20VC: Fiverr CEO: ‘If You’re Not Adapting to AI, F* You. You’re Done | Why "Time to Copy" is the Most Important Metric in Startups Today | Why 99% of AI Companies Today Will Die | Why Governments Will Take Control of AI with Micha Kauffman

Peter Wagner is a Founding Partner of Wing. Peter has led investments in dozens of early-stage companies including Snowflake, Gong, Pinecone, and many others which have gone on to complete IPO's or successful acquisitions. Prior to founding Wing, Peter spent an incredible 14 years at Accel, starting as an associate in 1996 and scaling to Managing Partner, before leaving to start Wing. In Today's Episode with Peter Wagner We Discuss: 1. From Associate to Managing Partner to Founding Partner: How did Peter first make his way into the world of venture as an associate at Accel? How important does Peter believe it is to have early hits in your career as an investor? What is the biggest mistake Peter sees young VCs make today? 2. The Venture Market: What Happens Now: Does Peter agree with Roger Ehrenberg that venture returns will worsen moving forward? How does Peter answer the question of how large asset management venture firms co-exist in a world of boutique seed players also? Does Peter agree with Doug Leone that "venture has transitioned from a high-margin boutique business to a low-margin, commoditized industry? 3. Investing Lessons from 27 Years and Countless IPOs: What have been some of Peter's single biggest investing lessons from 27 years in venture? Why is Peter so skeptical of capital-intensive businesses? Will defense and climate startups suffer the same fate as clean tech did in the 2000s? How does Peter reflect on his own relationship to price? When does it matter? When does it not? What have been Peter's biggest lessons on when to sell positions vs when to hold? What has been Peter's biggest miss? How did it impact his mindset? 4. Building a Firm from Nothing: How was the fundraise process when leaving the Accel machine and raising with Wing? What have been the single hardest elements of building Wing? What did he not expect? What advice does Peter have for someone wanting to start their firm today?

6 Mars 202455min

Nicolai Tangen is the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world with $1.55 Trn in assets, owning on average, 1.5% of every listed company. Tangen was previously Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer in AKO Capital, which he founded in 2005. Prior to this, Tangen was a partner and senior analyst at Egerton Capital and an equity analyst at Cazenove & Co. In Today's Episode with Nicolai Tangen We Discuss: From Religious Town in Norway to Leading the Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund: What was Nicolai like as a child? How would his parents have described him? Why does Nicolai think that loners have a greater chance/ability to make money? What does Nicolai know now that he wishes he could tell a 20-year-old Nicolai? The Top 10 Questions: 1. US Tech Firm Concentration: Is Nicolai concerned by the concentration of enterprise value in US tech firms? Have incumbents ever been as strong as they are today? 2. Impact of AI: What does Nicolai believe the impact of AI will be on society and productivity? What is his approach to investing in it moving forward? 3. Bitcoin: Why does Nicolai not want to hold Bitcoin? Why does he not understand it? 4. China: What would need to happen for China to be investable? How will the China situation play out? 5. Europe: Does Nicolai believe Europe is so far behind the US? Why? What can we do to improve? 6. Climate Change: How does Nicolai approach investing in climate? What works? What does not? 7. Sam Altman: Would Nicolai invest in Sam's new $7Trn project? What are some of Nicolai's biggest lessons from the time he has spent with Sam? 8. Investment Psychology: How does Nicolai retain a neutral investor psychology? How does he not get too up when doing well and too low when not doing well? 9. Investing Lessons: What are Nicolai's biggest investment hits and misses? What did he learn from them? 10. The Future: Why is Nicolai so optimistic about the future? What is he concerned about? How will we overcome our greatest challenges?

4 Mars 202445min

Frank Quattrone is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Qatalyst and served as its CEO from the Firm’s founding until January 2016. Over more than four decades, Frank and the teams he has led have advised on more than 600 mergers and acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value over $1 trillion and on more than 350 financings that raised over $65 billion for technology companies worldwide. Frank led the IPOs of Amazon.com, Cisco, Intuit, Netscape, among many others. He advised Apple on its $400 MM acquisition of NeXT (which led to Steve Jobs’ return to Apple); Concur on its $8.3B sale to SAP; LinkedIn on its $28.1B sale to Microsoft; Qualtrics on its $8B sale to SAP and Twitch on its $1B sale to Amazon.com. In Today's Episode with Frank Quattrone: 1. Has Regulation Killed M&A: Why does Frank disagree that regulation has killed M&A? What is the real reason why M&A is so down at present? What would impact would a Trump administration have on the M&A environment? What are some of Frank's biggest lessons from 600 prior transactions over dour decades of what happens when an M&A market shuts down? 2. When Will the IPO Window Re-Open: Does Frank agree that the IPO window is currently closed for tech companies? How does this IPO window compare to the dot com bust and 2007? What is needed for the IPO window to re-open? What is the timeline that Frank puts on the IPO window opening again? 3. M&A: How Do Companies Get Bought: What is the process for a company to be bought? What are the single biggest mistakes the seller makes in the process? What do the best buyers and sellers do to get the best price? Does Frank agree with the notion that "companies are bought and not sold"? 4. IPOing Amazing, Selling Linkedin and Qualtrics: What is the story behind, Frank, Bill Gurley, Jeff Bezos and John Doerr pricing the Amazon IPO? How did Linkedin come to be bought by Microsoft? What did that process look like? How did Frank structure an event to ensure that Ryan @ Qualtrics and Bill McDermot @ SAP would meet and lead to the acquisiiton?

1 Mars 202458min

Sami Inkinen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Virta Health, the company reversing type 2 diabetes. Before Virta, Sami was the Co-Founder of Trulia, steering the company to a successful IPO and its eventual sale to Zillow Group. Outside of the boardroom, he launched Fat Chance Row, a daring venture to row 2,750 miles across the Pacific, unsupported with his wife, rowing 18 hours straight per day. In Today's Episode with Sami Inkinen: 1. From Farm in Finland to IPO Founder: Relationship to Money How did Sami's humble upbringing on a farm in Finland impact his early mindset and ambition? How does Sami analyze his relationship to money today? How has it changed over time? Why was the two weeks following Trulia's IPO the worst two weeks of his life? 2. The Secret to Marriage: Rowing 2,750 Miles Together: What are some of the biggest lessons on marriage Sami has from spending 45 days rowing the Pacific with only his wife for company? What was their single biggest argument over the 45 days? What did Sami learn from it? Sami worked with his wife, what are the biggest pros and cons of working with your spouse? Would Sami recommend it? What does Sami believe are the core fundamentals that underpin the best marriages? 3. The Secret to Parenting: The Regret of Delegation: What is Sami's biggest regret when it comes to parenting? How does Sami think about what it means to be a great father today? How has that changed? How did Sami's relationship with his wife change when they had kids? 4. Relationship to Identity: Why does Sami believe tieing your identity to the company, as a founder, is so dangerous? How does Sami advise on creating multiple personas to prevent this? Why does Sami believe that all the best founders are addicts to some extent?

28 Feb 20241h 1min

Justin is the Founder and Managing Partner of one of the nation’s best-performing private equity firms, Shore Capital Partners (“Shore”). Since the firm’s inception in 2009, Shore has grown from 4 to over 140 team members managing over $6 billion in AUM, representing 900+ acquired companies and more than 33,000 employees. Shore is also one of the most active private equity firm in the world by deal volume according to PitchBook while continuing to achieve return profiles that rank Shore among the top 1% of private equity firms. Justin is an avid sports fan/investor and is the Alternate Governor for the Phoenix Suns (NBA), Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) and Nashville SC (MLS).  In Today's Episode with Justin Ishbia: 1. From Law Student to Founding Shore Capital: How did seeing Justin's father operate impact how he thinks about building Shore today? What does he know now that he wishes he had known when he started Shore? How important a role does luck play in success? How has his mindset changed on this? 2. How to Make Top 1% PE Returns: Why does Justin see private equity done well like "using a flashlight in a dark room"? What are the top 3 elements that Justin looks for in all acquisitions they make at Shore? When did Justin think there was an advantage of scale/network effect but was proved wrong? How does Justin think about downside protection and risk mitigation? Why does Justin like to back and invest in first time founders more than any other type? 3. Building World-Class Investing Teams: Why does Justin believe the best companies are talent systems? How does Justin structure the talent system at Shore to ensure consistent incredible talent? What does Justin believe are the three traits required to win in private equity? What question does Justin ask all potential CEOs he hires for acquired companies? What has Justin learned is the single clearest sign of the top .1% talent? 4. Justin Ishbia: The Family Man and Husband: What metric does Justin use to track whether he is being a good and present father? Is it possible to be top 1% and have balance with a wife and family? What does "great fatherhood" mean to Justin? How has his thoughts on this changed? How does Justin think about bringing kids up in a world of immense privilege and ensuring they remain ground and ambitious?

26 Feb 20241h 21min

Scott Williamson was most recently Chief Product Officer for GitLab, where he led a team of 65 in Product Management, Product Operations, Growth, Pricing, and Corporate Development functions.  Before GitLab, Scott was VP of Product for SendGrid for over six years, where helped lead the company to a successful IPO and $3B acquisition by Twilio.  In Today's Episode with Scott Williamson We Discuss:  1. From Sales to Product Leader: Why does Scott believe sales is a great starting point for product people? To what extent does an MBA help someone wanting to pursue a career in product management? What does Scott know now that he wishes he had known when he started his career in product? 2. What, Who, When: How to Build a Product Team: Is product management art or science? What is the ratio? What are the four core roles of a product manager today? When is the right time to hire your first PM? What is the ideal profile for this first PM hire? What are the single biggest mistakes founders make when hiring PMs? 3. Hiring the Best Product People: What does Scott's hiring process look like for all new product hires? How does Scott test for systematic thinking and problem-solving ability? What questions does Scott always ask in interviews? What are the best case studies to use to test a candidate's skill set? How important is it for the candidate to have domain expertise in your product category? 4. The Best Product Teams are the Best Writers: What are the two different types of documents that product teams must use? How do you know when to use a one-pager vs a six-pager? How does the discussion and planning cycle for the different documents differ? How important is it for PMs to be great writers also?

21 Feb 202455min

Roger Ehrenberg is a legend of the venture industry as the Founder of IA Ventures, among the most successful seed-stage venture firms of this generation, having seeded companies including Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG), Digital Ocean (NYSE: DOCN), The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) and Wise (LSE: WISE.L). Today Roger is the Founder and Managing Partner of Eberg Capital, a pioneer in bridging the gap among sports franchises, sports betting, media and entertainment. Roger’s current sports investments include stakes in the Miami Marlins, Real Salt Lake, Alpine Racing, Betr, Commonwealth, Kero Sports, Simplebet, SlamBall, Smarkets and WagerWire. In Today's Episode with Roger Ehrenberg We Discuss: 1. The Commoditisation of Venture and Worsening Returns: Why does Roger disagree with Doug Leone that "we have moved from a boutique high margin business to a commoditised low margin industry"? Why does Roger believe we will see consistently worsening returns in venture? Is this influx of LP capital cyclical or is it here to stay? 2. The New LPs and The Broken Existing LP World: Why does Roger think the existing incentive structure for LPs is totally broken? Who are the most important new LPs entering the venture market? How do sovereigns and pension funds entering venture change the industry? Which players have capitalised on this new LP class best? 3. Where Does the Liquidity Come From: With the closed IPO window and lack of M&A, where will liquidity come from in the next 24 months? Would a Trump administration open M&A markets? Does Roger agree M&A markets are shut down? When does Roger believe IPO markets will open again? Will Databricks and Stripe go out in 2024? If Roger were to run a continuity fund strategy, how would he structure it? What would he do? 4. When to Sell and When to Hold: How does Roger advise managers on when to sell vs when to hold? How important is it for a new firm to have a company go public in the first five years? What are Roger's biggest lessons from selling The Trade Desk at a $2.5BN valuation? How does Roger think about managers thinking they should manage the public book of their portfolio for their LPs? What are the pros and cons? 5. Relationship to Money: Do rich investors make better investors? How does investing when you have a lot of cash already change your mindset around investing and exiting? How does Roger analyse his relationship to money today? What have been the single biggest needle movers in his wealth journey? How did it feel when he made a $6M bonus? 6. The Secrets to Parenthood and Marriage: What does it mean to be a great father for Roger? How does Roger think about bringing his children up with the same level of hunger and ambition, despite being brought up with such wealth? What are Roger's two biggest lessons on the secret to a great marriage?

19 Feb 20241h 11min

Christian Hecker is the Founder and CEO of Trade Republic, the company making it easy and inexpensive for everyone with a smartphone to invest. To date, Christian has raised over $1.3BN for the company from the likes of Sequoia, Founders Fund, Accel and Creandum to name a few. Previously, Christian worked in Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Investment Banking department. Johan Brenner is a General Partner at Creandum. Johan has led Creandum’s investments in iZettle (acquired by PayPal for $2.2bn in 2018), Trade Republic, Klarna, Pleo, Neo4J, Vivino and more. Johan was previously a repeat entrepreneur, founding one of the first online brokers in Europe in 1997 (sold to E*TRADE in the US), then JobLine (sold to Monster), Bookatable (Michelin) and Tradera (Ebay). In Today's Episode with Christian Hecker and Johan Brenner We Discuss: 1. Selling 75% of Trade Republic for €600,000: How did Christian come to sell 75% of Trade Republic for €600K? How did Johan and Creandum solve this challenge when they invested? What are some of Christian's biggest pieces of advice on cap table construction? 2. Raising $1.3BN From the Best Investors in the World: What are Christian's biggest fundraising lessons from raising $1.3BN from the best in the world? How did Doug Leone and Sequoia come to lead Trade Republic's round? What was the meeting with Doug like? What questions did he ask? How did it go? How important of a skill does Johan believe being a great fundraiser is for founders? 3. Scaling into Europe's Next Decacorn: What are the single biggest issues that arise when scaling so fast? What breaks first? Does CAC increase with time or decrease? Why did Christian decide to stop paid marketing on Google and Facebook and stop spending $100M+ there overnight? Why is Christian so bullish on influencer marketing? What works? What does not work? 4. Europe: A Hub for Innovation or a Retirement Home: Does Christian believe that young people in Europe work hard enough? What are the biggest challenges to scaling teams in Europe? Why does Johan believe the biggest challenge in Europe is the lack of exit markets? What can Europe do to improve and increase our chances of being successful?

16 Feb 202456min