A Conversation with Nico Enriquez, Principal at Future Ventures
Mariana:
Nico, it’s nice to see you again. Let’s start with how you got to where you are at Future Ventures. You were a founder for 8+ years – Forbes 30 under 30 I recall – then you did a stint with the government, went to Stanford, and now you’re a Principal at Future Ventures — walk me through the places you’ve been and how those experiences informed where you are now as a VC.
Nico:
I’ve had definitely a winding path. I studied synthetic neurobiology in college and was basically on my way to do a PhD. I had mentors lined up, funding as an undergrad to have my own lab space, and a big grant—and I realized I really didn’t want to do that.
So I ended up starting an alcohol company with my best friend. That company ran for eight years; we scaled it to around $10 million cumulative sales, sold in Walmart and Whole Foods across 14 states, and then had a crash landing. We were growing nicely, and then COVID hit, the category flooded, inflation came, and we’d raised at a high valuation without hitting growth targets—so we had to sell for parts.
At the end of that, after running the company for eight years, I felt disillusioned—like I was building a product I didn’t believe in anymore. I didn’t know if I was capable of running things or if my team should trust me. I realized that if I were to do anything next, it had to be something I believed in—a purpose-driven effort that made the world better.
So I started looking into the climate space, studying the sectors, identifying which problems fascinated me and seemed imminently solvable at scale. I became drawn to the energy system—it was what I was most curious about. I noticed that all the innovative companies in energy or climate had been funded by ARPA-E (the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy).
I reached out to the ARPA-E team, having researched their portfolio, and said: I think I can help you think through commercialization—how these companies can scale and structure themselves. I even offered to work for free, since my background was in food and beverage and neuroscience—not energy. They said they couldn’t officially have someone work for free for the government, but they gave me a problem they were trying to solve and told me to do with it what I would.
I developed a proposal and program around that problem, which eventually led to a fellowship role at ARPA-E on the Tech-to-Market team. I worked under the director of commercialization, John Glass. I loved that job—lived in DC, worked with incredibly smart people—and it really gave me faith in the potential of government-led innovation.
One day I’d talk with someone who helped pioneer solar in Asia; the next, with someone who ran Princeton’s plasma fusion lab; then with a mining executive, or an energy researcher. It was incredible exposure, and I realized what energized me most was being able to apply curiosity to important problems.
I think that’s key in VC generally: if you stay curious, you avoid getting trapped in your biases and missing out on the outlier company that overcomes all the hurdles to success. . Take direct air capture or hydrogen: I’m skeptical about their economics and practicality at scale, but I try to stay curious because the scale of the problem is massive.
Otherwise, you risk missing the next SpaceX—where everyone says it’ll never work, but someone like my boss, Steve Jurvetson, bets on it and ends up building a multi-trillion-dollar company.
After ARPA-E, I moved to Stanford as the administration changed. While there, I met Steve and Maryanna—the founding partners of Future Ventures. They’d been looking to hire but hadn’t found the right person, and I was lucky enough to be that person at the time.
I approached it much like I had at ARPA-E: applying founder skills to understand new categories deeply—take things apart, see how systems work, find the leverage points for improvement. Future Ventures is a deep tech VC, so we invest in AI, ag, energy storage, space, biotech, and more. That same curiosity I developed after my first company ended became my core driver again.
If I keep that momentum—staying curious—I’ll not only be better at this job but also a better human. Curiosity makes you more compassionate: you’re gentler on yourself when you make mistakes, and you’re more open to seeing others’ humanity—whether it’s a struggling founder or someone on the street.
Mariana:
That’s new—I’ve never heard anyone describe developing VC skills as a way to become a better human overall. I love that.
Nico:
Yeah, I think of it as a kind of meditation. You choose how you learn, and curiosity is the most powerful, human quality. This job is about that.
Mariana:
Let’s talk a bit about Future Ventures team. You met the founders, Steve and Maryanna about a year ago, how did that happen?
Nico:
They were looking to hire and wanted someone who could complement their skills. Steve graduated top of his class from Stanford, finished in three years, did both an MBA and a master’s, worked on chips at Intel, then became a founding partner at DFJ where he led investments in SpaceX and Tesla—arguably two of the best deep tech investments ever.
Maryanna had come from Khosla Ventures, been a partner at Airbus Ventures, and worked at Lux Research. She’d dropped out of a robotics PhD at Carnegie Mellon—so both are incredibly smart, but with different strengths.
They wanted someone complementary—ideally an ex-founder who’d been through the pain of running a company, someone with scars. I know what it’s like to have completed several fundraises on one or two month’s runway and a whole team depending on you.
They also wanted someone deeply curious who could pick apart many different fields. Part of what drew me to them was a podcast Steve did with Tim Ferriss. He said, “We’ve lost our childlike wonder in the world, and I want to bring that back.” That resonated strongly with me—it’s exactly why I loved ARPA-E and why I think venture is such a powerful vehicle.
After several rounds of interviews, they gave me six completely different companies—one doing lab-grown fish, one a foundation model company, one focused on longevity—and told me to imagine I was seeing them at seed stage: Which would you choose and why? Rank them and explain your criteria.
It was such a fascinating challenge. I answered it bygoing back to fundamentals, asking what makes each company interesting or risky, and building a rubric:
- Does it solve a meaningful problem?
- Is the technology differentiated and defensible?
- Can it build long-term margins and truly help the world?
That framework aligned with Future Ventures’ ethos—investing in world-changing technologies with durable moats. I wasn’t right on every pick (I was overly bullish on humanoid robots at the time!), but they appreciated the curiosity and structured thinking. I joined about a year and a half ago, and I’m still learning every day.
Mariana:
I’d love to hear more about how your curiosity translates to team-level work at Future Ventures. When you evaluate opportunities—say, recent investments—how do you find and decide which ones to pursue?
Nico:
Our process is fast and non-bureaucratic. Steve and Maryannaa left DFJ to build a smaller firm that would make it easier to quickly make non-consensus bets. Larger firms often slow down because they need to satisfy many stakeholders, which limits risk-taking.
Our investment committee is just the three of us. We look for two core things:
- A completely novel solution to an existential problem.
- A moat—technology so differentiated that it can dominate the space long enough to justify the risk of early unknowns.
If a company clears those filters, we dig into the weak points: does the technology truly scale? Are there adoption barriers? Does the team attract top-tier talent? If great people are joining early, it’s a strong signal.
Mariana:
You mean in terms of leadership or the technology itself?
Nico:
Both. Tech alone isn’t enough. You need a founder who will run through walls for the mission. Take Andrey at GreenLight Biosciences—he’s spent 18 years building a company to replace pesticides with RNA after his son had a seizure from eating a strawberry. He’ll do anything to achieve that.
Actually, this week I spoke with a partner from SOSV who said, “We know within a week which companies will survive.” You can just tell whether the founder truly wants it. That’s especially true at the pre-seed and seed stages.
Mariana:
Totally agree. We’ve both been there—you and your team are only as strong as your own motivation. So, what does supporting your portfolio companies look like after the investment? What’s your role on that side?
Nico:
That’s probably my favorite part of the job—helping founders avoid some of the scars I earned as an entrepreneur. The biggest ways we help:
- Fundraising: Helping companies connect early with future investors, building trust before they need capital.
- Candid feedback: Sometimes you have to be the one to say, “Cut burn, extend runway.” Having lived through layoffs myself, I know those are brutal but essential decisions. If you don’t make hard calls early, you’re done later. You often need an outside voice to help you see the hard call needs to be made.
- Energy and realism: Be supportive but also a truth-teller—recognizing they know their company best, but you owe them honest feedback.
We also help with introductions—government, partners, talent. For example, I helped A portfolio company connect with key senators, even flying out with the founder to meet them. For another portfolio company, I helped them access the Office of Strategic Capital for non-dilutive funding tied to national security. I’ve also introduced executives for COO roles in others.
Mariana:
So having a broad, cross-sector network—not just in VC—is crucial.
Nico:
Exactly. Curiosity fuels that. If you’re genuinely curious about people, not just transactional, those relationships compound. Five or ten years later, that random scientist you chatted with might be the key to helping a portfolio company. Authentic curiosity builds lasting networks.
Mariana:
Ok, Zooming out—what sectors or technologies are you most bullish on for the next five to ten years?
Nico:
Geothermal energy in the short term, for sure. I even happen to be wearing a shirt from one of our investments, Hephae. I did a techno-economic analysis of geothermal and found that higher-temperature wells drastically lower costs. Hephae develops drilling tech that makes that possible. The U.S. already has the workforce and supply chain from oil and gas—we’re the best in the world at putting holes in the ground.
Given the explosion in data-center demand and electrification, geothermal is uniquely positioned: easier regulatory path than nuclear, proven scalability, and cost curves that improve ~13% with every doubling of energy output. Within five years, geothermal could beat natural gas on cost—using existing infrastructure.
Beyond that, I think robotics will grow fast, though many segments are over-hyped right now—especially humanoids. There’s a long road to safety, reliability, and serviceability. But companies like Robust AI, one of ours, are tackling it right—focusing on narrow, high-value applications like warehouse navigation, where safety and efficiency are everything.
Mariana:
That’s fascinating. But you’re right—people often underestimate the new complexities that come with new tech.
Okay, last question—something lighter. What’s a random habit or personal ritual few people know about you?
Nico:
Volleyball doesn’t count, right?
Honestly, my wife and I treat nature as our church. We’re not religious, but being outdoors—walking, surfing, playing volleyball—gives me mental space. That connection to nature grounds me, keeps me happy, and helps me think.
I learned during COVID that having a “grounding temple” keeps you connected to something bigger—energy, purpose, balance. I even ask entrepreneurs, “What do you do to find peace in the storm?” Because if they don’t have an answer, they probably won’t last long in this job.
Founders need recovery systems—sleep, fitness, calm. Otherwise, they break. That’s something I learned the hard way as a CEO.
Mariana:
I love that you look for that same self-awareness in others. It’s different for everyone, but just knowing how they ground themselves says a lot. Thank you for your time Nico!