Most people meet a quantum physicist and think they have nothing in common.

But Anastasia Marchenkova is built different.

She went from breaking the servers at Georgia Tech to building quantum chips at Rigetti, to investing in deep-tech startups, to teaching introverts how to communicate. And along the way she discovered something surprising.

Being smart is not the hard part. Being human is. In this episode, we talk about how Anastasia rewrote her entire identity. From shy scientist to founder to creator to someone who believes empathy is a core technology.

You will hear:

- The night she accidentally took down Georgia Tech’s internet and got seed funding for it

- Why scientists struggle to admit “I don’t know” and how it kills innovation

- The “misogyny is a skill issue” problem in tech and what confident people do differently

- Why 85 percent of career success comes from people skills, not IQ

- How she taught herself charisma using physics-level study habits

- Why scientists should fire clients faster

- The rule she lives by online: never punch down

- How to handle haters who can’t spell “your”

- The moment she realized asking for help is a superpower

- How boundaries make you kinder, not harsher

- The real cost of being the smartest person in the room

This conversation is part science, part philosophy, and part survival guide for anyone who has ever felt like their intelligence outran their communication skills.

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — The supervillain origin story

03:00 — Breaking Georgia Tech’s servers and starting a company

07:00 — The academic mindset vs the startup mindset

11:30 — Why saying “I don’t know” increases innovation

15:00 — The danger of needing to be the smartest person in the room

17:30 — Why founders should fire faster

20:00 — People skills as a competitive advantage

27:00 — Misogyny as a skill issue

30:00 — Handling online hate and setting boundaries

35:00 — The psychology of communication in deep tech

40:00 — What scientists can teach founders (and vice versa)

48:00 — The most important question every technical leader should ask

🎧 Listen to this episode of Don’t Be A Jerk wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow along for more conversations on leadership, kindness, and the future of work:

IG: @healeycypher | @dontbeajerkpodcast

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/healeycypher