# Delian Asparouhov Bulgarian-born venture capitalist and founder; Partner at [[Founders Fund]] (Peter Thiel's VC firm) and President and Co-Founder of [[Varda Space Industries]]. A connector figure in the tech-right realignment of Silicon Valley, Asparouhov co-founded the [[Hill and Valley Forum]] and sits adjacent to the [[All-In Podcast]] circle as part of the broader [[PayPal Mafia]]–[[Founders Fund]] network around [[Peter Thiel]]. ## Background - Bulgarian immigrant; attended MIT (computer science) and dropped out. - Named a Thiel Fellow in 2013 via the [[Thiel Fellowship]] — accepted with a data-driven healthcare startup, Nightingale — placing him inside [[Peter Thiel]]'s orbit early. - Held growth and operating roles (including head of growth at Teespring) before moving into venture. - Was a Principal at [[Khosla Ventures]], where he worked closely with [[Keith Rabois]], before joining [[Founders Fund]]. ## Founders Fund A partner at [[Founders Fund]], where his investing concentrates on hard-tech, space, defense, and biotech. His role places him within the firm's pattern — most visible in [[Trae Stephens]] — of partners who simultaneously invest and build companies, blurring the line between investor and operator. ## Varda Space Industries Co-founded [[Varda Space Industries]] in January 2021 with Will Bruey (a former [[SpaceX]] engineer), serving as President. Varda manufactures pharmaceuticals and materials in microgravity and returns them to Earth via re-entry capsule; its **Winnebago-1** capsule returned successfully on February 21, 2024. Varda also positions Asparouhov inside the space/defense-tech buildout, not merely as a financier of it. ## Hill and Valley Forum Co-founded the [[Hill and Valley Forum]] alongside [[Jacob Helberg]] and Christian Garrett (137 Ventures). The Forum is a primary mechanism for fusing Silicon Valley with Washington on AI, defense, and China policy — and a key node connecting Asparouhov to the [[All-In Podcast]] hosts, who co-hosted the Forum's July 2025 "Winning the AI Race" summit in Washington (keynoted by [[Donald Trump]]). ## Politics Asparouhov is one of the more openly MAGA-aligned figures in venture: - Posted a "Make America Great Again" hat selfie in January 2020, well before the industry's later rightward shift, and has framed Trump support in tech as having moved from taboo to "consensus" ("Four years ago you had to issue an apology if you voted for him"). - A self-described "huge fan" of [[DOGE]] who has said he is "doing my best to help them." - Drew criticism for sharing a comic by the cartoonist known as StoneToss, who has been widely described as a neo-Nazi — an episode often cited in coverage of how far-right internet aesthetics have surfaced inside elite tech circles. He fits the stay-and-fight wing of the realignment (see [[California Tech Exodus Ecosystem]]): rather than leaving, he uses capital, companies, and convenings like the [[Hill and Valley Forum]] to reshape policy from inside the industry. ## Network - **[[Peter Thiel]]** — Thiel Fellowship patron and [[Founders Fund]] principal; the gravitational center of Asparouhov's career. - **[[Keith Rabois]]** — mentor-adjacent from [[Khosla Ventures]] days; fellow [[PayPal Mafia]]/Founders Fund-world figure. - **[[Jacob Helberg]]** — Hill and Valley Forum co-founder; Under Secretary of State. - **[[David Sacks]]** and the [[All-In Podcast]] hosts — overlapping defense/AI-policy and tech-right network. - **[[Trae Stephens]]** — fellow [[Founders Fund]] partner-operator in defense tech. ## See Also - [[Founders Fund]] - [[Varda Space Industries]] - [[Hill and Valley Forum]] - [[All-In Podcast]] - [[Peter Thiel]] - [[Thiel Fellowship]] - [[Defense Tech Ecosystem]] - [[Crypto-Political Machine]] - [[DOGE]]