Illai Gescheit

Growing up I was sure I was going to be a professional basketball player, however, my curiosity about science and technology led me to live with the constant tension between those two passions. I trained 7 days a week but also pursued the highest level of math and physics my school offered. Those tensions built the ability to be resilient but also to understand that life is about tradeoffs and a constant negotiation between my own passions.

I always did things not in the expected way. I started working in a medtech startup 2 years before starting my mechanical engineering degree, then when I graduated, I went to build a software startup which had nothing to do with what I studied.

I ended up building 4 startups and building the venturing arms of two large energy companies bp and Siemens Energy. I am led by curiosity to solve big problems using technology. What I also developed are my own personal values and leadership principles led by a long-term view on adding value first to others and developing deep relationships. It led me to mentor and advise over 400 startup founders and CEOs and develop the love of working with founders. Every conversation with a founder I work with I learn and grow myself. And that notion of giving really shaped my career as a founder, investor and advisor to startups.