The Generalist Why Being a Generalist VC Is a Competitive Advantage (Aydin Senkut, Founder & Managing Partner at Felicis Ventures)
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Dec 9, 2025 
Aydin Senkut, the founder and managing partner of Felicis Ventures, shares invaluable insights from his two-decade journey in venture capital. Growing up in Turkey, his entrepreneurial upbringing shaped his risk-taking perspective. He emphasizes the benefits of a generalist approach, advocating for broad portfolio diversification with 50-70 companies per fund. Aydin discusses Felicis's aggressive investments in AI, the importance of timing and market factors, and lessons learned from both successes and misses, like Airbnb. His unique strategies reveal a compelling vision for the future of technology.
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Generalist Versus Specialist Trade-Off
- Generalists start from the entire universe of opportunities and then narrow to best risk-reward deals.
- Specialists shrink the universe and risk being trapped if their niche falls out of favor.
Institutionalize Rapid Learning
- Make 'learning and adapting rapidly' a firm-level constitution to avoid stagnation after early success.
- Keep core strategy but change practices, sectors, and team as markets and opportunities evolve.
Hockey Stick Growth Trumps Timing Noise
- Venture is about finding hockey-stick revenue before the steep inflection, not about markets or stages.
- AI can produce far faster and steeper revenue curves than prior tech eras, justifying higher entry prices for winners.
