Zap's Wrap July 13th

back in action⚡⚡⚡

Author

Haley Zapolski
July 13, 2026

hi friends,

I got back late last night from vacation- Istanbul and Budapest with Mr Zap!

Neither of us had ever been to that part of the world, so we wanted to check it out for the first time. When we travel, there are two things we like to do: eat and ride our bikes. Luckily, both cities were amazing for both. In Istanbul we took a ferry to the Asian side and biked along the sea. In Budapest we rode everywhere, every day.

Trip highlights: a Turkish bath in a hammam from the 1500s, my first 2-star Michelin restaurant for my 30th birthday dinner, and a rave at a thermal bath in Budapest.

But of course, I came home with a few work-related reflections:

1. I don't crave vacations. And I'm grateful for that.

I love traveling because I want to see the world. But honestly? I hate taking a break from my work. I am so happy to be back!!!

I'm grateful I've built a life I don't need a vacation from. I love my home. I love my routines. I love my job. The best "vacation" I've ever taken was staying home over Christmas, working a little, and just hanging out.

2. Win vs. survive.

The absolute best part of the trip was a food tour in Budapest with a guide who grew up under communism. Learning the history of Hungary through her eyes was incredible, and she was so thoughtful about explaining the difference between the American and Hungarian perspectives on life.

She put it like this: Americans have a mindset of always wanting to win. Hungarians have a mindset of wanting to survive because for decades, that was the only goal.

It made me so grateful to be born in the USA. I get to live in a culture that gave me the mindset to be an entrepreneur and the freedom to build wealth on my own terms. That is not a given everywhere. I won't forget that.

3. I will never fit in. That's the point.

I spent a lot of the trip thinking about my life as a misfit.

If you didn't know, and I'm sure it doesn't surprise you, I did not fit in in high school. At all. College was even harder. Almost every job I've had, same story.

One of my greatest strengths is that doing my own thing comes naturally to me. I don't know anything else than to do whatever I want to do. But one of my greatest weaknesses is that I still struggle with not being part of other groups.

I made peace with this in my personal life a few years ago. Professionally, I'm still working on it. I don't fit in with other VCs, because what I do isn't really what they do. I don't fit in with other ecosystem builders, because I'm a rogue character in this work. I'm always partially in, partially out.

I came home refreshed with one realization: I will never fit in, and I need to stop letting it bother me. That's the work now.

I’ve now done 9 SPVs and I made posts sharing about 7 of the founders while I was gone!! Really proud to back all of these guys and I love telling their stories.

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to the moon,

zap⚡