The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
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20Growth: How Revolut Acquired Their First 10M Users: Tips, Tactics and Strategies From the Revolut Product & Growth Playbook with Val Scholz, Former Head of Growth @ Revolut
21 juni 2024 · 54 min
Val Scholz is the former Head of Growth @ Revolut, where he led the company to their first 10M users. Post Revolut, Val played a crucial role in scaling several high-growth companies including VEED, Simple & Busuu (exited for $400M). Today, Val is the Head of Growth at Kittl, an intuitive design platform empowering graphic designers. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Val Scholz We Discuss:
Lessons from Scaling Revolut to 10M Users
What were Val's biggest takeaways during his time at Revolut?
What does Val consider the secret sauce behind Revolut's success?
What did Val think Revolut understood about customers that no other bank did?
The Secrets to Revolut's Growth Playbook
What was Val's best growth decision? What was his worst?
Why does Val think most companies don't do referrals well?
What made Revolut's signup strategy so successful?
What are Val's two ways to master content marketing?
Does Val think it's good to diversify growth channels? When should founders diversify?
What are Val's strategies to make Youtube influencers successful?
Product Marketing 101:
Why does Val think traditional marketing methods are outdated?
If traditional marketing methods are outdated, what should startups do instead?
What does Val think is the most dangerous myth around product-led growth?
What does Val believe are the most common mistakes founders make on optimizing products?
Growth Hires: Who, What, When & How
When does Val think is the best time to hire a head of growth?
What is the profile Val looks for in a growth hire? What traits does he look for?
What are the most common reasons founders fail at hiring?
What does Val think are the biggest red flags to look out for in a CV?
How does Val define good culture? Did Revolut have a good culture?
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20VC: Foundation Models are the Fastest Depreciating Asset in History, Lina Kahn is a Threat to American Capitalism, PE is Not Coming to Save the M&A Market & How China Could Overtake the US in the AI Race with Michael Eisenberg
19 juni 2024 · 56 min
Michael Eisenberg is a Co-Founder and General Partner @ Aleph, one of Israel's leading venture firms with a portfolio including the likes of Wix, Lemonade, Empathy, Honeybook and more. Before leading Aleph, Michael was a General Partner @ Benchmark. Lees meer
In Today's Show with Michael Eisenberg We Discuss:
1. The State of AI Investing:
Why does Michael believe that "foundation models are the fastest depreciating asset in history"?
Are we in an AI bubble today? As an investor, what is the right way to approach this market?
Who will be the biggest losers in this AI investing phase?
Where will the biggest value accrual be? What lessons does Michael have from the dot com for this?
2. Where Is the Liquidity Coming From?
Why does Michael believe that it is BS that private equity will come in and buy a load of software companies and be the primary exit destination?
Why does Michael believe that IPO windows are always open? Should founders go out now? What is good enough revenue numbers to go out into the public markets?
Why does Michael believe that Lina Kahn is a threat to capitalism? How does Michael predict the next 12-24 months for the M&A market?
3. AI as a Weapon: Who Wins: China or the US:
Does Michael agree with the notion that China is 2 years behind the US in AI development?
Does Michael agree that AI could be a more dangerous weapon in wars than nuclear weapons?
Why does Michael suggest that for all founders in Europe, they should leave?
US, China, Israel, Europe, how do they rank for innovating around data regulation for AI?
4. Venture 101: Reserves, Selling Positions and Fund Dying:
Why does Michael only want to do reserves into his middle-performing companies?
What framework does Michael use to determine whether he should sell a position?
Which funds will be the first to die in this next wave of venture?
Why does Michael not do sourcing anymore? Where is he weakest in venture?
Why does Michael believe that no board meeting needs to be over 45 m…
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20VC: Index's Danny Rimer on Investing Lessons from Hits like Figma, Discord and Etsy to Missing Snapchat, Airbnb, Facebook & Spotify | Why Valuation is a Trap and Market Sizing, Signalling and Sector/Geo-Specific Funds are all Noise
17 juni 2024 · 1 uur 14 min
Danny Rimer is a Partner @ Index Ventures and one of the most prominent VCs of the last two decades. Danny has led Index to be one of the top global firms on both sides of the Atlantic. Among Danny's incredible portfolio, he has led or been involved with Figma, Discord, Dream Games, Etsy, Glossier and Patreon. Lees meer
In Today's Discussion with Danny Rimer We Cover:
1. The Biggest Lessons from Missing Snap, Airbnb, Spotify and Facebook:
How did Danny miss investing in Brian Chesky and Airbnb when Brian says "Index is the best investor that Airbnb never had"?
What was Danny's biggest takeaway from turning down Daniel Ek and Spotify multiple times?
Why did Danny turn down the chance to invest in Facebook at $10BN? What did he learn from this?
Why did Index not lead Snapchat's Series B? How did that decision change Danny's mindset towards the concentration of positions in a fund?
2. The Biggest BS Rules in Venture: Market Sizing, Valuations and Signalling
Why does Danny believe that "valuation is a mental trap"?
Why does Danny believe that TAM is "noise" and should not be used to assess an investment?
Why does Danny believe that stage, sector and geo-specific funds are BS?
Why does Danny believe there are no IPO windows? Are IPO markets always open to the best?
Why does Danny believe that signalling is BS and does not exist today?
3. Lessons from the Biggest Wins and Losses:
What are Danny's biggest lessons from Index's $BN win in King (Candy Crush)?
How did the Discord deal come to be? What are Danny's biggest takeaways from it?
What are Danny's biggest reflections from losing 10s of millions on Nasty Gal?
What is Danny's biggest advice to a new investor today?
4. Lessons from Two Decades Building Index into a Premier Firm:
What specifically has Index done to enable them to do what no one else has done and win on both sides of the Atlantic?
How did the Benchmark partnership shape much of how Danny has constructed Index today?
Who does Danny view as Index…
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20Product: Loom CPO Janie Lee on Three Core Skills that Make the Best PMs, How to Find, Pick and Train the Best PM Talent and Lessons from OpenDoor and Rippling on Product Breadth, Pricing and Talent Density
14 juni 2024 · 1 uur 3 min
Janie Lee is the Head of Product and the owner of the Self-Serve business at Loom. Janie previously worked at Rippling, leading the Identity Management and Hardware teams. Prior to that, she worked at Opendoor launching markets and developing pricing algorithms. During this time, Opendoor scaled from 2 to 20+ markets, $5B+ revenue, and 1500+ employees. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Janie Lee We Discuss:
1. Inside the Product Building Machine of Rippling and Opendoor:
What are Janie's single biggest product lessons from Rippling? How do they build so much product so fast? Can you have breadth and high quality?
What are Janie's biggest lessons from Opendoor on talent and pricing?
What does Janie know now that she wishes she had known when she started her product career?
2. What Makes a Truly Great PM:
What core skills do the best PMs have? What is the difference between good vs great?
Writing: What are Janie's biggest pieces of advice to PMs who want to write better?
Communicate: How do the best PMs and product leaders communicate with their teams?
Question Asking: How do the best PMs ask questions of their team and other orgs?
3. How to Find and Pick the Best PMs:
How does Janie structure the interview process when hiring new PMs?
What questions should one ask in every interview with a PM?
Does Janie do a case study? What is she looking to achieve from it? How do the best do?
What are Janie's biggest mistakes in hiring PMs? How did she change from it?
4. Onboarding PMs and Crushing Product Reviews:
What do the first 30 days look like for new PMs?
What are the biggest signs that a new PM is not going to work out?
How does the product review process work at Loom?
How does Janie prioritise when there is so much volume and data?
How has AI changed the way Loom builds products today?
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20VC: Scale's Alex Wang on Why Data Not Compute is the Bottleneck to Foundation Model Performance, Why AI is the Greatest Military Asset Ever, Is China Really Two Years Behind the US in AI and Why the CCPs Industrial Approach is Better than Anyone Else's
12 juni 2024 · 1 uur
Alex Wang is the Founder and CEO @ Scale.ai, the company that allows you to make the best models with the best data. To date, Alex has raised $1.6BN for the company with a last reported valuation of $14BN earlier this year. Scale tripled their ARR in 2023 and is expected to hit $1.4BN in ARR by the end of 2024. Their investors include Accel, Index, Thrive, Founders Fund, Meta and Nvidia to name a few. Lees meer
In Today's Show with Alex Wang We Discuss:
1. Foundation Models: Diminishing Returns:
What are the three core pillars that can meaningfully improve foundation models performance?
Why is data the single largest bottleneck to the performance of models today?
What data do we need to capture that we do not currently, that will have the biggest impact on model performance moving forward?
Will we see the largest companies in the world revert back to on-prem with the increasing security challenges of migrating all customer data to foundation models?
2. AI: A Military Asset in Global Conflict: China + Russia
Why does Alex believe that AI has the potential to be an even more powerful military asset than nuclear weapons?
If this is the case, should we have open systems? Do we not have to have closed systems?
Why does Alex believe that the CCP's approach to industrial policy is better than anyone else's?
How does Alex evaluate the rise of Chinese EV car manufacturers in the last few years?
Does Alex really believe that China is two years behind the US in the AI race?
3. "I Get Fairer Treatment in Congress than in the Press":
Why does Alex believe that the best PR is no PR?
Why does Alex believe that he got fairer treatment in congress than he does in the media?
Why does Alex believe that all founders should look to own their own distribution channels today?
4. Alex Wang: AMA:
What are some of Alex's biggest lessons from Patrick Collison on the impact that a hot company brand has on the ability for that company to hire the best?
Does Alex think Trump is going t…
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20VC: Reid Hoffman on Foundation Models: Who Wins & How Do Incumbents Respond | The Inflection AI Deal: How it Went Down | Why Trump is a Threat to Democracy | The Future of TikTok | Lessons from Sam Altman, Brian Chesky and the OpenAI Board
10 juni 2024 · 1 uur 16 min
Reid Hoffman has been one of the most impactful people in technology over the last two decades. He is the Co-Founder of Linkedin (acq by Microsoft for $26BN) and Co-Founder of Inflection.ai. As an investor, Reid has backed the likes of Facebook, Airbnb, Zynga and more. Reid is also a Board Member @ Microsoft and was on the board of OpenAI. Lees meer
In Today's Show with Reid Hoffman We Discuss:
1. Foundation Models: Commoditisation, Business Models, Incumbents:
Does Reid believe we are seeing the commoditization of foundation models?
Is it too late for new foundation models to be born today? Are they VC backable?
How will foundation models eventually make money? What will be the sustainable business model?
Does Reid believe that foundation models will be acquired by large cloud providers? Who goes first?
2. Inflection & Microsoft: What Went Down:
How did the Microsoft and Inflection deal go down? Did Satya call up one day and make it happen?
With the decay rate of models, Microsoft did not do it for the models, so why did they do it?
Was Inflection a sustainable business in it's own right?
Does this not prove that to win at this game, you have to be an incumbent with incumbent cash?
3. OpenAI: Board, Lessons and Management:
What are 1-2 of Reid's biggest lessons from being on the OpenAI board with Sam?
Why did Sam ask Reid in front of the whole company if Reid would fire him if he did not perform?
Scarlett Johannsen, super alignment team quitting, NDAs tied to equity, this is a lot in a short amount of time, how does Reid analyse this?
4. Trump is the Biggest Threat to Democracy: What Lies Ahead?
Why does Reid believe that Trump is a threat to democracy and evil?
What were Reid's biggest takeaways from a two hour lunch with Joe Biden?
How does a Trump administration change the world of AI, technology and startups?
5. The Future of TikTok:
Is TikTok a threat to US democracy? Should it be banned?
What will be the outcome of the current judicial process? W…
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20Sales: How Rippling Built Their Sales Machine: How to Hire, Train and Manage the Best SDRs, What is the Right Comp Package for Sales Teams & The Playbook to Start and Scale Your SDR Team
7 juni 2024 · 54 min
Ashley Kelly is the VP of Global Sales Development at Rippling, the all-in-one platform for HR, IT, and finance. Before Rippling, Ashley played a crucial role in scaling Brex's outbound sales from $2M to over $300M in ARR, and has hired over 800 SDRs during her time in some of the best tech companies in Silicon Valley, including Lever and Zenefits. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Ashley Kelly We Discuss:
From NASCAR to Silicon Valley SDR
How did Ashley make her way into the world of sales?
Why does Ashley think the best AEs and leaders start off as SDRs?
What is Ashley's advice to new SDRs starting their jobs today?
Age of AI: Is SDR Outbound Dead?
Does Ashley agree that outbound is dead today? Is SDR dead?
How will AI change SDR? Why is Ashley hesitant to adopt AI?
Why does Ashley think founders should always build the first sales playbook?
What did Ashley mean by SDR is the 3rd pillar between sales and marketing?
What does Ashley think most companies get wrong about outbound?
SDR Hiring: Who, What, When & How
When does Ashley think founders should hire their first SDR?
How does Ashley structure the hiring process? What questions does she ask?
What profile does Ashley look for when hiring for an SDR?
How does Ashley structure the finance package? How is it different for each team?
Why did Ashley avoid hiring SDRs with SDR experience? Why has she changed her mind?
What was Ashley's biggest hiring mistake? What were her takeaways?
Onboarding New SDR Hires
How does Ashley onboard new SDR hires? What is her onboarding timeline?
How does Ashley set targets for new hires? When should they be fully productive?
When does Ashley know if a new hire isn't working?
What are common traits among Ashley's most successful hires?
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20VC: Perplexity's Aravind Srinivas on Will Foundation Models Commoditise, Diminishing Returns in Model Performance, OpenAI vs Anthropic: Who Wins & Why the Next Breakthrough in Model Performance will be in Reasoning
5 juni 2024 · 55 min
Aravind Srinivas is the Co-Founder & CEO of Perplexity, the conversational "answer engine" that provides precise, user-focused answers to queries. Aravind co-founded the company in 2022 after working as a research scientist at OpenAI, Google, and DeepMind. To date, Perplexity has raised over $100 million from investors including Jeff Bezos, Nat Friedman, Elad Gil, and Susan Wojciki. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Aravind Srinivas We Discuss:
Biggest Lessons from DeepMind & OpenAI
What was the best career advice Sam Altman @ OpenAI gave Aravind?
What were Aravind's biggest takeaways at DeepMind?
How did DeepMind shape how Aravind built Perplexity?
What did Aravind mean by "competition is for losers?" What did he learn about talent assembly at DeepMind?
The Next AI Breakthrough: Reasoning
Does Aravind think we are experiencing diminishing returns on compute & model performance?
Does Aravind agree reasoning will be the next big breakthrough for models?
What are the reasons Aravind thinks models suck at reasoning today?
What is the timeline for reasoning improvement according to Aravind?
What does Aravind think are the biggest misconceptions about AI today?
Will Foundation Models Commoditise?
Does Aravind think foundation models will commoditise? What will the end state of foundation models look like?
Why does Aravind think the second tier models will get commoditised?
Why does Aravind think the subscription model will not work for AI models with true reasoning?
Why does Aravind think the application layer companies will benefit from foundation models commoditising?
Why does Aravind think foundation models will not verticalize?
When does Aravind think is the right time to go enterprise? What is his strategy to differentiate Perplexity from its competitors?
AI Arms Race: Who Will Win?
Who does Aravind think will be the winners of foundation models?
What do AI companies need to do to win the model arms race?
How does Aravind think startups can compete aga…
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This Week in SaaS: PluralSight Goes to Zero, Salesforce and Mongo Hit Hard, The Next IPO Candidates and How Do We Solve the Problem of Liquidity in Venture Capital
3 juni 2024 · 1 uur 9 min
Jason Lemkin is one of the OG SaaS investors with all of his first five investments turning into unicorns with Pipedrive, Algolia, Talkdesk, Salesloft and RevenueCat all in his portfolio. SaaStr is the largest global community in SaaS and he has taught a generation the fundamentals of SaaS on saastr.com. Lees meer
In Our First Ever Episode of This Week in SaaS
1. PluralSight Goes to Zero:
WTF happened to PluralSight? How did it go from $3.5BN to $0?
Will this have a wider impact on the willingness of PE to buy tech companies?
Who are the next contenders to go from hero to zero? Zendesk? Anaplan?
Will this generation of PE funds be let off by their LPs for a poor vintage?
2. Salesforce's Worst Stock Market Drop Since 2004 + Mongo Takes a 23% Hit:
Why did Salesforce lose $50BN of market cap in a single day?
Is the same true for MongoDB taking a 23% hit in one day?
What does it mean when the new normal is these once hyper-growth companies now growing only 6% per annum?
3. The Settlers into Slow Growth:
Why does Jason believe that Dropbox and Box have both settled into a world of slow growth?
What happens to Twilio from here in a world post Jeff Lawson?
What happens to Retool from this point on?
Would Jason be a buyer of Notion at $10BN?
4. Venture Capital is Broken:
Why does Jason believe that we need to see a relation of public multiples for the math in venture capital to work again?
Why does Jason believe that the way we mark portfolios with TVPI leads to corrupt and bad behaviour?
How does Jason think we will solve the problem of liquidity with IPOs being shut, M&A being out of the window and now PE being a doubt as the source of buyers?
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20Growth: The Six Channels Startups Need to Dominate to Grow, Why the Best Growth Talent Never Comes from Marketing or Product, Who and How to Hire Growth Leaders and Teams and Why in a World of AI, Growth is More Science than Art with Matt Lerner
31 mei 2024 · 56 min
Matt Lerner is one of the OGs of growth having spent 11 years leading growth teams at PayPal. Post PayPal, Matt led the growth marketing program at 500 Startups. He is also the bestselling author of Growth Levers and How to Find Them. Today, Matt is the Co-Founder and CEO of SYSTM, an accelerator program helping startups find their growth drivers. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Matt Lerner We Discuss:
From Philosophy Student to PayPal Growth Leader:
How did Matt make his way into the world of growth?
What were Matt's biggest lessons from 11 years at PayPal?
What did Matt know now that he wished he'd known when he entered the world of growth?
How to Master Growth in a World of AI:
What is growth to Matt? What is it not?
Why does Matt think growth is more science than art?
Does Matt Agee with Adam Gross @ Vimeo that paid acquisition below $100M ARR isn't PLG?
How does Matt think AI will change the world of growth today?
What does Matt think are the most common growth mistakes founders make?
Optimizing Growth Channels: Dos & Don'ts
Why does Matt believe there are only six types of growth channels?
What is the "locksmith moment" & how do startups find channels that work for them?
How does Matt pick a Northstar metric?
What are the most common mistakes founders make when picking North Star metrics? When is the right time to change them?
How does Matt approach horizontal product messaging? What works? What doesn't work?
How to Hire & Manage Growth Teams
What does Matt look for in the first head of growth hire?
What questions does Matt ask when interviewing?
What were Matt's biggest hiring mistakes? What did he learn?
Why does Matt think the best growth hires have no marketing experience?
What are Matt's two steps to master onboarding?
What are the 3 most common patterns in leaders according to Matt?
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20VC: Former Meta CTO, Schrep on Why Climate is a $10TRN Problem, Operating Lessons Scaling Products to Billions at Meta and Why the Best Leaders are Like Music Conductors
29 mei 2024 · 1 uur 11 min
Mike Schroepfer (Schrep) is the Founder & Partner @ Gigascale Capital, a new kind of climate-focused investment firm. Prior to Gigascale, Mike was the CTO @ Meta where he scaled products to billions of users, shipped millions of units of consumer hardware, constructed tens of millions of sq ft of data centres, built teams of up to 35,000, and made breakthroughs in AI. Before Meta, Mike led engineering at Mozilla and founded a company acquired by Sun Microsystems. Lees meer
In Today's Show with Mike Schroepfer We Discuss:
1. Lessons from Mark Zuckerberg and Meta:
What are Schrep's biggest lessons from Zuck on truly effective leaders?
Why does Schrep believe the best leaders are like music conductors?
What does Schrep mean when he says, "building a company is a game of inches"?
Why does Schrep believe "inertia is one of the most underappreciated forces in company building?"
2. The Future of Energy:
Why does Schrep believe that the "availability of cheap, clean energy is the biggest rate limiter to human progress?"
Does Schrep agree with Sam Altman that energy will be the currency of the next decade? Or does he believe Mustafa Suleyman is right and it will soon be free and abundant?
How does Schrep predict the next five years for both fusion and nuclear?
Why does Schrep believe the next few years will be "messy but with huge opportunity"?
3. Investing in Climate: It has to be Profitable:
Why does Schrep believe that markets and not governments or philanthropy will solve the climate challenges we face?
What leads Schrep to suggest that the climate change transition is a $10TRN opportunity for investors?
What is the single hardest element of investing in climate change solutions today?
Why do climate change solutions need to reshape how they market to consumers?
How much capital does it take to build a defensible moat in climate?
4. Schrep: The Man Behind Whatsapp and Instagram: AMA:
How does Schrep reflect on his own relationship to money? How has it changed?
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20VC: Why Seed is Systemically Broken | Why Pricing is Worse Than Ever and There is More Funding Than Ever | Benchmarks for Churn, Retention and Growth Rates - Good vs Great | Why Last Vintage for Private Equity Will Suck with Jason Lemkin
27 mei 2024 · 1 uur 14 min
Jason Lemkin is one of the OG SaaS investors with all of his first five investments turning into unicorns with Pipedrive, Algolia, Talkdesk, Salesloft and RevenueCat all in his portfolio. SaaStr is the largest global community in SaaS and he has taught a generation the fundamentals of SaaS on saastr.com. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Jason Lemkin We Discuss:
1. Growth Rates and Churn Rates: Average/Good/Great:
What is a growth rate that would excite Jason in a SaaS company? What is average?
What levels of churn would worry Jason to see? What would excite him to see?
What does Jason never tolerate when it comes to either growth rate or retention?
2. What Founder Combination Always Wins:
Why does Jason believe you cannot lose money on a CEO salesperson and a technical CTO founding partnership?
Why does Jason always meet the CTO for a second meeting in the diligence process? What questions does he ask? What do the best CTOs do or say?
Why does Jason always want to sell his shares when the founders want to sell?
Why does Jason believe that a company is never the same when the founders leave?
3. WTF is Happening in the World of VC:
Why does Jason believe that pricing is worse than it has ever been in venture?
Why does Jason believe that traditional seed VC is systemically broken?
Why are companies getting stuffed with more cash than ever before?
What does Jason know now about dilution that he wishes he had known when he started?
Why does Jason believe that you should always recycle everything?
4. WTF is Happening in PE and Later Stage Markets:
What happens to all the overpriced acquisitions like Zendesk and Salesloft where private equity way overpaid for them, they have no growth and no product innovation?
What happens to the generation of public companies like Box, Dropbox and Twilio, all with low growth and little product innovation in the single-digit market caps?
Why does Jason believe that Klaviyo is the most undervalued public company today?
What do…
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20VC: OpenAI's Sam Altman, Mistral's Arthur Mensch and more discuss: Will Foundation Models Be Commoditised | Which Startups Are Threatened vs Enabled by OpenAI | Is the Value in the Infrastructure or Application Layer?
24 mei 2024 · 22 min
Sam Altman is the CEO @ OpenAI, the company on a mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI is one of the fastest-scaling companies in history with a valuation of $90BN and $2BN+ in revenue. Lees meer
Brad Lightcap is the COO @ OpenAI and the man responsible for the incredible scaling of sales, GTM, partnerships and business to today being over $2BN in revenue.
Arthur Mensch is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mistral AI. Since its inception in May 2023, Mistral has raised over $520M in funding from investors like Andreeseen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Microsoft with a current valuation of $2 billion.
Des Traynor is a Co-Founder of Intercom, and has built and led many teams within the company, including Product, Marketing, and Customer Support. Today Des leads all of Intercom's R&D efforts, and parts of Intercom's marketing.
Tom Hulme is a Managing Partner of GV (Google Ventures), and leads the European team. Today, GV has over $10BN in AUM and Tom has led investments in Lemonade.com (IPO), Snyk, Secret Escapes, Blockchain.com, GoCardless, and Currency Cloud (exited to Visa).
Tomasz Tunguz is the Founder and General Partner @ Theory Ventures, just announced last week, Theory is a $230M fund that invests $1-25m in early-stage companies that leverage technology discontinuities into go-to-market advantages.
Sarah Tavel is a General Partner @ Benchmark, one of the most successful and renowned venture firms in the world. At Benchmark, Sarah has led rounds in Chainalysis, Hipcamp, Medely, Rekki, Glide, Cambly and more.
In Today's Episode We Discuss:
Will foundation models be commoditised?
What is the end state for the foundation model landscape in 10 years?
How will large cloud provider incumbents approach M&A with smaller foundation model providers?
When will we see marginal revenue exceed marginal cost in the foundation model business model?
Where is the value: the application layer or the infr…
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20VC: Box's Aaron Levie on Predictions for the Next Wave of AI: Will Foundation Models Be Commoditised | How the Business Model of SaaS Changes Forever | Startups vs Incumbents: Who Wins | App vs Infrastructure Layer: Where is the Value?
22 mei 2024 · 57 min
Aaron Levie is one of the OG founders of the last two decades as the Co-Founder and CEO of Box. Today, Box does over $1BN in revenue with a market cap of $3.85BN, and has raised over $560 million from the likes of DFJ, Andreesen Horowitz, and Coatue. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Aaron Levie We Discuss:
What You Need to Know Entering This AI Wave:
Why does Aaron think we are currently in a transformative window in AI?
What does Aaron think it takes to be successful in this next wave?
Which areas does Aaron think founders should be focusing on today? Where should they not?
AI Adoption: Business Model, Implementation, Regulation.
How does Aaron think AI will change how we work & run a business?
What does Aaron think is the single biggest obstacle to AI adoption in large organizations?
Does Aaron agree with Sarah Tavel @ Benchmark AI companies will be selling work not tools?
How does Aaron think AI will change the SaaS business model?
Why is Aaron not as worried about AI regulation? What are his biggest concerns today?
The Next AI Breakthrough: AI Agents
Why does Aaron believe the next big breakthrough in AI will be agents?
How does Aaron think AI agents will change org structures?
How does Aaron think agents will differ from RPA? How will RPA companies benefit from AI?
What does Aaron think AI agents will look like in five years?
Startups vs Incumbents: Who Wins?
What is Aaron's advice to startups today building against OpenAI?
Does Aaron think startups have more advantage in foundational models or the application layer?
What advantages do incumbents have? What are their biggest weaknesses?
Who does Aaron think are the biggest winners in AI today? Who is underperforming?
Why does Aaron think Apple isn't losing the AI race?
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20VC: Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora on How to Create and Sustain Competitive Advantage and Defensibility | What Makes Masa Son a Genius Investor of Our Time | How the Best Leaders Communicate and Delegate
20 mei 2024 · 52 min
Nikesh Arora is the CEO @ Palo Alto Networks, the leading cybersecurity company in the world with a market cap of $102BN. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh was the President and COO of SoftBank Group. Before that, he spent ten years at Google as a senior exec, and President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before that Nikesh was CMO for the T-Mobile International Division of Deutsche Telekom AG. Nikesh serves on the board of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. Previously, he served on the boards of SoftBank, Sprint, Colgate-Palmolive Inc., Yahoo! Japan and Tipping Point. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Nikesh Arora We Discuss:
1. From Investing with Masa @ Softbank to CEO of Largest Cyber Company:
What are Nikesh's biggest lessons from working and investing with Masa @ Softbank?
What are Nikesh's biggest takeaways from 10 years at Google and working with Eric Schmidt?
What does Nikesh know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career?
2. What Makes the Most Valuable Businesses in the World:
How does Nikesh think about competition and monopolies?
How does Nikesh assess the idea of defensibility, moats and sustaining competitive advantages?
What are the most common reasons why incumbents are overtaken?
How have Palo Alto Networks been so successful in their M&A strategy?
What has worked in M&A? What has not worked? What is their process?
3. What Makes the Best Leaders in the World:
Does Nikesh agree that the best CEOs are the best resource allocators?
How do the best leaders communicate with large teams at scale?
How do the best leaders approach decision-making? What is Nikesh's framework?
How does Nikesh approach the idea of delegation? What does he delegate vs what does he not?
4. Behind the CEO: Nikesh Arora: Husband and Father:
How does Nikesh reflect on his own relationship to money today?
What are Nikesh's biggest lessons in what it takes to bring children up in a world of affluence and ensure they have hunger and ambition…
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20Product: How Linktree, Webflow and Airbnb Used Rituals and Product Principals to Guide Product Roadmap, Why All Product Teams Should Have a Scorecard and How to Use it & How to Run the Best "Product Jams" with JZ, CPO @ Linktree
17 mei 2024 · 1 uur 1 min
Jiaona "JZ" Zhang is the Chief Product Officer at Linktree, the world's leading link-in-bio platform empowering 45M+ creators, brands and SMBs. JZ joined Linktree from Webflow, where she served as SVP of Product. Before that, she spent four years at Airbnb where she built and led numerous teams on the host side. JZ's also held leadership roles at the likes of Wework, Dropbox and teaches at Stanford University and Reforge. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Jiaona Zhang We Discuss:
Entry into the World of Product
How did JZ first fall in love with product?
Why does JZ believe the best PMs have experience in the gaming industry?
Does JZ think Linktree could be a $100BN business? How could Linktree become a $100BN business?
Mastering Product Metrics
Why does JZ think product is the most chameleon role? Where does product start & end?
Why does JZ think every function should have tension with product?
What is a KPI tree? How does JZ branch business & product metrics?
When does JZ think startups should set up a metric infrastructure?
What are the three levers of product? How does JZ determine which ones to trade off?
How to Run Product: Planning, Strategy, & Rituals
Why does JZ think planning should not exist?
What are strategy and rituals? When should founders do either?
What are JZ's three core rituals?
What is the scorecard method? How do they help team transparency?
What are product jams? When does it work? When does it not work?
Product Career Advice
When does JZ think founders hire a product person?
What are the most common mistakes early stage founders make when hiring for product?
Does JZ think domain expertise is important? What does she look for in product hires?
What is JZ's advice to PMs who want to get promoted today?
What is JZ's advice to young people who want to get into product?
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20VC: Fundraising Wisdom that is Total BS; Dilution, Meeting Associates, Taking the Highest Price, Always Be Raising | Why Second Time Founders Are More Investable & Why Not To Hire People Out of College with Dan Siroker, CEO @ Limitless
15 mei 2024 · 1 uur 16 min
Dan Siroker is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Limitless, a personalized AI powered by what you've seen, said, or heard. For his latest funding round, Dan took an unusual approach resulting in 1,000 preliminary offers with valuations as high as $1BN — and resulted in a $350 million Series A valuation. Prior to founding Limitless, Dan was the Founder of Optimizely, scaling the company to $120M in ARR and raising from some of the best in the business including Peter Fenton @ Benchmark who led the Series A. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Dan Siroker We Discuss:
1. Serial Entrepreneurs are More Investable:
Why would Dan always prefer to invest in serial entrepreneurs than first time founders?
How do serial entrepreneurs approach team building and size of team differently?
How do serial entrepreneurs approach focus and prioritisation differently?
How do serial entrepreneurs approach pivoting differently to first time founders?
What is Dan's advice from Elad Gil and YC's Dalton Caldwell on when to pivot?
2. The Secret to Fundraising: How to Speak VC
Should founders always be raising?
What is the right thing to respond to investors when they reach out to you outside of a round?
What question are investors really asking when they ask, how much are you raising?
How should founders approach valuation, what should they say when they are asked for it?
How can founders create urgency in a funding round? What works? What does not?
3. How to Raise the Best Funding Round:
Should founders engage with associates or only worth it with decision-makers?
Why should founders always choose the investor who is on the early arc of their career?
Why was Dan's first meeting with Peter Fenton the best meeting he has ever had with a VC?
Why does Dan believe that taking the highest price is never the right answer?
To what extent does having a true Tier 1 VC lead your round, change the game for your company?
4. Dan Siroker: AMA:
How did becoming a father change the way that Dan operates?
…
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20VC: Behind the Scenes at Y Combinator: The Interview Process | What the Best & Worst Do in the Program | Do the Best All Raise Pre-Demo Day & YC's Fundraising Advice to Startups | Why the Value is in Application Layer AI with Tom Blomfield
13 mei 2024 · 1 uur 5 min
Tom Blomfield is a Group Partner at YC. Before YC, Tom founded two unicorns in the UK. He was co-founder of Monzo (most recently valued at $5BN), one of the first challenger banks in the UK. Monzo raised more than £1bn and counts 15% of the UK population as customers. Before Monzo, Tom founded GoCardless (YC S11), an online payments processor, most recently valued at $2.1BN. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Tom Blomfield We Discuss:
1. From Founding Two Unicorns to YC Partner:
Does Tom believe that all great founders show signs of exceptionalism early?
What does Tom know now that he wishes he had known when he started his first company?
Why did Tom decide now was the right time to switch from founder to investor with YC?
2. The YC Application Process: How it Works:
How do the YC partners select which companies are accepted vs rejected?
What specifically does Tom look for in the problem the company is looking to solve?
In the interview, what are the signals of the highest quality founders?
What questions does Tom always want to ask in YC interviews with founders?
3. The YC Batch: How it Works:
How do the YC partners work with the 25 companies in their batch? What is the interaction?
What are the single biggest mistakes companies make while in YC?
What are the biggest pieces of advice YC gives founders on fundraising approaching demo day?
How do the best YC founders fundraise and use demo day? How do the most nervous fundraise?
How are YC partners measured in terms of their success and effectiveness?
4. AI: Consumer vs Enterprise/ Infrastructure vs Application Layer:
Does Tom believe there is money to be made investing in infrastructure layer models today?
Why is the commoditization of foundation models the best outcome for society?
Why is Tom most excited about the application layer for the next wave of AI?
What are the most exciting opportunities in consumer AI that are wide open today?
20VC: Behind the Scenes at Y Combinator: The Interview Process | W…
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20Sales: How to Build Vertical Sales Teams, Why No Customer Success is BS and Everyone Needs it, How to Hire, Train and Retain the First Reps and Lessons Scaling to $2.1BN Revenue and 1,300 People with Larry Schurtz, CRO @ Genesys
10 mei 2024 · 56 min
Larry Shurtz is the Chief Sales Officer at Genesys where he oversees the company's global go-to-market strategies, including commercial activities, field sales and partner ecosystem operations. Larry has nearly three decades of experience in the software industry, from leading Confluent to delivering more than 60% revenue growth and doubling customer count as Chief Revenue Officer, to scaling a 1,300-person team at Salesforce to $2.1 billion in revenue. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Larry Shurtz We Discuss:
From Robotics Student to $2.1BN Sales Leader at Salesforce
How did Larry lead 1300 people to $2.1 billion revenue at Salesforce? What were his takeaways?
What did Larry learn about building vertical sales playbooks at Salesforce?
Which framework did Larry learn at Salesforce that he still uses at Genesys?
Mastering Sales Leadership
What are the biggest mistakes sales leaders make on prioritization today?
What are Larry's "3 Rs" to master prioritization?
What does Larry think are the most common reasons fast-scaling teams break in sales?
Has Larry ever caused bad culture in a sales team? What did he learn from the experience?
Does Larry think sales is more art or science? How does Larry blend the two?
Building the Best Sales Team
How does Larry structure the hiring process for a new sales hire?
How big should your recruitment team be?
What are Larry's most commonly asked questions when interviewing?
What were Larry's biggest hiring mistakes? What did he learn from them?
How does Larry structure the comp? How does he get it right? What do most new hires care about today?
The Onboarding: The Dos & Don'ts
How does Larry structure the onboarding process?
Why does Larry onboard new hires with big customers? What is the buddy system?
How does Larry tell if a new hire is bad? What are the biggest red flags to look out for?
What does Larry mean when he says "You can make all the physical errors, you cannot make mental errors?"
Does Larry agree with Max L…
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20VC: GV's Tom Hulme on Why Investing in Foundation Models is like Investing in "Power Stations", The Conventional Wisdom in VC that is BS & Lessons from a 24x Angel Track Record, 255x on Robinhood and Making Billions on Uber
8 mei 2024 · 1 uur 17 min
Tom Hulme is a Managing Partner of GV (Google Ventures), and leads the European team. Today, GV has over $10BN in AUM and Tom has led investments in Lemonade.com (IPO), Snyk, Secret Escapes, Blockchain.com, GoCardless, Blue Vision Labs (exited to Lyft), and Currency Cloud (exited to Visa). Prior to joining venture full-time, Tom was one of Europe's most successful angel investors with a 5x DPI track record and 20x+ TVPI. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Tom Hulme We Discuss:
1. Lessons from a 24x TVPI Angel Track Record:
What are Tom's biggest lessons from his biggest winners angel investing?
What are Tom's biggest takeaways from the 0's in his angel track record?
What is the biggest advice Tom would give to angel investors starting out today?
What are the single biggest mistakes Tom sees angel investors make today?
2. The Four Pillars of Venture Capital:
What does Tom believe are the four key components of being successful as a VC?
Why does Tom describe VC as "being a founder on anti-depressants"?
How does Tom categorise the three different types of investors that exist?
Sourcing, selecting, servicing: What is Tom best at and what is he worst at?
3. The Conventional Wisdom in Venture That is Not True:
Why does Tom believe it is BS that you should never sell your winners?
Why does Tom believe he has never had complete conviction in any of the companies he invests in?
Why does Tom believe the "everything has to be a fund returner mindset" is BS?
Why naivety doesn't lead to great founders? Why employees at rocketships are the best founders?
4. AI: Foundation Models, Generative AI, The Incumbents: Where Does the Value Go:
Does Tom believe there is money to be made investing in foundation models?
Why does Tom liken investing in foundation models to investing in power stations?
Where does Tom believe there is value in the application layer?
Why does Tom think that generative AI is largely a sustaining innovation?
Why does Tom think Microsoft will win the ne…
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20VC: Benchmark's Sarah Tavel on Are Foundation Models Commoditising | Why Frontier Models Will Be Closed Source | Why the Value is in the Application Layer | The Future of AI is "Selling the Work" Not the Tools
6 mei 2024 · 1 uur 1 min
Sarah Tavel is a General Partner @ Benchmark, one of the most successful and renowned venture firms in the world. At Benchmark, Sarah has led rounds in Chainalysis, Hipcamp, Medely, Rekki, Glide, Cambly and more. Prior to Benchmark, Sarah was a Partner at Greylock Partners. Before Greylock, Sarah was the first 30 employees at Pinterest. Sarah joined Pinterest in 2012 after co-leading the Series A investment while at Bessemer Venture Partners. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Sarah Tavel We Discuss:
1. Becoming a GP at The Most Renowned Firm in Venture:
How did the process of Sarah joining Benchmark start? How did it progress? What was it that convinced her to leave Greylock and join Benchmark?
What does Sarah believe makes Peter Fenton the world-class investor that he is?
What does Sarah know now that she wishes she had known when she started in venture?
2. Foundation Models: Is it All Going to Zero:
Will foundation models be commoditised?
Will 99% of the funding going to foundation models go to 0?
How does Sarah view the future of open vs closed source?
Why does Sarah believe that all frontier models of the future will be closed-source?
Why does the business model of foundation models remind Sarah of the food delivery business?
3. Application Layer: Where $BN Companies Will Be Built:
Why does Sarah believe that sustainable value-creating companies will be in the application layer?
How does Sarah determine between a wrapper on top of ChatGPT and true product value?
Are enterprises opening real budgets for AI today or are we still in experimental budgets?
How does Sarah think about how AI companies differentiate when there are so many in the same space of customer service, sales team support etc etc?
Why does Sarah believe that it is rational to pay more for these companies when investing in them?
What does Sarah mean when she says the future is "selling the work and not the tools"?
4. Inside Benchmark: How the Best Do Venture:
What is the one rule that B…
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20VC: The Memo: Keith Rabois and Ramp's Eric Glyman on Behind The Scenes at The Best Run Private Company on the Planet; The Tools, Tips, Secrets and Process That Drive Efficiency
3 mei 2024 · 43 min
Eric Glyman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ramp, America's fastest growing corporate card and finance automation platform. Under Eric's leadership, Ramp has raised more than $1 billion in financing, with a valuation of $8.1 billion. Prior to Ramp, Eric co-founded Paribus, a price-tracking app to help consumers save money (acquired by Capital One). Ramp recently raised another $150 million series D round co-led by Founders Fund and Khosla ventures, with a post-money valuation of $7.65 billion. Lees meer
Keith Rabois is a Managing Director @ Khosla Ventures and one of the most respected venture investors of the last decade. Keith has led investments in Stripe, Faire, Ramp, Affirm and many more. Prior to Khosla Ventures, Keith was General Partner at Founders Fund, where he led investments for Ramp, Trade Republic, and Aven.
In Today's Episode with Eric Glyman and Keith Rabois We Discuss:
Behind Ramp's Partnership with Founders Fund & Khosla Ventures
How did the first Founders Fund deal come to be? How was the first meeting?
What does Keith mean when he says Ramp has the "secret sauce" to be successful?
What are 1-2 things Keith thinks Eric is world-class at? What are 1-2 things Eric thinks Keith is world-class at?
How did the latest Khosla deal come to happen?
Ramp: The Fastest Executing Company on the Planet.
How is Eric so good at executing at Ramp? What is his biggest advice to founders on speed of execution?
What are Eric's biggest challenges in the next 12 months at Ramp?
Why does Keith believe momentum is crucial for early stage startups? What are some easy ways founders can build momentum?
How does Eric think AI will accelerate Ramp and the world of finance?
Leadership Lessons From the Best Founders
What are Keith's biggest lessons from Brian Chesky @ Airbnb?
What did Keith learn from Jack Dorsey @ Square about leadership?
What does Eric think founders today should build? What should they not build?
What did Eric learn from Keith on how founders should mea…
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20VC: Mark Suster on The Biggest Fundraising Lessons for VCs, Why the Correction in Venture is Still to Come, Why Private Equity Will Replace IPOs and M&A as the Exit Path & The Woke Left and a Trump Administration; What Happens?
1 mei 2024 · 59 min
Mark Suster is a General Partner @ Upfront Ventures, one of LA's leading early-stage venture firms. Prior to leading Upfront, Mark was a serial entrepreneur having founded two software companies, selling both with the last selling to Salesforce.com. Mark is also a prolific writer and one of his favourite pieces, Lines Not Dots is one for the ages. Lees meer
In Today's Episode With Mark Suster We Discuss:
1. From Serial Entrepreneur to Leading VC:
How Mark made his way into the world of venture having sold two prior companies?
What does Mark know now that he wishes he had known when he started in venture?
What advice does Mark give to all young investors starting their career today?
2. How to Raise a Fund:
What are Mark's single biggest lessons from 15 years of fundraising for funds?
Should managers look to institutions or friends and family first?
Are LPs sheep? Do institutions anchoring funds lead to many others jumping in?
What is the right amount to do a first close on? What is the right way to message the first close?
What are the single biggest mistakes Mark sees managers make when raising?
3. Exit Environments are F******: What Now:
Why are IPOs not the liquidity events that everyone thinks they are?
When does Mark believe IPO windows will open again?
How does Mark evaluate the M&A landscape today?
With little M&A and IPO activity, why does Mark believe private equity will step into their shoes?
With the change to private equity being the buyer, what does that mean for the sale price of the assets? What does that mean for the future of venture returns?
4. Trump, The Woke Left and The World Around Us:
Is Mark concerned about the potential of Trump winning the election?
Would Mark rather a Biden administration as the alternative?
Why is Mark so worried by the woke left?
Does Mark always believe there has been this deep-seated anti-semitism in the US education system? What can be done to remove this from our education system?
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20VC: Mistral's Arthur Mensch: Are Foundation Models Commoditising | How Do We Solve the Problem of Compute | Is There Value in the Application Layer | Open vs Closed: Who Wins and Mistral's Position
29 april 2024 · 50 min
Arthur Mensch is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mistral AI. Since its inception in May 2023, Mistral has raised over $520M in funding from investors like Andreeseen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Microsoft with a current valuation of $2 billion. Before founding Mistral, Arthur was a research scientist at DeepMind, one of the leading AI institutions in the world. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Arthur Mensch We Discuss:
From Models to Team Building: Arthur's Greatest Lessons at DeepMind
What were Arthur's biggest lessons from his time at DeepMind?
How did DeepMind shape how Arthur built Mistral?
Why does Arthur believe smaller teams are better for AI?
Why did Arthur decide to leave DeepMind and start Mistral?
Scaling Mistral to $2 Billion Valuation Within a Year
What made Mistral 7B so successful? What did Arthur learn from the model release?
What are the biggest barriers at Mistral today?
How does Arthur balance the sales and research teams at Mistral?
What does Arthur know now that he wishes he had known when he started Mistral?
How to Win in AI: Open Source, Cost, & Adoption
Why did Arthur open-source some models? Why did he close some?
How quickly will the cost of compute go down? Why does Arthur believe marginal costs will not go to zero?
How will open-sourcing LLMs affect the marginal cost?
Does Arthur think open source is ready for enterprise adoption?
What questions should enterprises be asking about AI adoption today?
What are the biggest challenges to AI adoption today?
The Future of LLMs
What does Arthur think are the largest bottlenecks of model quality today?
Does Arthur think future models will be more generalized or vertical-focused?
What does Arthur think about the future of commoditization in models?
Why is Arthur optimistic about the profitability of the application layer of AI?
How should models differentiate themselves today?
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20Growth: Inside Dropbox, Salesforce & Heroku's Product-Led Growth Engine; What Works & What Doesn't | Why Startups Doing Paid Under $100M ARR are not PLG | Why PLG is a Business Model, Not a Go-To-Market Motion with Adam Gross, Former CEO @ Vimeo
26 april 2024 · 42 min
Adam Gross is one of the masters of product-led growth (PLG). Most recently, Adam was Vimeo's interim CEO. Before Vimeo, Adam was CEO of Heroku, which he joined after selling his startup, Cloudconnect in 2013. Additionally, Adam has held executive leadership roles at Salesforce and Dropbox, and has been an active angel investor & advisor to companies, including Buildkite, Cribl, and Tailscale. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Adam Gross We Discuss:
PLG Tactics from Dropbox, Heroku and Salesforce:
What were Adam's biggest takeaways from his time at Salesforce? How did it shape his growth mindset?
What did Adam learn about customer acquisition at Dropbox?
What would Adam most like to change about growth today?
Product-Led Growth: The Fundamentals:
What is growth? What is it not? What do founders get wrong about growth?
Why does Adam think PLG is not for everybody?
What do most great PLG businesses have in common?
How are value propositions segmented in PLG? How can startups transition from individual to enterprise clients?
Why does Adam think startups doing paid acquisition sub $100M aren't actually PLG?
The Secrets to Optimizing Growth Channels:
What are the most common reasons fast-growing companies plateau?
How does Adam advise founders on diversifying channels?
What are the biggest mistakes founders make when scaling into enterprise?
How should startups do effective product marketing in horizontal products?
What is emotive & strategic marketing? How should startups balance both?
How Angel Investing Changes How You View Companies:
What are Adam's top 3 pieces of advice for founders?
What does Adam mean when he says you are either hiring a poet or a librarian?
What are the biggest mistakes founders make when hiring?
What was Adam's biggest investment miss? What did he learn from it?
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20VC: Is Speed the Most Important Thing from 0-1 | Why Hiring Inexperienced People is Better | The Biggest Lessons Scaling Zip to $1.5BN Valuation with Rujul Zaparde, Co-Founder and CEO @ Zip
24 april 2024 · 56 min
Rujul Zaparde is the Co-Founder and CEO of Zip, the world's leading Intake-to-Pay solution, adopted by leading enterprises and startups including Snowflake, Canva, Airtable, Webflow, and others. In 2023, Zip raised $100 million in a Series C round, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. Before founding Zip, Rujul was a Visiting Partner at Y Combinator and a product manager at Airbnb. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Rujul Zaparde We Discuss:
From Airbnb PM to $1.5BN Founder
How did Rujul's first company fail? What were his lessons?
What did Rujul learn from his time at Airbnb?
How did Rujul come to co-found Zip? What was the aha moment?
What did Rujul wish he'd known when he started Zip?
Standing Out in a Hyper-Competitive Market
Why did Rujul pick such a competitive market? How did they stand out?
Does Rujul think founders should focus on pain points or platform solutions on day one?
What is Rujul's advice to founders who are in the discovery process?
Does Rujul agree with Trae Stephens @ Founders Fund that serial entrepreneurs doing B2B enterprise SaaS are wasting their talent?
The Biggest Lessons Scaling Zip to $1.5BN Valuation
Which key moment caused Zip to accelerate?
Why does Rujul think speed is the most important element in startups?
Why does Rujul not believe in design partners?
Why does Rujul believe repeatability is the most important thing when pitching?
Does Rujul think AI will destroy outbound sales?
How to Hire & Manage Teams
What was Rujul's "rude awakening" building a sales team?
What was Rujul's biggest hiring mistake? What did he learn from it?
How does Rujul decide where to focus his attention and resources?
Why does Rujul believe younger managers are more creative?
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20VC: UiPath: The 10 Year Bootstrapping Journey that Turned into a $10BN Public Company | From a Dollar a Day to Romania's Richest Man | Happiness, Wealth, Risk and more with Daniel Dines, Co-Founder @ UiPath
22 april 2024 · 1 uur 25 min
Daniel Dines is the Co-Founder @ UiPath, one of the most incredible journeys in startups. For 10 years, UiPath was a bootstrapped company that scaled to just $500K in revenue. Then it all changed, product market fit became obvious and the rest is history. The company went on to raise funding from Sequoia, Accel, Kleiner Perkins and more. Today, the company is worth over $10BN, listed on the NASDAQ and does $1BN+ in revenue. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Daniel Dines We Discuss:
1. From a Dollar a Day to Romania's Richest Man:
How would Daniel's parents and teachers have described the young Daniel?
How did Daniel first learn to code? Why was his first programming job on $300 per month the best?
How did Daniel learn English by playing bridge with his friends?
What was the a-ha moment for Daniel with UiPath?
2. Becoming a Billionaire: The Mental Journey:
What does Daniel mean when he says everyone is a prisoner of their own mind?
How does Daniel reflect on his own relationship to money?
How did having absolutely nothing impact Daniel's relationship to risk?
Why does Daniel think that he does not really experience or feel happiness?
3. 10 Years to $500K ARR: The Miracle Bootstrapping Journey:
After 10 years, UiPath had just $500K in ARR, what was the one single moment that changed everything in 2014?
How did raising the seed round change everything for Daniel? How did it change his approach to operating?
What was the impact of having Sequoia invest? Does it change the game? Why did Daniel say no to them the first time they tried for the Series B?
4. Journey to a $10BN Public Company: The Crucible Moments:
How did the company almost go bust when it spent $400M against a plan of $150M in 2021?
What is the single proudest moment Daniel has of the 19 year journey with UiPath?
What have been Daniel's biggest management lessons in scaling UiPath to $1BN in ARR?
Knowing all that Daniel does today, what would he have done differently about the UiPath journey?
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20VC: Three Core Lessons Scaling Freshworks to a $5.2BN Market Cap | Biggest Product and Pricing Lessons from Scaling to $597M in ARR | How India Can Compete Globally in Tech and AI with Girish Mathrubootham, Co-Founder @ Freshworks
19 april 2024 · 50 min
Girish Mathrubootham is the founder and CEO of Freshworks, India's first SaaS company to list on NASDAQ. Today, Freshworks has over $596M in ARR with a $5.27BN market cap, with investors like Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, and CapitalG. Girish is also a founding member of SaaSBOOMi, Asia's largest community of founders and product builders, and has invested in over 60 startups. On top of that, Girish is also the Founder of Together Fund, a $150M fund focusing on Indian B2B companies going global from day 1. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Girish Mathrubootham We Discuss:
From Online Forum to the Founding of a $5BN Company:
How did a horrible customer service experience prompt Girish to start Freshworks? What was the aha moment?
What were Girish's biggest challenges founding Freshwork in 2010?
How was building the first product? What worked? What didn't work?
Biggest Lessons on Product, Pricing and People Scaling to $5.2BN:
Why does Girish believe Indian companies have to win globally before winning India?
What were Girish's biggest mistakes scaling Freshworks? What were his lessons?
Why does Girish believe starting high and going down never works in software?
When does Girish think is the best time to build the second product?
How did Freshworks lose against Slack? What did he learn from the experience?
The Biggest Lessons to Becoming the Best Leader:
How has Girish's leadership style changed over time?
What were Girish's biggest hiring mistakes?
What was Girish's biggest challenge in building culture during COVID?
What is one piece of advice Girish believes every CEO should follow?
How India Will Become a Global Player in Tech, AI and Football:
Why does Girish believe now is the time for India tech?
What are the most common misconceptions of India tech?
What traits does Girish look for in founders he invests in?
What was Girish's biggest investment mistake? What did he learn from it?
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20Product: Sequoia's Product-Market Fit Framework | Why the Best Product People Actually Build Less Product | Metrics 101, Good vs Great Product Strategy and more with Vickie Peng, Product Partner @ Sequoia Capital
17 april 2024 · 50 min
Vickie Peng is a Product Partner at Sequoia and the co-creator of Arc, their company-building immersion programme for pre-seed and seed stage founders. Prior to Sequoia, Vickie was a product manager at Polyvore (acquired by Yahoo for $200M) and Instagram, where she grew SMB advertising from $200M to $1BN. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Vickie Peng We Discuss:
Lessons from 15 Years in Product
How did Vickie make her way into the world of product?
How did Vickie turn a small side business into a massive revenue machine at TrialPay?
How did Vickie scale Instagram SMB ads to $1BN? What were her takeaways?
What was Vickie's business model at Polyvore that eventually led to the $200M acquisition by Yahoo?
Lessons from Scaling 100+ Companies in Sequoia
What does Vickie believe are the biggest mistakes early stage founders make when telling stories?
Which 2 components does Vickie believe every great product mission should include?
How should pre-product-market fit founders set their north star metric?
Perfecting Product Strategy
What was Vickie's biggest product mistake? What were her lessons?
Why does Vickie think the best product people build less product?
What is Vickie's advice to product leaders starting their first day on the job?
What are the most common mistakes founders make when hiring product teams?
Product-Market Fit Masterclass
Why does Vickie believe product-market fit is a journey not a destination?
What are the biggest reasons founders fail to get product-market fit?
What are the 3 types of product-market fit?
How does Vickie advise founders to differentiate themselves in competitive markets?
What is Vickie's framework for competing against incumbents?
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20VC: OpenAI's Sam Altman and Brad Lightcap on The Future of Foundation Models: Will They Be Commoditised | How to Solve the Problem of Compute | Open vs Closed: Which Dominates and Why | Which Companies and Verticals Will Be Steamrolled by OpenAI
15 april 2024 · 50 min
Sam Altman is the CEO @ OpenAI, the company on a mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI is one of the fastest-scaling companies in history with a valuation of $90BN and $2BN+ in revenue. Prior to OpenAI, Sam was the President and CEO @ Y Combinator and made angel investments in the likes of Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, Pinterest, Asana and more. Lees meer
Brad Lightcap is the COO @ OpenAI and the man responsible for the incredible scaling of sales, GTM, partnerships and business to today being over $2BN in revenue. Before OpenAI, Brad was an investor at Y Combinator, where he met Sam and before that led finance and operations initiatives at Dropbox.
In Today's Episode with Sam Altman and Brad Lightcap We Discuss:
1. The Partnership: The Most Powerful Double Act in Tech:
How did 25 people rejecting OpenAI's CFO positions 6 years ago, lead to Brad joining OpenAI before Sam even did? What did he see that the world did not?
What does Brad think is Sam's biggest superpower that the world does not know? What does Sam think it Brad's biggest superpower that the world does not now?
How do decisions get made between Brad and Sam? How do they decide what to delegate vs what not to? What is the most recent disagreement they had? How did they resolve it?
2. The Next 12 Months for OpenAI: Bottlenecks, Compute and Commoditisation:
What are the core bottlenecks facing OpenAI in the next 12 months?
How does Sam believe we solve the fundamental problem of compute?
What is the single biggest barrier to the quality of models improving?
What is the end state for the model landscape? Will models become commoditised?
3. OpenAI: The Fastest Scaling Company in History:
What has been the secret to how OpenAI has scaled to $2BN in revenue in 24 months?
Why does Sam believe that he is "not a great operator"? What drives this thinking?
What have been the first things to break in the scaling of OpenAI?
What do Brad and Sam know now about the…
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20Sales: The Biggest Sales Lessons Scaling Brex to $400M ARR, Why Startups are Doing Outbound Wrong and How to Fix It & Why Demand Gen is the Bottleneck for all Startups and How to Solve it with Sam Blond, Former CRO @ Brex
12 april 2024 · 1 uur 14 min
Sam Blond is the former CRO at Brex, where he led the company from near $0-$400M in ARR and a $12.5B valuation. Before Brex, Sam was VP of Sales at Zenefits, where he led the company from $0-$70M ARR in 2 years and a $4.5B valuation. Sam joined Founders Fund as a Partner in 2022 and recently left to focus more on operating. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Sam Blond We Discuss:
1. Lessons From Scaling Brex to $400M ARR & Zenefits to $70M ARR:
What are the secrets that very few people know, that led to the success of Brex and Zenefits?
What was the single worst sales investment Brex made? What was the best?
What are Sam's biggest tips to people picking the rocketship they will join?
2. Who, What and When to Hire:
When is the right time to hire your first sales rep?
Should the founder be the one to create the sales playbook?
What is the right profile for the first sales hire?
Does it matter if the new hire has domain experience?
Why does Sam always advocate to hire through network and not recruiters?
3. How to Hire the Best Sales Reps:
What are the questions Sam always asks in interviews with sales hires?
Does Sam do case studies with candidates? What is he looking for?
What are the biggest green and red flags a candidate can show in an interview process?
What are the biggest mistakes founders make when hiring sales teams?
4. How to Have the Best Performing Sales Team:
What are the three ways to measure the success of a rep in the first 30-60 days?
Why does Sam believe most startups are doing outbound wrong? What should they change?
Why does Sam believe demand gen is the bottleneck for all companies?
What can be done to solve the demand gen challenge?
How does outbound change in a world of AI?
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20VC: Are the Best CEOs the Best Fundraisers, Are the Best Founders Insiders or Outsiders to a Problem, Why Ownership Should Not Be a Focus in VC & The Biggest Lessons Scaling MongoDB to $26BN Market Cap with Kevin Ryan, Founder @ AlleyCorp
10 april 2024 · 1 uur 4 min
Kevin Ryan is one of the leading serial entrepreneurs and investors in New York. Previously he co-founded MongoDB, Business Insider, Gilt Groupe, Zola, Nomad Health, Pearl Health, and was the CEO of DoubleClick (Acquired by Google for $3.1B). Today, Kevin is the founder and CEO of AlleyCorp, a venture capital firm that incubates and invests in transformative companies in healthcare, diversified tech, robotics, and impact. Just yesterday, Alleycorp announced their $250M fund, their first ever external capital. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Kevin Ryan We Discuss:
Early Signs of Entrepreneurship
How did Kevin's early life shape his career? How would his parents and teachers describe him?
Does Kevin agree that successful entrepreneurs always show signs early?
What does Kevin think about luck vs. skill? Why does Kevin think that most things are out of your control as an entrepreneur?
Lessons from Founding 10+ Companies Worth $27BN
Does Kevin agree the best CEOs are also the best fundraisers?
What were Kevin's biggest lessons from scaling DoubleClick from 20 to 2000 employees?
What was Kevin's a-ha moment behind Business Insider? What was the reason behind its success?
Why does Kevin believe the best founders are always in unfamiliar fields?
Incubating World's Best Companies
How does Kevin allocate resources between incubations vs. investments?
What are the biggest commonalities between successful companies at AlleyCorp?
Is Kevin a market-led or people-led investor?
What does Kevin think is the most important element in achieving product-market fit?
What was Kevin's biggest miss on selecting founders? What were his takeaways?
Current State of Venture
Why does Kevin believe venture is more competitive now than ever before?
What does Kevin know now that wish he'd known when he started investing?
Does Kevin agree rich investors make better investors?
Why does Kevin not care about ownership?
Does Kevin agree with Doug Leone that venture has transitioned from …
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20VC: Postmates Founder Basti Lehmann on How the Uber Deal Went Down and How a $2.65BN Deal Turned into $5BN, Why Great VCs Add No Value and VC Value Add is BS Marketing & Why The Biggest Companies in History Will be Born Today and Replace Incumbents
8 april 2024 · 59 min
Basti Lehmann is the co-founder and former CEO of Postmates, the on-demand delivery service that raised over $900M from the likes of Tiger Global, Founders Fund, Spark Capital and Andreesen Horowitz. Following Uber's $2.65BN acquisition in 2020, Basti founded TipTop, a platform for fast tech sales which Marc Andreesen led the $20M seed round for. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Basti Lehmann We Discuss:
From US Immigrant to Billion Dollar Founder
How did Basti start his career hacking AT&T?
How did early hardships shape Basti's work ethic?
What were Basti's biggest challenges building Postmates?
Lessons from Raising $900M
How did Basti raise $20M from Marc Andreesen?
How does Basti select which VCs to work with?
Why does Basti think 99% of VCs are sheep?
Why does Basti think great VCs add no value?
Why does Basti think having to educate investors is a massive red flag?
Selling Postmates for $2.65BN
Why did Basti sell Postmates to Uber? How did the acquisition happen?
Was there anything Basti would have done differently?
What does Basti think makes Dara Khosrowshahi a great CEO?
What is Basti's biggest advice to founders on acquisitions?
Future of AI: Startups or Incumbents?
What does Basti think is the biggest challenge of LLMs today?
Why does Basti think inference computing will be the future of AI?
Why does Basti think incumbents can be replaced?
Why does Basti think the biggest companies are being born today?
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20VC: Oscar Health: How to Deal with a 94% Decline in Market Cap, "Why I Stood Aside as CEO" and The Rebound Journey to $5.8BN in Revenue with Mario Schlosser, Co-Founder @ Oscar Health
5 april 2024 · 1 uur 10 min
Mario Schlosser is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Oscar Health. The public company that went public with a market cap of $7.1BN. Following a tumultuous time in the markets, their stock price dropped 94%. Today, the company has rebounded and has a market cap of $3.2BN with an astonishing $5.8BN of revenues. Before co-founding Oscar, Mario also co-founded the largest social gaming company in Latin America. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Mario Schlosser We Discuss:
1. From German Middle-Class to Public Company Founder:
How did Mario make his way into the world of tech and come to co-found Oscar with Josh Kushner?
Does Mario agree with Jensen Huang that "we should all have lower expectations"?
What does Mario know now that he wishes he had known when he started Oscar?
2. Why Did Oscar Tank 94% in the Public Markets:
What was the core reason why Oscar tanked 94% in the markets?
What would Mario have done differently knowing all he knows now about public markets?
Does Mario regret going public? What are the biggest pros and cons?
3. The Mental Challenge of a 94% Market Cap Decline:
How did Mario mentally deal with the company being down 94%?
What does he say to himself in the truly hard times?
How did Mario use his co-founder, a coach and his family, to get through the really bad times?
What are Mario's experiences like with anti-depressants? What worked? What did not?
4. Firing Yourself as CEO:
Why did Mario decide to step aside as CEO? What was the decision-making process?
On reflection, does Mario think he was a good CEO? Where was he good? Where was he bad?
What are the biggest management pieces of advice that Mario thinks are BS?
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20VC: Founders Fund's Trae Stephens on Why The Most Competitive Deals are the Worst, Why No Company is Successful Because of their VC, Why We are Making ZIRP Mistakes Again Today, Why Loss Ratio is BS and Upside Maximisation is Everything
3 april 2024 · 1 uur 13 min
Trae Stephens is a Partner at Founders Fund, one of the world's leading funds where he has worked with some of the best and backed the likes of Palmer Luckey with Oculus and Ryan Peterson @ Flexport since the very early days. Trae is also Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Anduril Industries, a defense technology company focused on autonomous systems, and Co-founder of Sol, a next-generation wearable e-reader. Previously, Trae was an early employee at Palantir Technologies, where he was also an integral part of the product team, leading the design and strategy for new product offerings. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Trae Stephens We Discuss:
1. From Hustling into Georgetown to Peter Thiel Ushering You into VC:
What is Trae's story of how he got into Georgetown University, despite being rejected the first time?
How did Trae make his way into the world of VC? How did Peter Thiel recruit him to Founders Fund?
What advice did Brian Singerman give Trae in his first week in VC? Why is it so important?
2. How the Best Venture Firm in the World Invests:
Decision-Making Process: Why do Founders Fund not have partner meetings? What is the investment decision-making process? Why does more process lead to mediocre outcomes?
Competitive Deals: Why does Trae believe the most competitive deals are always the worst? What do Founders Fund do to specifically avoid the "herd mentality"?
Upside Maximisation: Why does no one at Founders Fund care about "downside protection"? How do the team approach scenario planning and upside maximisation?
3. Do VCs Really Add Value:
Why does Trae think putting VCs on a board for "value add" is total BS?
Are there any cases in which Trae believes the VC can really move the needle for a company?
Why does Trae believe venture would be better if it were just operator investors?
Why does Trae believe platform approaches to VC value add is BS?
4. The Future of VC: Who and How to Win:
How did being an operator at the same time as investing, mak…
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20VC: The Memo: The $23BN Company You Might Not Have Heard Of: Tradeweb, The Story of 27 Years of Compounding Growth Leading to the Market Leader with $1.4BN in Revenue and 50% EBITDA Margins
29 maart 2024 · 51 min
Billy Hult is Chief Executive Officer of Tradeweb Markets (Nasdaq: TW), as Billy puts it, they are the "electronic interface that connects Citadel and Goldman". They are also one of the most under the radar but incredible businesses of the last 20 years. Through no glitz acquisitions or specific moments, TradeWeb has compounded organic growth for the last 27 years to today, with a market cap of $22BN. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Billy Hult:
1. From Betting Shop Worker to Public Company CEO:
How would Billy's teachers and parents have described the young Billy?
Why does Billy think it is so important to have a hard first job when growing up?
What does Billy know now that he wishes he had known when he started?
2. What it Takes to be a World-Leading CEO:
How does Billy define the role of the CEO? What are the core tenets?
What has been the single hardest element of CEOship to learn?
Does Billy care about being liked? How does that impact his management style?
Why does Billy think it is so important for CEOs to make "big bets"? What have been his biggest?
3. Hiring World-Class Teams in 2024:
What have been some of Billy's biggest hiring mistakes? What did he learn from them?
How does Billy weigh IQ vs EQ and hustle? Which wins? Why?
Does Billy think this generation of millennials is too soft?
What are the single biggest lessons Billy has on when to delegate vs when to retain control?
4. Money, Power and Family:
How does Billy approach his relationship to money today? How has it changed over time?
Fame, power or money, rank them from 1-3. How does Billy rank them?
How does Billy describe his own style of parenting? How has it changed over time?
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20VC: a16z's Chris Dixon on Who Will Win the Next Generation of Venture, The Two Ways to Make Great Venture Investments and Find the Best Entrepreneurs & Why AI Will Strengthen the Position of the Incumbents Moving Forward
27 maart 2024 · 55 min
Chris Dixon is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, one of the leading venture firms of the last decade with investments in Oculus (acquired by Facebook), Coinbase, and many more. Chris also founded and leads a16z crypto, a division of the firm that he has grown from $300 million in 2018 to more than $7 billion of committed capital. Due to his many successes, Chris was named #1 on the Forbes Midas List in 2022. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Chris Dixon We Discuss:
From Founder to Leading GP in Venture:
How did Chris make his way into the world of venture and startups?
When did he realize investing was his calling?
How did Chris Dixon come to co-found Founder Collective with Dave Frankel and Eric Paley?
Lessons from 12 years Investing:
What are Chris' biggest lessons from working with Marc Andreesen and Ben Horowitz?
Does Chris agree with Doug Leone, "venture has transitioned from a boutique high margin business to a low margin commoditised industry"?
What are the two ways to win in venture?
Does Chris agree the best founders don't need their VCs?
What is Chris' biggest investing miss? How did it impact his mindset?
Are Incumbents Too Big To Be Replaced:
What is the biggest problem with open-source internet today?
Does Chris think incumbents can be replaced?
Why does Chris think AI will strengthen incumbents?
Does Chris think OpenAI should be open-sourced?
Biggest Challenges in Crypto:
What is the biggest misconception of crypto today?
Does Chris think speculation is bad for crypto?
What would Chris most like to change in the world of crypto?
How does Chris think Trump will affect crypto?
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20VC: Lessons from 32 Years of Fund Investing | Why Exits Will Be Larger & Funds Sizes Bigger | Top Reasons to Turn Down Potential Fund Investments | Fees, Carry, Deployment Pace; What Do LPs Inspect When Fund Investing with David Clark, CIO @ Vencap
25 maart 2024 · 1 uur 11 min
David Clark is the CIO of Vencap, one of the leading fund of funds in the venture landscape. David has been at Vencap for 32 years and has been an LP his entire career. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with David Clark We Discuss:
1. From Unemployed Student in Love to Leading LP:
How did a girlfriend lead to David taking his first steps into the world of fund investing?
What does David know now about fund investing that he wishes he had known when he started?
2. Is Being an LP Harder than Ever Before:
Does David agree with Doug Leone, "venture has transitioned from a boutique high margin business to a low margin commoditised industry"?
Does David agree with Ryan Akinna @ MIT, "it is harder than ever to be an LP"?
Does David think that venture returns will worsen in the coming years?
Has the denominator effect for LPs gone? Do LPs have liquidity today?
3. What Makes the Best Performing Funds:
What are the single biggest commonalities in managers that did a 3x net DPI fund?
Of managers with a 3x net fund, how many had a single company return the fund?
How do the best firms do generational transition?
How do the best firms take cash off the table and sell part or all of their position?
4. Five Things LPs Hate In Potential VC Investments:
What are the two most common reasons David will turn down a manager?
How does David feel about the varying fee and carry levels?
How does David feel about the compression of deployment times of funds?
How does David feel about managers increasing fund size so significantly on every cycle?
5. Fund Sizes, Exits and Concentrating Returns:
Why does David believe exit sizes will increase and fund sizes could be even larger?
Why does David think that despite the above, the concentration of returns will be even smaller?
Is David concerned by the IPO window being largely shut and the increased regulation on M&A?
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20VC: Bryan Johnson on Why Humans Are No Longer Qualified to Manage Our Own Affairs, How Algorithms Will Run our Bodies and How to Process New Ideas and Challenge Conventional Beliefs
22 maart 2024 · 52 min
Bryan Johnson is the founder of Blueprint, the man is at war with death and is mastering longevity. Bryan is on a mission aimed at enhancing human intelligence and being respected by people in the 25th century. Before starting Blueprint, Bryan also founded Braintree (acquired by PayPal for $800M) and OS Fund – a $100M venture capital fund investing in genomics, synthetic biology, and complex systems. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Bryan Johnson We Discuss:
The Philosophy of Don't Die
What does Bryan think is the biggest existential threat to humankind?
Why does Bryan believe humans are unfit to manage their own affairs?
Why does Bryan care about being liked by the 25th century?
Does Bryan think society is ready to adapt to immortality?
How to Process New Ideas
What 3 questions does Bryan ask to test new ideas?
How does Bryan combat against his own biases?
How does Bryan adapt to change? What has been his most painful experience?
Why does Bryan think religion is humanity's most durable technology?
The Most Measured Human in the World
What did Bryan learn about himself as the most measured human in the world?
How does Bryan use algorithms to take care of himself?
What has been Bryan's most expensive test?
How did Bryan use data to rejuvenate his sexual function?
How will tech & AI play a role in human longevity?
Health & Parenting Advice
How does Bryan raise his children?
How does Bryan get perfect sleep every night? What are his tips?
What is Bryan's advice to people who think it's too late to start becoming healthy?
What health advice does Bryan think is BS?
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20Product: Why Process is Killing Your Product Team and How to Remove it | Three Product Decisions Every Team Needs to Make | Why the Best Companies Build Movements and Lessons from Shopify and Atlassian on How to Do It Right with Jean-Michel Lemieux
20 maart 2024 · 1 uur 5 min
Jean-Michel Lemieux is one of the OGs of engineering and product having been the CTO at Shopify and the VP Engineering at Atlassian. Jean-Michel helped grow both Shopify and Atlassian from single-product to multi-product companies and led the building of their platforms. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Jean-Michel Lemieux We Discuss:
From band class to Shopify CTO
How did Jean-Michel make his way into the world of product?
What were Jean-Michel's biggest lessons from his time at Atlassian & Shopify?
How are Shopify & Atlassian the same? How are they different?
Why does Jean-Michel think Shopify could have been 10x bigger?
Building the Perfect Product
How does Atlassian & Shopify build movements instead of product?
What does Jean-Michel know now that he wishes he had known before he joined Atlassian & Shopify?
How does Jean-Michel balance between shipping speed vs. quality?
Why does JM think scrums and TDDs are BS? How did his last year at Shopify change his approach in product development?
What is a time horizon friction? And how does it impact teams?
How to Lead a Product Team:
What is micro alignment, and why does Jean-Michel think it is so important?
What 3 types of decisions every team makes?
What does Jean-Michel think are the most common reasons teams become average? How does he prevent it?
What do Jean-Michel think are the most common mistakes CEOs make today?
Hiring the Best Product Team:
How does Jean-Michel structure the interview process for new product hires?
What signals does Jean-Michel look out for when hiring? Why does he believe experience does not matter?
What are Jean-Michel's biggest hiring mistakes? What were his lessons?
What are 2 of the most common mistakes founders make when hiring a product team?
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20VC: 19 Company Portfolio: 1 Decacorn, 7 Unicorns, 4 Acquisitions; One of the Best Seed Investors of All Time on How to Pick Generational Defining Founders, Why Nothing but the Founder Matters & Why the Best Investors are Never Happy w/ Gili Raanan
18 maart 2024 · 58 min
Gili Raanan is the Founder of Cyberstarts and one of the most successful seed investors ever. In his 19 company portfolio, Gili has invested in a decacorn (Wiz), seven unicorns and had three others acquired. Prior to Cyberstarts, Gili spent over 15 years as a General Partner @ Sequoia Capital investing in some of the world's best cyber security companies. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Gili Raanan We Discuss:
1. From Founder to World's Best Seed Investor:
How did Gili make the move into the world of venture with Sequoia?
How did Mike Moritz and Doug Leone recruit him? What was that process like?
What are 1-2 of Gili's biggest takeaways from working with Doug and Mike?
2. How to Find and Pick the Best Founders:
What did Mike Moritz teach Gili about getting to know founders?
Why does Gili look for the pain in the eyes of the founder? What questions does he ask?
What are the most common signals of truly exceptional founders, having backed 7 unicorns?
Why does Gili believe that both market and product is BS? Why are the founders all that matters?
Why does Gili believe that the founder does not have to be a domain expert in a market to create a massive company in that market?
3. What it Takes to be the Best Seed Investor:
Why does Gili believe that the best seed investors do not have theses?
How important does Gili feel the brand of the VC firm is? What were his biggest lessons on brand from spending 15 years as a General Partner @ Sequoia?
Why does Gili believe that the best investors are never happy? When you are happy, you lose.
4. 2021 is Back: Pricing, Uprounds and more
Why does Gili believe that the best companies are always expensive and will always be expensive at every round?
Why does Gili believe that 2021 pricing and funding is back?
Is this a good thing? How does Gili advise founders on how much to raise and what valuation to set with investors?
What does Gili believe are the single biggest sins from the zero interest rate environment?
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20VC: Bending Spoons: The Most Untold Success Story in Startups: Lessons Scaling to 500M Downloads, $360M in Reported 2023 Sales and a $2.55BN Valuation... Bootstrapped with Luca Ferrari, Co-Founder and CEO @ Bending Spoons
15 maart 2024 · 53 min
Luca Ferrari is Co-Founder and CEO of Bending Spoons, one of the most incredible but untold success stories in startups. Luca has scaled Bending Spoons to 100M monthly active users, $380M in sales in 2023 and aiming to reach $500M in EBITDA by the end of 2026. The company's products include Evernote, Meetup, Remini, and Splice and their products have now been downloaded more than 500M times. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Luca Ferrari We Discuss:
From McKinsey Associate to $2BN Founder
What was Luca like as a child? How would his parents have described him?
Why did Luca share his McKinsey salary with his co-founders?
What were Luca's biggest lessons from his failed startup?
Bootstrapping Bending Spoons
Why did Luca decide to bootstrap Bending Spoons?
What does Luca think about the EU vs. US startup environment?
Why did Luca kill a $7M project? What were his lessons?
How did Luca pick his investors?
How to Find the Best Talent
What are the 3 key traits Luca looks for when picking the best talent?
Why does Luca think traditional interview strategies do not work?
What tests does Luca conduct for each candidate?
What were Luca's biggest hiring mistakes?
Mastering Acquisition & Growth
How does Luca determine which products to acquire? How does he identify signals?
How does Luca approach pricing assets? How does he win every bid?
What are Luca's biggest lessons from acquiring Evernote?
What key lessons on risk management does Luca wish he'd known 10 years ago?
What are Luca's biggest challenges on user acquisition?
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20Growth: Top Five Lessons from Leading Analytics at Facebook and Data Science at Sequoia Capital, The Two Skills Required to do Analytics Well, The Three Types of Execs within Companies and When and How to Hire for Growth with Chandra Narayanan
13 maart 2024 · 1 uur 15 min
Chandra Narayanan is one of the growth and analytics OGs having spent 7 years at Facebook leading analytics for the Facebook App and for Instagram. After Facebook, Chandra became Chief Data Scientist @ Sequoia Capital, helping Sequoia, find, select and help the best entrepreneurs in the world. Today, Chandra is the Founder & CEO @ Sundial, building products to help builders make meaningful use of data to fulfill *their* mission. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Chandra Narayanan
1. From Working on the Weather to Leading Analytics at Facebook:
How did Chandra make his way from analyzing weather patterns to leading analytics for Facebook?
What does Chandra know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career in growth?
How did one piece of advice from his manager at Paypal change Chandra's mind forever on "quitting" and when to "quit"?
2. Growth and Analytics 101:
What does growth mean to Chandra? What is it? What is it not?
When is the right time to hire a growth team/person?
What is the right profile for the first growth hires?
3. How to Hire the Best Growth Teams in the World:
What are the must-ask questions when hiring for growth?
How does Chandra use case studies to determine the quality of a candidate?
What does Chandra believe are the four main reasons people go to work?
What are the three different types of execs in tech? How do you know when you need each one?
4. Lessons from Leading Analytics at Facebook and Sequoia:
What are 1-2 of Chandra's biggest takeaways from leading analytics at Facebook?
What does Chandra believe are the two core skills needed to do analytics well?
How can you easily test if someone is good at analytics?
How did being Chief Data Scientist @ Sequoia change Chandra's perspective on growth?
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20VC: The Future of TikTok; Is it a Danger to US National Security| Why the "Woke Mind Virus" is a "Post-Modern Religion" and Is it Too Late to Reverse | Why the Education System is Broken | Investing Lessons from Wish, Palantir and Lady Gaga | Joe Lonsda
11 maart 2024 · 58 min
Joe Lonsdale is the Founder and Managing Partner at 8VC, an early-stage venture capital firm managing over $6 billion in capital. In 2003, he founded Palantir Technologies. Since then, he has founded over a dozen companies, including Addepar, a wealth management platform helping investors manage over $5 trillion, and OpenGov, recently sold for $1.8BN. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Joe Lonsdale We Discuss:
The Making of a Multi-Unicorn Founder:
What was Joe like as a child? How would his parents and teachers have described him?
What does Joe know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career?
How does Joe view the importance of luck and skill in success?
America's New Dawn: Navigating Frontiers and Accountability
What did Joe mean by describing America as a "frontier nation"?
How does Joe contrast America's frontiers with Europe's social safety nets?
How does Joe propose restoring America using the "scalpel over the sledgehammer" approach?
How can America introduce accountability to non-profit institutions? What role do for-profit prisons play?
Woke Mind Virus
Why does Joe consider the Woke Mind Virus a "Bad Postmodern Religion"?
Why does Joe see Elon Musk as a key figure in challenging "woke minds"?
Why does Joe believe the education system is a core problem? What needs to change?
Is it too late to reverse the current state of "woke mind virus"?
TikTok, China, Israel:
What does Joe believe is the right solution for TikTok's ownership?
To what extent is TikTok a danger to American national security?
What does Joe predict will happen to China from here? What needs to change?
How does Joe predict the next 24 months for the conflict in Israel and Gaza?
Investing Lessons: Wish, Palantir and more
What are Joe's biggest takeaways from the failing of Wish?
What did Joe learn from the failed project with Lady Gaga?
How does Joe reflect on when is the right time to sell?
How does Joe reflect on his own relationship to money?
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20Sales: Outbound Sales is Dead Today, Why Demand Generation Will Move Back Under Marketing, "Wisdom" that Everyone Needs to Unlearn About Sales & Why You Should Never Hire Someone You Do Not Know in Your First Five Hires with Brendon Cassidy
8 maart 2024 · 42 min
Brendon Cassidy is one of the OG of enterprise sales of the last decade, having advised the likes of Gong.io, Pipedrive, Showpad. Previously Brendon was first Head of Sales at LinkedIn and VP of Sales at Talkdesk. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Brendon Cassidy We Discuss:
1. From Recruiter to Sales OG and Linkedin's First Head of Sales:
How did recruiting prepare Brendon for a career in sales?
What impact did the dot-com bubble burst have on his early career?
What does Brendon know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career in sales?
2. The Sales Playbook and Hiring The Team:
How does Brendon define the "sales playbook"?
Should the founder be the one to create and execute V1 of the playbook?
Should the first sales hire be a rep or a sales leader?
When is the right time to make that all-important first sales hire?
3. Why Discovery and Outbound Are Broken Today:
Why does Brendon feel discovery is useless in today's sales process?
Why does Brendon believe outbound will move under the marketing function?
How does AI change the world of outbound sales?
Why will no great sales leaders join a company that doesn't have an inbound machine?
4. How to Master Onboarding and Increase Sales Performance:
What is the right way to onboard new sales reps?
How quickly do you know if a sales rep is not good? What are the signs?
What is the right way to measure the effectiveness of sales teams today?
What are the biggest mistakes founders make in onboarding sales teams?
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20VC: 27 Years of Investing Lessons on Picking Founders, Price Discipline, Reserves and Selling Positions | Can Seed Investors Compete with Multi-Stage Venture Firms | Why Returns Will Not Worsen Moving Forward with Peter Wagner, Founder @ Wing
6 maart 2024 · 56 min
Peter Wagner is a Founding Partner of Wing. Peter has led investments in dozens of early-stage companies including Snowflake, Gong, Pinecone, and many others which have gone on to complete IPO's or successful acquisitions. Prior to founding Wing, Peter spent an incredible 14 years at Accel, starting as an associate in 1996 and scaling to Managing Partner, before leaving to start Wing. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Peter Wagner We Discuss:
1. From Associate to Managing Partner to Founding Partner:
How did Peter first make his way into the world of venture as an associate at Accel?
How important does Peter believe it is to have early hits in your career as an investor?
What is the biggest mistake Peter sees young VCs make today?
2. The Venture Market: What Happens Now:
Does Peter agree with Roger Ehrenberg that venture returns will worsen moving forward?
How does Peter answer the question of how large asset management venture firms co-exist in a world of boutique seed players also?
Does Peter agree with Doug Leone that "venture has transitioned from a high-margin boutique business to a low-margin, commoditized industry?
3. Investing Lessons from 27 Years and Countless IPOs:
What have been some of Peter's single biggest investing lessons from 27 years in venture?
Why is Peter so skeptical of capital-intensive businesses? Will defense and climate startups suffer the same fate as clean tech did in the 2000s?
How does Peter reflect on his own relationship to price? When does it matter? When does it not?
What have been Peter's biggest lessons on when to sell positions vs when to hold?
What has been Peter's biggest miss? How did it impact his mindset?
4. Building a Firm from Nothing:
How was the fundraise process when leaving the Accel machine and raising with Wing?
What have been the single hardest elements of building Wing? What did he not expect?
What advice does Peter have for someone wanting to start their firm today?
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20VC: Managing the Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund in the World: $1.55 Trn of Assets & Owning 1.5% of all Listed Companies with Nicolai Tangen, CEO @ Norges Bank Investment Management
4 maart 2024 · 46 min
Nicolai Tangen is the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world with $1.55 Trn in assets, owning on average, 1.5% of every listed company. Tangen was previously Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer in AKO Capital, which he founded in 2005. Prior to this, Tangen was a partner and senior analyst at Egerton Capital and an equity analyst at Cazenove & Co. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Nicolai Tangen We Discuss:
From Religious Town in Norway to Leading the Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund:
What was Nicolai like as a child? How would his parents have described him?
Why does Nicolai think that loners have a greater chance/ability to make money?
What does Nicolai know now that he wishes he could tell a 20-year-old Nicolai?
The Top 10 Questions:
1. US Tech Firm Concentration: Is Nicolai concerned by the concentration of enterprise value in US tech firms? Have incumbents ever been as strong as they are today?
2. Impact of AI: What does Nicolai believe the impact of AI will be on society and productivity? What is his approach to investing in it moving forward?
3. Bitcoin: Why does Nicolai not want to hold Bitcoin? Why does he not understand it?
4. China: What would need to happen for China to be investable? How will the China situation play out?
5. Europe: Does Nicolai believe Europe is so far behind the US? Why? What can we do to improve?
6. Climate Change: How does Nicolai approach investing in climate? What works? What does not?
7. Sam Altman: Would Nicolai invest in Sam's new $7Trn project? What are some of Nicolai's biggest lessons from the time he has spent with Sam?
8. Investment Psychology: How does Nicolai retain a neutral investor psychology? How does he not get too up when doing well and too low when not doing well?
9. Investing Lessons: What are Nicolai's biggest investment hits and misses? What did he learn from them?
10. The Future: Why is Nicolai so optimistic about the future? What is he con…
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20VC: Are IPO Windows Shut? Has Regulation Killed the M&A Market? M&A OG Frank Quattrone on Lessons from 650 M&A Deals Worth Over $1TRN and Taking Amazon, Cisco and Netscape Public
1 maart 2024 · 58 min
Frank Quattrone is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Qatalyst and served as its CEO from the Firm's founding until January 2016. Over more than four decades, Frank and the teams he has led have advised on more than 600 mergers and acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value over $1 trillion and on more than 350 financings that raised over $65 billion for technology companies worldwide. Frank led the IPOs of Amazon.com, Cisco, Intuit, Netscape, among many others. He advised Apple on its $400 MM acquisition of NeXT (which led to Steve Jobs' return to Apple); Concur on its $8.3B sale to SAP; LinkedIn on its $28.1B sale to Microsoft; Qualtrics on its $8B sale to SAP and Twitch on its $1B sale to Amazon.com. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Frank Quattrone:
1. Has Regulation Killed M&A:
Why does Frank disagree that regulation has killed M&A?
What is the real reason why M&A is so down at present?
What would impact would a Trump administration have on the M&A environment?
What are some of Frank's biggest lessons from 600 prior transactions over dour decades of what happens when an M&A market shuts down?
2. When Will the IPO Window Re-Open:
Does Frank agree that the IPO window is currently closed for tech companies?
How does this IPO window compare to the dot com bust and 2007?
What is needed for the IPO window to re-open?
What is the timeline that Frank puts on the IPO window opening again?
3. M&A: How Do Companies Get Bought:
What is the process for a company to be bought?
What are the single biggest mistakes the seller makes in the process?
What do the best buyers and sellers do to get the best price?
Does Frank agree with the notion that "companies are bought and not sold"?
4. IPOing Amazing, Selling Linkedin and Qualtrics:
What is the story behind, Frank, Bill Gurley, Jeff Bezos and John Doerr pricing the Amazon IPO?
How did Linkedin come to be bought by Microsoft? What did that process look like?
How did Frank structure an event to ensure that Rya…
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20VC: Startups Only Fail When Founders Stop Trying, Why the Two Weeks Following Our IPO Were the Worst of my Life & Why Tieing Your Identity to Your Company is the Most Dangerous Thing and How to Avoid It with Sami Inkinen, Co-Founder & CEO @ Virta Health
28 februari 2024 · 1 uur 2 min
Sami Inkinen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Virta Health, the company reversing type 2 diabetes. Before Virta, Sami was the Co-Founder of Trulia, steering the company to a successful IPO and its eventual sale to Zillow Group. Outside of the boardroom, he launched Fat Chance Row, a daring venture to row 2,750 miles across the Pacific, unsupported with his wife, rowing 18 hours straight per day. Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Sami Inkinen:
1. From Farm in Finland to IPO Founder: Relationship to Money
How did Sami's humble upbringing on a farm in Finland impact his early mindset and ambition?
How does Sami analyze his relationship to money today? How has it changed over time?
Why was the two weeks following Trulia's IPO the worst two weeks of his life?
2. The Secret to Marriage: Rowing 2,750 Miles Together:
What are some of the biggest lessons on marriage Sami has from spending 45 days rowing the Pacific with only his wife for company?
What was their single biggest argument over the 45 days? What did Sami learn from it?
Sami worked with his wife, what are the biggest pros and cons of working with your spouse? Would Sami recommend it?
What does Sami believe are the core fundamentals that underpin the best marriages?
3. The Secret to Parenting: The Regret of Delegation:
What is Sami's biggest regret when it comes to parenting?
How does Sami think about what it means to be a great father today? How has that changed?
How did Sami's relationship with his wife change when they had kids?
4. Relationship to Identity:
Why does Sami believe tieing your identity to the company, as a founder, is so dangerous?
How does Sami advise on creating multiple personas to prevent this?
Why does Sami believe that all the best founders are addicts to some extent?
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20VC: What it Takes to be Top 1% in Private Equity | Why the Best Companies are Talent Systems | Three Traits Required to Succeed in Private Equity | Marriage, Fatherhood and Sports Team Owner, What it Takes to Do It All, with Justin Ishbia, Founder @ Sho
26 februari 2024 · 1 uur 21 min
Justin is the Founder and Managing Partner of one of the nation's best-performing private equity firms, Shore Capital Partners ("Shore"). Since the firm's inception in 2009, Shore has grown from 4 to over 140 team members managing over $6 billion in AUM, representing 900+ acquired companies and more than 33,000 employees. Shore is also one of the most active private equity firm in the world by deal volume according to PitchBook while continuing to achieve return profiles that rank Shore among the top 1% of private equity firms. Justin is an avid sports fan/investor and is the Alternate Governor for the Phoenix Suns (NBA), Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) and Nashville SC (MLS). Lees meer
In Today's Episode with Justin Ishbia:
1. From Law Student to Founding Shore Capital:
How did seeing Justin's father operate impact how he thinks about building Shore today?
What does he know now that he wishes he had known when he started Shore?
How important a role does luck play in success? How has his mindset changed on this?
2. How to Make Top 1% PE Returns:
Why does Justin see private equity done well like "using a flashlight in a dark room"?
What are the top 3 elements that Justin looks for in all acquisitions they make at Shore?
When did Justin think there was an advantage of scale/network effect but was proved wrong?
How does Justin think about downside protection and risk mitigation?
Why does Justin like to back and invest in first time founders more than any other type?
3. Building World-Class Investing Teams:
Why does Justin believe the best companies are talent systems?
How does Justin structure the talent system at Shore to ensure consistent incredible talent?
What does Justin believe are the three traits required to win in private equity?
What question does Justin ask all potential CEOs he hires for acquired companies?
What has Justin learned is the single clearest sign of the top .1% talent?
4. Justin Ishbia: The Family Man and Husband:
What metric does Justin use to…