Episode 29: Mark Skapinker

You may have heard of Mark Skapinker as the managing partner at Brightspark. But what you may not know is that Mark has had four separate careers and that there are through-lines in those careers that have followed him throughout his life. Listen in to hear Mark explain how he ended up where he is and why that’s important. You’ll learn about the importance of passion in building a career, how Mark made a decision that led to the “freemium” model, and what it means to be a good venture capitalist.

 Topics Discussed in This Episode

•  What Mark’s childhood looked like
• How Mark ended up in Canada
• The importance of passion in building a career
• The through-lines between Mark’s various careers
• Mark’s decision that led to the “freemium” model
• Why it’s important to “go big or go home”
• Becoming a good venture capitalist
• Patterns for success and failure in cultures and leadership teams that Mark has seen
• The success rates that Mark’s seen

 Related Links

 Mark Skapinker

Brightspark

 Quotes From the Show

 “For one reason or another, I always knew I was leaving South Africa.”

 “It’s no coincidence that the counterculture of the 60s and the Grateful Dead, and people like that grew up in Palo Alto and that Apple grew up in the same part of the world.”

 “The beauty of our industry is that when something succeeds, you just ignore all the stuff that fails and make-believe that that didn’t happen.”