Mark Velik’s path into venture is unusually technical for the field—he grew up talking database structures and programming logic with his computer-programmer mother, and before VC he sharpened his skills at three investment banks and McKinsey, building a reputation as someone especially good at forecasting and, more recently, at mapping out detailed cash-burn plans and staged hiring for companies trying to stay financially strong through slow markets. He also has a habit of looking at software the way you’d look at plumbing—asking what quietly holds a messy industry together—and he pays close attention to what he learns only after investing, like how founders handle stress and big decisions once he’s actually working with them on boards at companies such as CarClarity, CorePlan, and Modii.