Latest Interviews
Showing 1141–1155 of 1,633 interview transcripts.
Clear all filtersLogan Bartlett: WTF is Happening at Growth Stage Investing? | 20VC #920
Logan Bartlett, Harry Stebbings
Redpoint Ventures partner Logan Williams discusses his career trajectory from Battery Ventures to Redpoint and outlines the firm's distinct strategy of balancing individual partner brands with deep domain expertise. Williams analyzes the current venture landscape, noting a capital shift from late-stage Series B and C rounds to earlier seed and pre-seed stages that has driven valuation inflation while creating a dearth of mid-market deal flow. He further details Redpoint's investment discipline, emphasizing a focus on ownership in high-conviction winners over "spray and pray" tactics, advocating for transparent portfolio mark-downs, and stressing the critical role of board governance in guiding founders through market corrections.
- The Diary Of A CEO1h 20m
Pret & Itsu Founder: How I Built TWO Billion Dollar Brands At The Same Time!: Julian Metcalfe | E173
Julian Metcalfe, Stephen Bartlett
Pret-a-Manger co-founder Julian Metcalfe sold his majority stake in 2018 to regain full creative control over his new venture, Itzu, a Japanese restaurant chain currently operating 76 stores with a focus on affordable, nutritious food. Having transformed his early experiences at Pret—where he pioneered staff-vote hiring and a "give-away" culture driven by radical transparency—Metcalfe now applies these human-centric principles to foster long-term growth and avoid the pitfalls of private equity interference. His approach emphasizes evidence-based progress and the acceptance of failure as essential to building trusted organizations, a philosophy he integrates into his business while reconciling with his past and nurturing his growing family.
- All-In Podcast1h 24m
E93: Twitter whistleblower, cloud security vulnerabilities, student debt forgiveness & more
Chamath, Calacanis, Friedberg, TheZachEffect, Biden
Former Twitter security head Peter Zatko has submitted whistleblower allegations to federal authorities claiming executives concealed security vulnerabilities and bot counts, a revelation that may substantiate Elon Musk's legal challenges regarding the social media platform's acquisition. The discussion further contrasts these corporate security failures with President Biden's unilateral student loan forgiveness plan, which critics argue creates a fiscal imbalance while failing to address underlying tuition inflation. Finally, the analysis touches on recent midterm election trends and emerging microbiome research suggesting that artificial sweeteners may harm glycemic control and gut health.
- The Diary Of A CEO59 min
Growing A 10+ Million Youtube Following At The Age of 22: Joe Sugg | E172
Former YouTuber Dan Howell leveraged his experience navigating the psychological traps of sudden internet fame to co-found a management company with Caspar Lee, aiming to mentor young creators against the burnout and anxiety he faced while scaling his audience to millions. His journey, marked by a career pivot from viral videos to roof thatching and a public relationship with dancer Diane, informs his advocacy for disconnecting from screens and redefining success through mental well-being and real-world connections. Howell now prioritizes guiding emerging talent through the complexities of social media pressures, emphasizing that sustainable creativity requires balancing online achievement with personal sanity.
Wesley Chan: How I Created Google Analytics; The Founding Story of Gmail & Canva | 20VC #919
Wesley Chan, Wes Chan, Larry, Sergey, Aydin Senkut
Former Google executive Wesley Chan leverages his decade of product experience to lead FPV Ventures, a $450 million fund managed by a small team that prioritizes "market creation" and 100-year founder visions over traditional metrics. The firm targets 20 core investments with checks between $10 million and $20 million, explicitly excluding crypto while focusing on revenue-generating businesses like Canva and Plaid to provide a safe harbor for charity-focused limited partners. By rejecting dogmatic ownership requirements and intervening only when requested, Chan's strategy aims to identify outlier companies capable of adapting the world for a century.
Jordan Van Horn: 3 Reasons Salespeople Fail; How to Make a Sales Playbook | 20VC #918
Jordan Van Horn, Head of Revenue at the billion-dollar data observability firm Monte Carlo, leverages his diverse background from Gala Winery, Dropbox, and Segment to refine go-to-market strategies for high-growth startups. He advocates for founders to own a disciplined sales playbook that clearly defines the problem, target audience, and urgency while ensuring multi-threaded relationships to mitigate churn risks during scaling. Van Horn further emphasizes building culture through transparent hiring practices, rigorous behavioral interviews, and a "User Guide" approach to align team expectations and foster rapid onboarding efficiency.
Sheel Mohnot: Lessons from Investing in Flexport and Missing on Robinhood | 20VC #917
Sheel Mohnot, Jake, Justin Bieber, Harry Stebbings
Better Tomorrow Ventures, co-founded by Sheil and NerdWallet's Jake Gibson, operates as a concentrated FinTech-focused fund targeting 10 to 15% ownership stakes in approximately 30 portfolio companies while prioritizing capital efficiency. The firm leverages Sheil's founder exits and microfinance background to execute a disciplined strategy that increased follow-on allocations in Fund 2, despite acknowledging past regrets over missed exits in companies like Robinhood and Chime. Looking ahead to 2027, the partnership aims to solidify its position as a global partner for fintech founders, maintaining a concentrated portfolio approach even as macroeconomic headwinds reshape emerging market opportunities.
- All-In Podcast1h 9m
E91: SoftBank's $21B+ Vision Fund loss, signals of a bubble, macro picture, Trump raided by FBI
Trump, Chamath, Calacanis, Friedberg, David Sacks, David Priberg
The panel analyzed SoftBank's $6 trillion loss and founder Masayoshi Son's admission of delirium, while debating whether structural fund flaws or the "kingmaker" strategy destroyed portfolio unit economics. Broader market discussions identified valuation bubbles driven by excessive liquidity and ZIRP, with experts predicting a shallow technical recession as interest rate impacts materialize. The conversation concluded by examining the polarizing implications of the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, which panelists described as a critical test of institutional integrity that may force a binary political outcome for former President Trump.
Kieran Flanagan: Hiring Tips for Growth; North Star Metrics; Hubspot's Mistake | 20VC #916
Industry experts outline a framework for scaling companies through three maturity stages, advising founders to prioritize retention over acquisition revenue until product-market fit is established. They contrast product-led and sales-led organizational structures while emphasizing rigorous hiring practices that favor execution skills over brand prestige and the necessity of cross-functional alignment to navigate internal friction. The discussion concludes by evaluating shifting marketing tactics, noting the decline of paid advertising effectiveness and the rising strategic value of building deep communities supported by durable channels like email automation.
Mo Koyfman: The Secret to Winning in Venture; Why Small Funds Outperform Large Funds | 20VC #915
Mo Koyfman, Fred Wilson, Philip Roth
Mo, a veteran investor who previously led M&A at IAC and joined Spark Capital before founding Shine, operates a $325 million venture firm structured around a hierarchical leadership model rather than traditional partnerships. His strategy prioritizes high-conviction "stock picking" in Seed and Series A rounds with limited portfolio sizes, enforcing disciplined capital allocation and rejecting deals that feature founder greed or exclusionary terms. By targeting 10–12% ownership stakes and avoiding blanket pro rata commitments, Shine aims to achieve top-10 early-stage status by 2027 through a rigorous focus on chemistry and rational market constraints.
Cambly CEO Sameer Shariff: Why I Raised $60M and Didn't Touch a Dollar | 20VC #914
Founded by Samir Arora and Kevin, Cambly operates as a data-driven global marketplace connecting 1.5 billion non-native English learners with native tutors to leverage the efficacy of one-on-one instruction. The company transitioned from intuitive growth to capital efficiency, securing cash flow positivity by 2017 through a "paid usage" model and strategic hiring that prioritized management aptitude over individual contributor skills. With a long-term mission to serve the fraction of the global population currently unserved, Cambly now focuses on scaling via improved matching algorithms and expanded affordability while navigating the complexities of maintaining speed as it grows from a lean startup to a structured organization.
Shreyas Doshi: The 6 Product Metrics You Need To Know; The 3 Types of Product Leader | E913
Shreyas Kasiviswanathan defines product management through a six-category metric framework and identifies three distinct leader personas—operators, craftspersons, and visionaries—to guide hiring decisions from the pre-product-market fit stage through scaling. He advises founders to prioritize strategic frameworks like the "Below, Table Stakes, Differentiation" model to avoid commodity traps while emphasizing that early-stage success relies more on qualitative feedback than quantitative perfection. Ultimately, the presentation underscores that founder responsibility for product strategy remains absolute and that successful investing hinges on identifying leaders with deep domain instincts rather than prestigious resumes.
Kirsten Green: The Biggest Challenges Scaling Both Teams and AUM | 20VC #912
Kirsten Green, Harry Stubbings
Kirsten, a former employee investor who launched Forerunner Ventures at age 40, leverages a unique non-linear background to drive a "Consumer North Star" investment thesis that increasingly targets B2B sectors serving shifting consumer behaviors. Operating a small, tightly-knit team with a leadership style defined by empowerment and rigorous quality standards, she navigates complex market dynamics by emphasizing strategic optimization and authentic decision-making over traditional credentials. Despite economic headwinds, her firm remains focused on building resilient companies through strict fundamentals, aiming to deliver top-quintile returns while fostering a culture where individuality and collective goals coexist.
Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone: The Yahoo Turnaround Plan | 20VC #911
Jim Bankofman, a seasoned executive known for turning around Ask Jeeves and leading Tinder and CBS Interactive, assumed the CEO role at Yahoo in September following its Apollo Global Management buyout. He is executing a federal restructuring model that empowers vertical-specific General Managers while leveraging the company's 900 million monthly users and strong brand equity to drive long-term growth. Bankofman aims to position Yahoo for a public company return within five years by balancing immediate user experience fixes with strategic investments and avoiding the pitfalls of over-monetization.
- Goldman Sachs50 min
Investing with Forerunner’s Eurie Kim
Eurie Kim, Katie Koch, Alison Nathan
Yuri Kim of Forerunner Ventures outlines a strategic pivot from traditional product-centric DTC models to experience-driven services while addressing the current venture capital slowdown caused by valuation misalignment and macroeconomic headwinds. The firm emphasizes a rigorous founder selection process prioritizing vision, discipline, and magnetism, particularly for teams navigating the shifting demographic landscape of Gen Z and settling millennials. Additionally, Kim highlights the critical role of diverse leadership in driving innovation and operational stability, noting that female investors bring distinct mediation skills essential for managing complex market environments.