Episodes
March 20, 2017
20VC: SaaStr's Jason Lemkin on The 3 Things You Want From Your LPs, Why Most VCs Do Not Add Value & Why The Best VCs Know How To Package Startups For The Next Round
is the Founder @ , now with the $70m SaaStr Fund, Jason has paved the way for the new wave of VC in what I describe the 'platformification of VC'. Jason has led or sourced the first VC investment in some of the fastest growing SaaS companies of today...
March 17, 2017
20VC: Why Success in Gaming is Like Success in VC, The Key To Building An Enduring Game & Why Few Metrics Matter in Gaming with Kevin Chou, Founder & CEO @ Kabam
is co-founder and CEO of , a world leader in mobile free-to-play games. At Kabam, Kevin catapulted revenue to $400 million and a valuation of more than $1 billion in 2014. Under Kevin’s leadership, Kabam has raised more than $240 million from...
March 14, 2017
20VC: Sequoia Partner, Carl Eschenbach on Building and Scaling High Performace Teams and The Common Mistakes In Scaling A Go-To-Market Strategy
is a Partner @ , one of the world's leading funds with investments in the likes of Google, Apple, Whatsapp, Paypal and Stripe just to name a few. As for Carl, prior to Sequoia, Carl was President and CEO @ VMWare where he grew the team from 200...
March 13, 2017
20VC: Sequoia Partner, Pat Grady on Why Data Is The New Oil, Why We Will See The Return of The Apprenticeship Model in VC & The Defining Characteristics of The Next Generation of Great Software
is a Partner @ , one of the world's leading funds with prior investments in the likes of Apple, Google, Whatsapp, Paypal, Stripe and many more. At Sequoia, Pat has made investments in many past guests of this show and the SaaStr podcast including...
March 10, 2017
20VC: Wealthfront and Benchmark's Andy Rachleff on Why Delight Is The Greatest Form Of Virality, Why Competition Does Not Matter & What The Future Holds For Automated Personal Finance
From 1995 until 2004 was a co-founder and General Partner of Benchmark Capital, who have backed the likes of Twitter, Snapchat, Dropbox, Uber and Instagram. Upon his retirement from Benchmark, Andy joined the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School...
March 8, 2017
20VC: Why Valuation Is Of Critical Importance At Seed, How To Understand Innovation Cycles & Having 3 CEOs and Burning $10m a Month with Lee Hower, Co-Founder @ NextView Ventures
is a co-founder and Partner at , one of the East coast's leading early stage funds with investments in the likes of Dia & Co, Sunrise, TaskRabbit and GrabCad just to name a few. As for Lee, prior to being a VC with NextView, Lee started his...
March 5, 2017
20VC: Betaworks' John Borthwick on Why The VC Model Is So Inefficient, Why Venture Fund Cycles Are Too Short & Why Frontier Tech Could Only Have Been Disappointing Over The Last Year
is the Founder & CEO @ , the New York-based startup platform combining 3 areas of expertise. They have a studio where they have built products including Giphy, Dots, Bitly and more. They have a fund with prior investments including Tumblr, Medium...
March 3, 2017
20VC: Why Product Market Fit Is Like Porn, How The Entrance of Facebook and Google Into Enterprise Software Effects Traditional Enterprise Companies & The Future Pricing Model For The Enterprise with Dennis Mortensen, Founder @ X.ai
is the CEO and Founder of , the artificial intelligence driven personal assistant that lets people schedule meetings using plain English and nothing more than a CC to amy@x.ai. Their female persona Amy is so lifelike that users have asked her on...
March 1, 2017
20VC: The Power Of A Concentrated Seed Portfolio, Why Operational Value Add Models At Seed Do Not Make Sense & Why We Will See A Shakeout Of Growth Stage Investors with Roger Ehrenberg, Founder & Managing Partner @ IA Ventures
is the Founder and Managing Partner @ , one of New York’s leading early stage funds with investments in the likes of TransferWise and The Trade Desk. Prior to IA, Roger was a prolific angel investor making investments in over 40 companies including...
Feb. 26, 2017
20VC: Benchmark's Scott Belsky on What Makes Truly The Best VCs? Why Entrepreneurs Must Focus on 'The First Mile' & The Key Ingredients To The Perfect Onboarding Process
is a Venture Partner @ Benchmark, one of the world's leading VC funds. As an early-stage investor himself he has made investments in the likes of Uber, Warby Parker, Pinterest and Flexport just to name a few. Prior to Benchmark, Scott co-founded in...
Feb. 24, 2017
20VC: Raising $24m From The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Why EdTech Is So Misunderstood & Why The Future Of Work Is Decentralised with Andela's Jeremy Johnson
is the Founder & CEO @ , the startup that aims to bring a scientific approach to building engineering teams. They have backing from some of the best investors in the world with the likes of the Zuckerberg-Chan Initiative, Spark Capital, Google...
Feb. 22, 2017
20VC: Why Venture Is A Service Product? Why There Is No Such Thing As Product Market Fit & Why Startups Need To Be More Design Orientated with Ben Blumenfeld, Co-Founder & General Partner @ Designer Fund
is the Co-Founder & General Partner @ , they invest in startups co-founded by designers and build and educate design teams through their program, Bridge. Designer Fund's portfolio includes the likes of Gusto, Stripe, Shyp, Operator and many more...
Feb. 19, 2017
20VC: Pejman Nozad: Tech's Most Unlikely VC: From Yoghurt Shop To Investing In Startups Now Worth $20Bn+
is the Founding Managing Partner @ , one of the leading seed stage funds in the valley. However, Pejman did not enter the tech industry like most venture capitalists. Having immigrated from Iran, he lived in an attic above a yogurt shop and took a job...
Feb. 15, 2017
20VC: Why Founders Should Not Focus On Top Line Valuation, Why Capital Efficiency Is Key To Returns And Investment Success & Why Despite Popular Thought, $100m Is An Exciting Exit For VC with Micah Rosenbloom, Managing Partner @ Founder Col
is Managing Partner @ , one of the leading seed funds in the world with investments in Uber, Buzzfeed, Makerbot, PillPack, Coupang and Cruise, just to name a few. As for Micah, prior to VC with Founder Collective, his career was varied starting as a...
Feb. 13, 2017
20VC: Why We Are Valuation & Ownership Insensitive, Why We Do Not Take Board Seats & The Effects Of The Series A Crunch with Topher Conway, Co-Managing Partner @ SV Angel
is a Co-Managing Partner of , one of Silicon Valley's leading seed funds with investments in the likes of Facebook, AirBnB, Twitter, Dropbox and many more. At SV Angel, Topher works particularly close with Gusto, Github, Lookout and many more...
Feb. 10, 2017
20VC: How Startups & VCs Can Build Relationships with Potential Corporate Acquirers? The Challenge Of Operating Both A B2B & B2C Business Model & Why Fundraising Is The One Element Founders Cannot Control with Gautam Gupta, Founder & CEO @
is the Founder & CEO at , the startup that allows consumers to discover new & healthy foods through a monthly subscription service. They have raised over $50m in VC funding from the likes of General Catalyst, Redpoint, SoftBank and many more....
Feb. 8, 2017
20VC: The Radical Changes In Public Market Expectations, The Right Way To Assess Valuation & What It Means To Be A Disciplined & Diligent Investor with Randy Glein, Partner @ DFJ Growth
is a Co-Founder & Partner @ where he looks to partner with entrepreneurs that have achieved market validation and are looking to scale rapidly. Randy's investments include the likes of Twitter, Tumblr, SpaceX and Tesla just to name a few. Prior...
Feb. 6, 2017
20VC: What Does It Take To Gain A Late Stage Cheque Today? The Fundamental Mistakes CEOs Make In The Scaling Process & The Importance Of Building The Next S Curve For Founders with Jules Maltz, General Partner @ IVP
, is a General Partner @ where he has made investments in the likes of Slack, Zendesk, Twitter, Zenefits and many more incredible companies. Prior to IVP, Jules held roles at the likes of 3i, Admob and Bank of America. Jules has also been named to...
Feb. 3, 2017
20VC: Why I Do Not Regret Taking 'Peter Thiel Money', What Is The Difference Between Leadership & Management & What Conversations Are For The Founding Team Only with Tim Junio, Founder & CEO @ Qadium
is the Co-Founder and CEO @ Qadium, the startup that creates and organizes knowledge about the world's devices. They are backed by some of the best in the business including the likes of Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), NEA (Scott Sandell) and our...
Feb. 1, 2017
20VC: The Fundamentals To Creating A Successful Venture Partnership & The Optimal Investment Decision Making Process with Ryan McIntyre, Co-Founder @ Foundry Group
is a Co-Founder @ , one of the leading VC funds of the last decade with investments in the likes of Fitbit, SendGrid and Makerbot. Prior to Foundry, Ryan started his career in VC at Mobius Venture Capital in January 2000. While at Mobius...
Jan. 29, 2017
20VC: How 50% Of VCs Hurt Entrepreneurs, How To Build A Relationship Of Trust With Your VC and How Entrepreneurs Can Detect VC BS with Jason Mendelson, Co-Founder @ Foundry Group
is Co-Founder @ Foundry Group, one of the leading VC funds of the past decade with investments in the likes of Fitbit, SendGrid and Makerbot just to name a few. Prior to Foundry Jason co-founded SRS Acquiom, the largest merger and acquisition closing...
Jan. 27, 2017
20VC: Why You Should Build Your Investor Team Like A Sports Team & How To Leverage The Abilities Of Your Investors Effectively with Ted Blosser, Founder & CEO @ WorkRamp
is the founder and CEO of , the startup that is transforming how the best companies like PayPal, Twilio, and Optimizely train and develop their employees. They are backed by top investors like Initialized Capital, Susa Ventures, Liquid2, and Slack, in...
Jan. 25, 2017
20VC: Preparing For The Next Big Trend, Why Conversational Will Be The Next Big Thing & How Entrepreneurs Should View Market Size with Sarah Guo @ Greylock Partners
is an investor @ , which she joined in 2013. Prior to Greylock, Sarah was at Goldman Sachs, where she invested in Dropbox and helped take Workday public. She advised pre-IPO private technology companies (as well as public clients including Zynga,...
Jan. 22, 2017
20VC: Greylock's John Lilly on How Greylock Continues To Invest In The Next Big Markets, The Importance Of Building Tribes & Why There will Be Another Boom In Mobile
is a Partner at , one of the world's leading venture funds of the past decade. At Greylock John has led investments in the likes of Instagram (acq by Facebook), Tumblr (acq by Yahoo) and Dropbox. John also sits on the board for Quip, Figma and...