I've known Mark for several years now, first meeting him when he was still in the process of raising his first fund. What struck me then, and still does today, is how Mark has never lost his craft of operating as a forward deployed engineer—deeply close to the problem, clear-eyed about the people building the solutions, and relentlessly iterating on his own craft.

When Mark told me he was raising Fund II, I knew we needed to capture more than just the headline. This is the story of what it took—the real story—to go from a first-time $10M fund to a $45M Fund II in a tough market.

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Volume #33 TL;DR:

Questions that were answered:

Forward Deployed, the early-stage venture firm founded by Mark Scianna, has announced a $45 million Fund II. The second fund expands on the firm’s initial $10 million Fund I (2022 vintage) and will continue Forward Deployed’s focus on backing mission-critical founders in defense, energy, industrials and applied AI.

The fund is supported by a network of over 150 operators and engineers, including a deep bench of Palantir alumni, as well as repeat commitments from institutional backers such as Bain Capital Ventures.

Benedikt: Mark, when did you start Forward Deployed?

Mark: Middle of 2022. I had been at Palantir for 11 years before that, starting on a software team in Palo Alto, working on products for the Department of Defense. I spent time forward deployed in Kandahar with our first Army customer. That experience of solving problems on-site shaped how I think about venture—you go where the problem is. Forward Deployed is built around that same principle.

Benedikt: And Fund I was a $10M fund, correct?

Mark: That's right. We made our first investment in 2022.

Benedikt: What industries are you focused on?

Mark: Defense, energy, industrials, and applied AI. But what we’re really focused on is talent networks—groups of people who move fast, iterate quickly, and have that culture of winning. You’ll see us investing in founders who are tackling hard problems in these spaces, but the common thread is their ability to execute.

Benedikt: Now that you achieved this milestone, I want to spend some time looking back with you to get some insights into your inner world. I met you during the fundraising process for your Fund I. How did it feel to be in the middle of that process?

Mark: It was hard. That first $5M took almost two years. I was raising a little, deploying a little, over and over again. The market was tough, banks were going out of business, and it felt like the whole venture market was frozen. But we eventually found our tribe—the people who understood what we were doing. Once that clicked, the last $5M closed in a couple of weeks.

Benedikt: Why did you decide to start Forward Deployed in the first place?

Mark: I loved my work at Palantir. I was there for 11 years. I started as an engineer working on our first product for the Department of Defense. When the Army was ready to deploy it in Kandahar, I volunteered to go. I had spent six months pouring my life into that product, and the idea of just throwing it over the fence to someone else didn’t even cross my mind. That experience of going where the problem was shaped everything I do.

Palantir believes deeply in the idea that engineers should be as close to the problem they are trying to solve as possible—whether that's Kandahar, London, or DC. That gives individuals a sense of agency and ownership. You’re there, you’re solving problems in real-time, and you’re empowered to build new products on site. That experience also accidentally created what I think is the world’s best founder factory. You’re embedding engineers inside some of the biggest institutions, seeing critical workflows firsthand, and putting in the reps to build empathy and iterate quickly.

I loved that environment. And honestly, I could have stayed at Palantir and been really happy. But I started angel investing on the side. My first investment was actually in Palantir itself. I walked into the CFO’s office during a fundraising round and asked to invest. They ended up letting me write a check. That experience opened my eyes to the power of insider knowledge and relationsips in private markets.

As I started angel investing more broadly, I loved working with founders in the early, chaotic days. But I couldn’t drop everything and get on a plane to help them. I had a day job. And so my investing was opportunistic—if I had the time and cash and happened to be in the right city. I realized if I wanted to do this well, I needed to be focused and available.

When I left Palantir and started Forward Deployed, I immediately put that into action. I went with my friend James Boyd to Travis Air Force Base for a pitch competition, helped him recruit a founding engineer, and supported him on the ground. That’s what I couldn’t do part-time—that’s what I love to do.

Looking back, all the teams I was part of at Palantir that succeeded were small, scrappy, and focused. Helping small teams win—that’s what I’ve always done. And I wanted to keep doing it.

Benedikt: Now that you’ve raised a $45M Fund II, what would you tell your past self when you were contemplating leaving your career?

Mark: You have no idea how hard this is going to be. But that’s okay. I tend to dig in harder when things get tough. I’d tell myself to lean into the hard parts, to be patient, and to keep betting on people.

Palantir will always be part of who I am. Honestly, I would have been happy staying there too. It was a great place, and I loved the people. But I had this growing sense that my next chapter was about helping others achieve that kind of success. I knew we had learned so much at Palantir—through both the wins and the mistakes—and I wanted to help the next generation of founders avoid some of those early pitfalls.

What I’ve learned is that as an investor, there’s not that much you can do to help—but when opportunities to help do show up, you need to take them. I wanted to build a fund where I could be present, available, and in the trenches with these founders.

Benedikt: You named your firm Forward Deployed, reflecting your Palantir experience. How do you apply that idea to being an investor?

Mark: I still think of myself as an engineer. My whole career has been about going to where the problems are. At Palantir, that meant literally deploying to Kandahar. Now it means being present for founders—getting on a plane if I need to, helping them close a candidate, or walking the halls with them to talk through a customer pitch. I want to be where the work is happening.

When I started Forward Deployed, I took the same approach. I didn’t want to be a check-writing tourist. I wanted to help small teams win. Whether it’s going to a pitch competition at Travis Air Force Base with a founder or helping them close a key engineer, I want to show up.

Benedikt: And does that apply to your LPs too?

Mark: Absolutely. I try to be forward deployed to my LPs as well. I keep them in the loop, share what I'm learning, and ask for their input. I want them to feel like they're in the trenches with me, not just wiring a check and waiting for a quarterly report. Many of them are former operators—they want to build alongside me.

Benedikt: Your fund size is your business model. So, $10M Fund I, $45M Fund II, why these sizes?

Mark: I’m optimizing for meaningful ownership and real work with founders. With Fund I, I learned how big a check we needed to win meaningful investor rights. By the time Fund I hit $10 million, our check sizes were bigger, and I was confident we could win larger allocations.

For Fund II, I set a minimum target of $25 million, knowing it was a tough market. I communicated that number strategically—big enough to have impact, small enough to stay scrappy—and $50M was the upper bound of what I wanted to manage. But as we started raising, the momentum built quickly. We ended up raising $25M in 2 weeks, because there was real excitement from our existing LPs and new investors.

These fund sizes let us stay close to the work. I’m not building a platform with layers of staff. I still want to be on the front lines with founders. At $45 million, we can be a significant check in early rounds, win the ownership we want, and still be hands-on.

Benedikt: How did you build your LP base? You mentioned that “you brought the band back together” - sounds like you have an LP-base that is fully bought in.

Mark: Totally. My LP base is largely operators and engineers from Palantir—about 150 of them now. These are people who lived the same problems I did. They’re not just writing checks; they know the terrain. That group has really been the heart of what we’re building.

Bain Capital Ventures backing Fund I was a huge moment. That changed everything. Until then, I was raising from friends and operators who knew me personally, but Bain gave us external validation. For investors who didn’t know me directly, that was a meaningful signal.

And then for Fund II, AngelList Systematic Fund of Funds came in early. That was pretty cool because it wasn’t outbound at all—it was based on our performance data. They saw that Fund I was in the top 5% on their platform and proactively reached out. So our first check into Fund II was data-driven, which felt fitting.

Benedikt: Was this community of operators something you intentionally built, or did it happen organically?

Mark: A bit of both. Early on, it was just the people I knew from Palantir and the startup world. But over time, I realized I didn’t want passive capital. I wanted people who would help founders win—people who could answer a technical question, help close a candidate, or make an intro. I tell people: when I think about my team, I think about our LP base. They’re in this with me.

Benedikt: And your LPs from Fund I—how important were they for Fund II?

Mark: Critical. I started with them first for Fund II. I didn’t go wide initially. I wanted to bring the band back together. They backed me when nobody else did, and I wanted them to be part of the next chapter. Honestly, they’re my favorite part of this job. I get texts from LPs all the time saying “how can I help?” or “send me the next one.” That keeps me going.

Benedikt: Fundraising is all about momentum. How did you generate and sustain it?

Mark: It started with trust and clear communication. I sent regular LP updates where the full content was in the email body—no links, no logins, no friction. I always thought about what I would want to read if I were an LP on the subway with no internet connection. You get the full picture without clicking anywhere.

Those updates weren’t just performance stats. They were honest reflections—what’s working, what’s hard, what’s next. People could tell we were making progress and learning in real-time.

And then there were the one-on-one conversations. I texted and called a lot of our LPs regularly. It wasn’t formal—it was just staying close to the people who backed me. I bounced ideas off them, gave them sneak peeks of what was coming, and asked for their input. They felt like they were on the inside, part of the journey.

Benedikt: What about the performance of Fund I—did that play a role?

Mark: Definitely. Fund I had some early DPI—Oklo went public and has now effectively returned over half the fund for LPs who held the stock. There's no better LP update than a notice of distribution! We also ranked in the top 5% of funds on AngelList, which triggered inbound interest from their fund-of-funds. Our very first check into Fund II came from them, based purely on our performance data. They saw our markups over baseline and reached out. Those early wins made it easier to tell the story.

Benedikt: How did you keep Fund I LPs engaged while deploying Fund I?

Mark: Same approach—consistent updates and lots of personal touch points. I made sure they never felt like they were just waiting for a quarterly report. I’d call and text LPs to bounce ideas off them. Some of them helped source deals or gave feedback on our strategy. They were part of the work.

Benedikt: And how did you manage the cadence leading into Fund II? You didn’t seem to have a long lull between funds.

Mark: That was intentional. I started teasing Fund II in our Q3 LP update—just two sentences: “Hey, we’re going to raise Fund II in early 2025. I’ll share the deck soon.” I wanted people thinking about it before we officially kicked off.

Then I spent the holiday break dialing in the data room, refining the deck, and getting feedback. In January, I sent another note with a sneak peek at the deck and told existing LPs they’d be first in line. That created some excitement.

When we officially launched the raise, we were fully subscribed in about a week. It happened fast, but it was the result of months—really years—of groundwork and communicating clearly with my LPs.

Benedikt: What are you most excited about for Forward Deployed in the next year?

Mark: Staying close to technical founders who are building critical products. That’s always the most energizing part of this job for me—being in the trenches with the people solving real problems. I still see myself first and foremost as an engineer. I want to be where the work is happening.

With Fund II, we have the resources to help founders in a bigger way than before. But the spirit stays the same. I want to keep building Forward Deployed like we built the best teams at Palantir—small, focused, and close to the opportunity.

The venture world has this temptation to scale horizontally—more AUM, more staff, more infrastructure. I want to stay sharp, close to the action, and hands-on. If we can keep that spirit alive while helping more founders win, I’ll be happy.