Q&A with Adam Corey, Head of Operations

Q: From Operating to Investing to Operating—tell us about your journey to Apex.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to gain valuable insights from both the operating and investing side of companies. As an operator, I’ve held leadership roles in finance, legal, business operations, marketing, and business development at companies like SharesPost and Evite. As an investor, I’ve been able to work with the world’s best companies at 500 Startups and Queensbridge. Most recently, I got to combine both the investing and operating side as a co-founder of Village Global, the venture firm backed by Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, and other visionary entrepreneurs. Serving as Village’s Operating Partner allowed me not only to invest but also treat Village like my own startup—running all operations and taking the firm from an idea to an institution.

My time at Village Global was a tremendous experience—one of the things that I learned was that I miss the pure thrill of operations. On top of that, having helped hundreds of startups grow from their inception stages, I knew something was special when I started working with Apex. To me, Apex is the best of all worlds, allowing me to leverage my decades of experience and work with a fantastic team. I’m excited to help build a world-class company as I join as head of operations.

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Q: What excites you the most about working at a company like Apex?

During my time on the “dark side” as a VC, most companies were naturally software focused—however the hardware companies that we invested in always drew me in the most. With my background in operations, strategy, finance, and accounting, being able to touch real atoms, and not just bits, I get to embark on a new world of challenges and opportunities. Apex’s team brings decades of aerospace experience to the company, and I believe we are well positioned to blend a startup mentality with the technological expertise to take on the massively growing satellite bus market in a new way.

Q: Why are you excited about space?

We don’t yet know of the true potential of space, which could be anything or everything from manufacturing to communication and beyond. The unknown opportunities and outcomes, just like the unknowns of working at a startup, are what excite me.

Q: You are somewhat new here at Apex. What has surprised you the most so far?

I have a front row seat to witness the progress of a satellite bus build. Watching many disparate pieces come together to create a finished product that will fly in orbit is rare and remarkable… and we get to see that every day here at Apex!

Each business development conversation ends with the other party telling us effectively “we need exactly what Apex is building.” The Apex team knows we must turn this interest into sales and orbiting buses or the comments are for naught, but I can’t recall an early product resonating with a customer base so well. If we do what we say we’re going to do, the customer feedback reinforces that we are tracking to build a company that is mentioned in the same class as SpaceX, Tesla, Apple, and others.

Q: Tell us a bit about what you do in your free time.

When not showering affection, treats, and walks, on our adopted pit bull, Poutine, I can be found watching and rooting for “my” Dodgers or attending comedy or music shows at Largo or elsewhere. If it’s a weekend, you’ll find me on one of L.A.’s many municipal golf courses. I might not be good, but I get out there consistently!

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