Bill Gurley and Chetan Puttagunta – An Update on Consumer & Enterprise Venture Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.162]

My guests today are Bill Gurley and Chetan Puttagunta, both partners at benchmark capital. We review the early stage investing world in the face of coronavirus in a very timely conversation, which is one that will remain valuable once this crisis is done. We discuss enterprise and consumer, funding and growth, and the entrepreneurial spirit in the face of a crisis. Please enjoy. This episode is brought to by Koyfin. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:44 – (First question) – Landscape for venture capital ecosystem 6:47 – The experience in 2009 and the entrepreneurs that tend to rise to the top 8:24 – The relationship between early stage companies and public investors 10:45 – How this crisis impacts enterprise businesses vs the broader corporate sector 14:46 – Advice for early stage companies in a period like this 18:23 – What Chetan was doing during the last downturn and what he learned during it 20:27 – Early stage vs late stage companies in this environment 22:57 – On the Road to Recap 23:00 – Benefits of being small in a period like this 25:22 – How portfolio companies are responding and pivoting during this period 29:33 – Best practices for remote companies 31:39 – Themes that stand out during this period 34:51 – Closing thoughts Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag