Ripples; the impact we have
Remembering John Powers
We all tend to think about the impact we have on those closest to us; our loved ones — parents, children, our partners, and our close colleagues who we see and do important work with each day. But what about the smaller interactions we have across our career. How do we touch those people? How do we impact their lives and paths?
In July, the former CIO of Stanford University, John Powers passed away. John was a true pillar in the world of investing and venture capital. We only met in person a few times throughout my career, but each meeting came at an important fork in my path. I spoke with John when I left fund investing to go to Stanford’s entrepreneur community StartX. John had been a champion of StartX; working with its founder Cameron Teitelman and the President of Stanford University, at that time, John Hennessy. John Powers connected with the mission of supporting entrepreneurs and was proud of the many Stanford alumni whose companies have changed the world. Again, we met and discussed at length where I wanted to take my career after the invaluable experience I had gained in venture capital at StartX. He always led with questions about the contribution you wanted to make; where you could learn and grow and be surrounded by talented people. Those questions helped me decide to join Dakin in choosing to build Prime Movers Lab.
Many of my close friends worked for John over the years, at Robertson Stephens, at Offit Hall, and then Stanford Management Company. It often felt like I knew him better than I did by proxy. I am further out in that ring of ripples John had, but the lasting value of his counsel has affected me just as much. These are three of the things I learned from John:
Work with people who have worked with people you know and trust.
Shared history and connection, these things matter in business relationships, particularly in the business of investing. There is no substitute for references from people you already know and trust.
Take time
Take the time to meet new people and always be expanding your circle. John was often called upon to take a meeting with an alum, an entrepreneur, a new fund manager. He took those meetings with a generosity of spirit that is not often found in someone who gets so many requests on their time. Meeting new people wasn’t a burden, it was an opportunity. He was always learning from those interactions; able to be both a counselor and student to new information.
Stay in touch
John was one to send text messages to stay in touch. They weren’t transactional, he didn’t need something, there wasn’t an ask. It was just to see how you were doing, how things were going. This is how you build enduring authentic relationships.
He was so generous with his time, support and advice. I will never forget that. His passing has caused me to earnestly reflect on the ripple effect I want to have.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in seed-stage companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation and computing
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