Meera Clark

Meera Clark is a principal at Obvious Ventures, a venture-capital firm focused on bringing experience and focus to purposeful startups. The Obvious portfolio includes notable investments in Medium, Beyond Meat, Gusto, Fair, and Taika, among others.

On her morning routine.

I’m usually up around 5:30 AM — my booting up sequence is a two-fold reflection.

First, I reflect upon a point of gratitude for the past 24 hours. Then, I set my intention for the next 24. Always moving forward. 

I’m not a fan of the taste of coffee, so I’ll generally start my day with a caffeine pill — a bit psycho but I genuinely appreciate “crazy.” Then, I’ll either have an avocado or a Prolon Fast bar, which are both super yummy and somewhat satiate my insane AM cravings. 

I’m one of those people who works out every day.

My brain doesn’t function at peak capacity unless I have done some form of movement, so that’s an important staple in my routine. 

Like my morning reflection, my workout is also a two-part sequence.

The first involves cardio, which is either running or hitting my SoulCycle bike. The second involves walking around my block as many times as I can, all while I get my email inbox as close to zero as possible, before hitting the desk for work.

On the source of her ambition.

My competitive nature stems from the feeling of not really fitting in. 

I grew up in an immigrant household in a conservative Southern neighborhood, and so I felt this need to do more than everyone else in order to earn my keep.

I’ve always felt this internal momentum to get up to speed on everything so I can operate at a flow state versus being in constant catch-up mode.

However, it’s that same drive and ambition that can sometimes cause folks to burn out, especially in high-energy cities like NYC or SF. 

Having become increasingly aware of these over the past few years, something I’ve been intentional about is checking in with myself and understanding what sectors I want to compete in so that I don’t end up getting too overwhelmed. It’s all about picking your battles and conserving your energy so that you can sprint when you need to.

There’s no better adrenalin rush than performing at your peak. 

On designing incentives.

This varies from person to person. 

For me, it’s not my intentional structure, but rather, it’s what I intentionally omit. 

For example, I log into Instagram no more than 3 times a week. I’m not logged into Twitter on my phone, and I don’t have TikTok. This can also mean saying no to calls or hangouts that I don’t think are going to enrich my brain or my body. 

Over the past two years, I've had a pretty big mind shift where instead of opting into creating structure, it's more so opting out of saying, “Yes”.

On sprinting and resting.

Humans are athletes. 

The way many of us approach our professional lives relates heavily to the nature of sports (says the gal that wears maxi dresses to the office most days...go figure!). 

If you look at runners, there are either marathon runners or sprinters depending on the way their muscles are built. In my first year out of college on the trading floor, I was very fortunate to be propelled into a sprinting and rest mindset.

I learned very quickly that that works well for me.

In contrast, later moving into investment banking, a marathon-like motion, was much harder. As I left the world of bulge bracket banks for a “long-term home,” I sought a field aligned with my sprinter orientation -- and that’s how I landed in early-stage investing.

I’ve never looked back. It’s about figuring out what works for you and being super intentional about listening to your body.

On learning to say no.

For one, it’s about saying no as much as you can. 

It’s arguably one of the hardest parts about this job and life, particularly when you feel an increasing number of people pulling you from all sides. 

Saying no helps you create a bit more space in your schedule. 

The second element is getting up and getting out. For me, that means getting out of the house and wandering for about 15-30 minutes, either between meetings or at the end of the day to clear my head and just be with myself.

On struggling to wind down.

The thing I struggle with most is overstimulation. 

I’m a huge extrovert, so I get so excited by the people I surround myself with and the world around me. The greatest challenge, however, is winding down out of that feeling.  

I love the energy I get with my surroundings, but I find that it makes me race through my day rather than take in all that happens.

It's also realistically just not a sustainable way to go throughout my whole day — I have to go to bed at some point! I want to refine my wind-down routine and continue to iterate how I can go to bed with ease, versus racing through my day and rushing into the next.

On her evening routine.

Before going to bed, I have a glass of Beam Dream which has become a pretty meaningful part of my nighttime routine. 

Once I’m in bed, my phone is put away and I’m in my own bubble where no one can really contact me. 

I love to read a good, informative book for about 30 minutes to an hour before bed, which I’ve found to be really great for broadening my perspective and critical thinking. 

Finally, I’m drifting off to sleep between 9 and 10 pm every day.