1,140 episodes

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) interviews the world's greatest venture capitalists with prior guests including Sequoia's Doug Leone and Benchmark's Bill Gurley. Once per week, 20VC Host, Harry Stebbings is also joined by one of the great founders of our time with prior founder episodes from Spotify's Daniel Ek, Linkedin's Reid Hoffman, and Snowflake's Frank Slootman.

If you would like to see more of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), head to www.20vc.com for more information on the podcast, show notes, resources and more.

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch Harry Stebbings

    • Business
    • 4.4 • 429 Ratings

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) interviews the world's greatest venture capitalists with prior guests including Sequoia's Doug Leone and Benchmark's Bill Gurley. Once per week, 20VC Host, Harry Stebbings is also joined by one of the great founders of our time with prior founder episodes from Spotify's Daniel Ek, Linkedin's Reid Hoffman, and Snowflake's Frank Slootman.

If you would like to see more of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), head to www.20vc.com for more information on the podcast, show notes, resources and more.

    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

    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

    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.

    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?

    • 55 min
    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

    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

    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.

    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?

    • 1 hr 10 min
    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

    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

    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.
    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?
     

    • 52 min
    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

    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

    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. 
    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?
     

    • 1 hr 4 min
    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

    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

    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.

    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?

    • 57 min
    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

    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

    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.

    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?

    • 53 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
429 Ratings

429 Ratings

AH_12 ,

Asparagus from Veggie Tales

I’m almost certain the host is the voice actor for the asparagus from veggie tales

Arj-Un ,

Must listen for any founders.

Harry is simply brilliant at this. I’ve learnt more as a founder listening to this podcast than reading a plethora of books. His curation of questions, guest list, and applicability of content to real world problems that founders face on their journey is unmatched. It is timeless in that it keeps with the latest trends in the industry. When you’re on a walk, a drive, or simply with a few minutes on hand, this podcast will help you realize new pathways applicable to your journey. Whether you’re a first time founder or a serial entrepreneur, add this to your collection of knowledge bases. You will be thankful!

Adi rates ,

Too good to miss!

Just heard my first show, the Ultimate Hiring Playbook with Matteo Franceschetti and I was glued to both the content and the delivery. Harry Stebbings packed dozens of high value questions and Matteo delivered as much good insights as he possibly could.

Top Podcasts In Business

REAL AF with Andy Frisella
Andy Frisella #100to0
The Ramsey Show
Ramsey Network
The Dough
Lemonada Media
Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin
Money News Network
The Marketing Architects
Marketing Architects
The Money Mondays
Dan Fleyshman

You Might Also Like

This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
a16z Podcast
Andreessen Horowitz
Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors
SaaStr
The Logan Bartlett Show
by Redpoint Ventures
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
All-In Podcast, LLC