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Adam Grosser
Chairman & Managing Partner, UP Partners
Speaker Biography:
Adam is Chairman & Managing Partner of UP Partners, an early-stage venture capital fund, and a Senior Advisor to the Canadian Pension Plan Advisory Board. He previously led Silver Lake Kraftwerk for 11 years, where he oversaw investments in Tesla, Solar City, and Quorum, among others. Earlier, Adam was a General Partner at Foundation Capital, named four times to the Forbes Midas List, and served as President of Excite@Home and co-founder/CEO of Catapult Entertainment. He also held leadership roles at Apple, Lucasfilm, and Sony.
Beyond investing, Adam is a lecturer at Stanford University, an Edmund Hillary Fellow, and a Senior Fellow at the American Leadership Forum. He holds BA, MS, and MBA degrees from Stanford, and is an avid pilot, sailor, and supporter of literacy initiatives with his wife.
Abstract:
Advances in mobility have always been tightly coupled with the growth of economies, the expansion of trade, the diffusion of knowledge, and the reshaping of global relations. Every major transportation breakthrough has generated profound positive effects on human progress. Yet, after the explosive innovations of the early 20th century, the past 50 years have been marked by relative stagnation.
That dynamic is now reversing. We are entering a new renaissance in mobility—driven by breakthroughs in electrification, autonomy, advanced aviation, and artificial intelligence. This talk will explore these fundamental areas of transformation through the lens of investment, examining how capital is shaping which technologies succeed. It will also address the critical role of geopolitics in determining where innovation flourishes, what nations deem essential, and how these choices will define the next era of global mobility.