Richard Clarke
Strategic Advisor
What I bring to the table is leadership: decades of experience running large, high-performing organizations. I work to ensure impactful innovation gets into the right hands at the right speed, for the good of our country and the world.
Proudest Venture
Two grown adult kids who are awesome and still like to visit and hang out with their parents
First Gig
Delivering the daily paper by bike in Davenport, Iowa (even in below-zero temps)
Community Focus
Supporting adaptive athletes through Move United and volunteering at the Veterans Museum
Feel-Good Jam
“Hooked on a Feeling” by Björn Skifs and Blue Swede
Best Advice
Listen
After nearly four decades serving our country, I have a new mission: helping innovators build the technologies that keep it safe and strong. I first encountered the innovation ecosystem while serving as Commander of U.S. Special Operations, where I led a joint force of over 75,000 service members—including Army Rangers, Special Forces, Navy SEALs, Air Force Commandos, and Marine Raiders—with an annual operating budget of more than $13 billion. In that role, I was constantly searching for cutting-edge technologies to keep service members safe in high-risk, high-complexity situations. That search led me to venture firms like IVP, where extraordinary founders come to turn the best new ideas into lasting companies. What started as a tactical effort to support our forces became a new way to serve.
Now at IVP, I support bold founders and visionary teams. It’s exciting terrain, and I’m constantly learning from brilliant founders and emerging technologies. What I bring to the table is leadership: decades of experience running large, high-performing organizations. I work to ensure impactful innovation gets into the right hands at the right speed, for the good of our country and the world.
Venture is full of twists and transformations, but like the military, driven by purpose and potential. That’s what keeps me engaged.