John Melas-Kyriazi’s career has been defined by an evolution from researcher to investor to founder. Growing up in Brookline, near Boston, he was a tinkerer from a young age, building guitar pedals and circuit boards in his basement. This curiosity led him to study engineering at Stanford, where he initially pursued a Ph.D. before realizing he was more drawn to the fast-paced world of startups.

His first exposure to the startup ecosystem came through StartX, Stanford’s startup accelerator, where he worked closely with founders and VCs. This experience sparked an interest in venture capital, eventually leading him to Spark Capital, a top-tier VC firm where he spent six years investing in high-growth startups. While he loved the intellectual rigor of VC—analyzing industries, meeting visionary founders, and making investment decisions—he increasingly felt the urge to build something himself. During his time at Spark, John noticed a major inefficiency: venture firms, despite investing in cutting-edge technology, were still operating on outdated systems like spreadsheets and email chains for managing portfolio data. This realization led him toco-found Standard Metrics, a software platform that automates financial reporting and data management for investors and startups. Initially incubated within 8VC, the company was originally called "Quaestor"before rebranding. John discusses the challenges of finding product-market fit in the early days. Rather than building just another analytics tool for VCs, Standard Metrics focused on a networked approach—creating a system where both startups and investors could collaborate on financial data,reducing reporting friction. This decision was initially met with skepticism,as it required adoption on both sides of the ecosystem. However, over time, as more firms and startups joined, the network effect took hold, making it easier for new users to onboard. Fundraising for Standard Metrics was strategic. John emphasizes the importance of finding investors who truly care about your mission, rather than just capital providers. He also shares key lessons from his time as a VC, such as recognizing when an investor is genuinely interested versus when they are just exploring for future rounds. On leadership, John reflects on how his role has evolved as the company scaled. He highlights the importance of hiring intense,customer-focused early employees who thrive in uncertainty. As the company grew, he had to transition from hands-on execution to running a leadership team, learning to balance visionary thinking with operational discipline. Looking ahead, John believes venture capital is on the verge of transformation. He sees AI playing a major role in automating fund operations, improving decision-making, and reducing inefficiencies in deal execution. Standard Metrics is positioning itself to be the default financial infrastructure for venture firms, offering global benchmarking tools and deeper data insights to help investors make better decisions. His advice to founders? Build something you deeply care about. Startups are hard, and the only thing that keeps you going through tough times is genuine passion for the problem. Also, never stop refining product-market fit—what works today may not work tomorrow, and staying ahead requires constant iteration. This episode is a must-listen for those building in fintech, venture capital, and enterprise SaaS.