019 - Struck Gold with Adam Struck

The Kurty D Show

What we covered:

01:41 – Kurt welcomes to the show, Adam Struck and gives his background

04:50 – Adam shares his personal story about growing up in South Africa and immigrating the United States

09:04 – Adam talks about his background in law and how it helped him in business and gives him an edge in investing by helping his founders with legal advice

13:19 – Adam shares how he found the leverage to quit his job as an attorney at a prestigious law firm and striking out on his own to found Long Island Iced Tea Brands

16:47 – Adam talks about his journey as an early investor doing Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)

19:58 – A walkthrough on Struck Capital from how the firm started

28:36 – Adam shares more about Struck Capital, including portfolio highlights and how the platform has evolved from core VC offering to Struck Crypto and now a Venture Studio

38:41 – Adam talks about the challenges he has faced

42:21 – Adam shares about how his parents feel about his decisions and about what he’s currently doing

43:07 – Adam talks about his brother Greg being his best partner

49:22 – Rapid-fire general interest questions

Episode Sponsor:

Hunt Club

Tweetable Quotes:

“And I sort of took that entrepreneurial spirit and decided how could I take my learnings and my success, and really share that with as many individuals as possible, and I thought venture capital and backing young founders is an amazing way to do that.”

“That chip on my shoulder, and that adversity that I that I've gone through, it has really given me an edge actually, especially when it's seed-stage investing. And it really is about sweat equity. At the end of the day, who is willing to show up first, and leave last, that's the mindset.”

“I feel very lucky in a very sort of young age, to get some very robust legal and operational expertise. And I take those learnings and try and channel them, to helping the founders that we work with to be as successful as they can be when they're trying to get from zero to one.”

“So, my advice to anybody listening is if you're going to bet on yourself, do it when you're young. Because you're in a situation where you can, you can fail, you can take a few falls, and you can get back up.”

“It’s both a privilege and responsibility to be the first money in seed investor. I'm proud to be an ally with the Founders. I think it says a lot about sort of our next-gen mindset and our ability to spot massive companies way before they become in vogue.”

“Life is tough, things are hard. Just continue to persevere and bet on yourself. And you'll hopefully find what you're looking for.”

Links Mentioned:

Kurt’s Twitter

Kurt’s Instagram

Kurt’s LinkedIn

Adam’s LinkedIn

Struck Capital’s Website

Struck Capital’s LinkedIn