From Rowing to Venture Capital: Lessons in Teamwork and Growth | Mark Flickinger, Ep 04
Episode Summary
Mark Flickinger, partner at BIP Ventures, discusses his journey from mechanical engineering and competitive rowing to venture capital. He explains BIP's platform-heavy approach to supporting portfolio companies, the firm's focus on high-net-worth investors, and strategies for navigating the current venture market. Flickinger emphasizes the importance of board governance, team-based competitive experience, and building sustainable businesses during economic downturns.
Pull Quotes
“We hate losing. One of the things that we always try to do is if we make an investment, it goes back to that responsibility we have when someone entrusts their money with us. We're going to do everything we can to at least get that money back.”
On what team sports teach about collaboration
“When a rowing boat rows by, particularly for the untrained eye but even for the trained eye, you can't figure out who the superstar is. It's an eight-person boat with a coxswain in the back and you don't know which one's the best rower that's moving in the boat. But collectively they all have to do the exact same thing at the exact same time in order for that boat to go as fast as it possibly can.”
“I wouldn't say that now is a bad time to start a business. I think it's different though, and I think it requires someone to measure at least twice, if not three or four times, about what value am I going to bring to the market, what problem am I going to solve, have I done enough research with the customers to know that when I come out I've got a good chance of having product-market fit.”
On advising portfolio companies during market downturns
“If you have a solution to a known problem that can't be solved by the market today, that doesn't change when the macroeconomic trends go up or they go down. I think you have to pivot and evolve and be gritty and figure out a way to get through this cycle.”
“Look at building a board as an opportunity to help your business go faster and to help you protect yourself from what you don't know, which can be really scary frankly.”
Transcript
Hi welcome to Tales From The Sky Lounge where we talk about business consulting and venture investing. We get out there in the world and talk to people who are making it happen in the tech world and we find those people who have interesting stories to tell and are making a big impact on the venture community. So today in the Sky Lounge we have Mark Flickinger with BIP Ventures. Mark, welcome to the Sky Lounge.
Hey thanks for having me. I'm excited to be in the skylines with you and look forward to today's chat.
Excellent. Well Mark, why don't you tell us a little bit about your background? How did you get to your current spot in life at BIP Ventures?
Yeah, be happy to. Not that it was a direct path. I think any good background sort of has its own bounces back and forth. I always gravitated towards technical things. I was a mechanical engineer in undergrad and ended up rowing for a number of years after school and really found myself working on things that were new. So I worked in Church and Dwight, which is Arm and Hammer for those who are wondering. I worked in research and development there on a new toothpaste that they did. I worked in a biotech company that brought cancer and autoimmune disease drugs to the market. So I always found myself working on whether it was a new company, an entrepreneurial adventure, or just a new part inside of a company. It was kind of where I gravitated towards.
I went to business school in North Carolina and then was fortunate enough to work at a startup here in Atlanta when I moved down here. That company was a Series A company that grew and was successful and had a successful exit. And so about eight years ago after that company exited, I was fortunate enough to land at BIP Ventures right at a critical time for the firm where we were looking to grow and scale our enterprise. So just as much as we're investing in companies and helping them grow and scale, my role was sort of this dual role of taking my operational background and love of process and doing it to not only build and scale our own organization to what it is today but also work with our portfolio companies and helping them grow and scale. So I feel very fortunate to be here. It's been a lot of fun. It's a challenge every day and I'm one of the people that can say I really genuinely enjoy my job, which is a great place to be.
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