spotify.
For more background on Rick and the conversation have a read below….
Guest: Rick Heitzmann
Profile: Founder and Managing Director at FirstMark Capital
Where to Find Him: LinkedIn, Twitter
Fun Fact: Rick was recently named to the 2020 Forbes’ Midas List as one of the world’s top venture capitalists.
What’s the Panic About:
If anyone can stay calm in the face of panic, it’s Rick. He founded his VC firm FirstMark Capital, which focuses on consumer technologies, during the 2008 recession. Twelve years later, I think it’s fair to say Rick is doing pretty well. He’s invested in a variety of industries, ranging from commerce to gaming to data services to media and sports. His incredible investments include big names like Pinterest, Airbnb, DraftKings and Discord. Rick’s a kind and generous guy who I can always count on to give thoughtful advice and insights. He’s even been kind enough to talk with me in the past about VC investing at Stocktoberfest East in 2018. So I was happy to have him on this episode of Panic to share all that sage wisdom with my listeners. In this episode, Rick and I talked about public and private markets, DraftKings’ success, his company FirstMark Capital, SPACs, the anti-portfolio, open source, being a dad, what sectors have surprised him, the future of gaming and healthcare and more. Enjoy!
The Takeaway:
Founders are great company to surround yourself with – being around such highly motivated people all the time encourages you to be a little more active and focused.
Favorite Quotes:
“Great people create great markets.”
“The public market is much more transactional.”
“DraftKings is going to be a leader in online gambling in the U.S.”
Food for Thought:
We talked a lot about DraftKings this episode. If you’re looking for a deeper dive into this leading company straight from the horse’s mouth, check out our episode of Panic with DraftKings Co-Founder And CEO Jason Robins.
PS – I am now doing two ‘Panic With Friends’ podcasts per week. Thanks for listening and make sure you subscribe over on Spotify or Apple.