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Clear all filters- Goldman Sachs18 min
Winning the Right to Invest: 20VC’s Harry Stebbings
Harry Cassell reframes media distribution as a critical weapon for securing investment rights, leveraging a data-driven content strategy that generated $6.1 million in 36 hours to differentiate his platform from traditional venture capital models. Critiquing the current market's saturation by large multi-stage funds, he emphasizes founder empathy, specific personality traits, and a robust LP network to navigate an environment where capital is commoditized and growth expectations have shifted. Looking toward Europe, Cassell predicts a decade of massive company creation driven by lower barriers to entry and increased founder resilience, citing early successes like Lovable as evidence of a reinvigorated ecosystem ready to compete globally.
Bill Ackman's Biggest Loss of All-Time
The speaker details the forced liquidation of Gotham Partners five years before the 2008 crisis following an MBIA white paper that triggered legal investigations and regulatory actions, alongside personal hardships during a 2015 to 2017 business downturn. Applying lessons from these structural failures regarding asset-liability mismatches, the founder established Pershing Square to invest exclusively in liquid large-cap companies while prioritizing rigorous internal reviews of both realized losses and missed opportunities like the Netflix position. Ultimately, the narrative emphasizes a resilience strategy combining physical health, supportive networks, and the discipline to reset after defeats, illustrated by a $2.8 billion interest rate hedge that remains regretted only for its insufficient capital allocation.