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Jack Altman

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Loved having Brian Singerman Brian Singerman on Uncapped. We talked about his time at Founders Fund, his strategies for identifying outlier people, what type of VCs he believes are best set up for success, what he's doing with GPx, and a bunch more. He's an extremely clear thinker and it's easy to see how he helped create some of the best performing funds in our industry. Was really fun to talk with him about he did the job and what he's looking for as he backs VCs now. (0:00) Intro (0:50) Why you can't have a checklist for founders (1:46) How Brian looks for spikes (3:55) How Founders Fund played to its strengths (6:54) The Anduril founding team (12:04) The foundation of company culture (14:12) How Brian spent time with founders (19:06) What Brian is genuinely best at (20:25) GPx: backing elite emerging managers (23:12) Why Brian knew he was done with traditional VC (25:30) "I'm looking for people who could have beaten me in my prime" (29:38) GPx's structure and the bet-your-career mechanism (30:40) The optimal LP allocation to venture (34:49) Why SPVs are dead (41:00) How Founders Fund made the second most money on Airbnb (43:51) The concentration strategy (49:10) How Founders Fund worked and Peter's role (52:16) What makes Peter Thiel the best venture capitalist in history (56:53) Solo GPs vs. teams (58:02) Brian's music studio

Loved having Brian Singerman Brian Singerman on Uncapped. We talked about his time at Founders Fund, his strategies for identifying outlier people, what type of VCs he believes are best set up for success, what he's doing with GPx, and a bunch more. He's an extremely clear thinker and it's easy to see how he helped create some of the best performing funds in our industry. Was really fun to talk with him about he did the job and what he's looking for as he backs VCs now. (0:00) Intro (0:50) Why you can't have a checklist for founders (1:46) How Brian looks for spikes (3:55) How Founders Fund played to its strengths (6:54) The Anduril founding team (12:04) The foundation of company culture (14:12) How Brian spent time with founders (19:06) What Brian is genuinely best at (20:25) GPx: backing elite emerging managers (23:12) Why Brian knew he was done with traditional VC (25:30) "I'm looking for people who could have beaten me in my prime" (29:38) GPx's structure and the bet-your-career mechanism (30:40) The optimal LP allocation to venture (34:49) Why SPVs are dead (41:00) How Founders Fund made the second most money on Airbnb (43:51) The concentration strategy (49:10) How Founders Fund worked and Peter's role (52:16) What makes Peter Thiel the best venture capitalist in history (56:53) Solo GPs vs. teams (58:02) Brian's music studio

219,159 views • 18 days ago

I sat down with Sam Blond, founder of Monaco, to talk about to talk about the future of sales and GTM in the AI era. He's an incredible GTM leader and founder and I get new ideas every time I talk to him. Hope you enjoy. Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (1:26) Sam's sales journey (3:11) EchoSign learnings (5:28) Building Zenefits GTM (7:02) Parker's 0 to $10M thought exercise (9:51) Creating a demand-rich environment (14:20) People, brand, and revenue ops (21:19) Why Sam went to Founders Fund (28:00) Starting Monaco (29:40) Salesforce’s innovator's dilemma (31:40) Going straight for the system of record (34:30) Disrupting labor (41:10) Pricing in an AI-native environment (44:28) The Monaco GTM playbook (50:06) The $60,000 plane experiment (54:21) Creative campaigns vs. paid advertising (1:00:06) Monaco’s product approach (1:03:13) Advice for founders just starting to sell (1:07:58) Abundant pipeline and the right to say no

642,202 views • 2 months ago

This is a brilliant mechanic: if a GP is willing to bet their fund on a company (e.g. put 20% of their fund in) Brian / GPx will automatically invest alongside. Combines two founders fund lessons...the importance of concentration and incentive alignment.

This is a brilliant mechanic: if a GP is willing to bet their fund on a company (e.g. put 20% of their fund in) Brian / GPx will automatically invest alongside. Combines two founders fund lessons...the importance of concentration and incentive alignment.

66,668 views • 17 days ago

New episode of Uncapped with Sam Altman. Enjoy 🤗

New episode of Uncapped with Sam Altman. Enjoy 🤗

1,616,254 views • 1 year ago

As appreciated as it is, I think the power of storytelling is still somehow underrated. Lulu Cheng Meservey has advised some of the best companies (with the best auras) on comms such as Anduril, Cognition, Ramp, and many others. I loved having Lulu on Uncapped. We talked about the role of comms in company building, the elements of a good startup story, how vibes impact recruiting, and more. I learned a ton and had a great time. Hope you enjoy.

As appreciated as it is, I think the power of storytelling is still somehow underrated. Lulu Cheng Meservey has advised some of the best companies (with the best auras) on comms such as Anduril, Cognition, Ramp, and many others. I loved having Lulu on Uncapped. We talked about the role of comms in company building, the elements of a good startup story, how vibes impact recruiting, and more. I learned a ton and had a great time. Hope you enjoy.

1,218,932 views • 1 year ago

New episode of Uncapped with Trae Stephens and delian from Founders Fund, and my partner Everett Randle. We talked about Founders Fund, the role of VCs, operating versus investing, their current views on the market, and dynamics in the AI supply chain and China. The conversation stayed almost entirely on the rails and as always I learned a bunch from the way they think. Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (0:54) What makes FF unique (8:01) Why lacking EQ can be an asset (12:10) Delian on working with Keith (18:30) Why Trae hates board meetings (24:13) Benchmark vs. Founders Fund (26:31) Investing as the exhaust of operating (28:52) Venture as a micro asset class (30:42) The infamous 2021 offsite (34:21) Current market sentiment (39:18) Can you beat the S&P? (48:53) America's semiconductor blind spot (51:56) Taiwan and the 90% probability (57:58) Robotics, humanoids, and the China question

New episode of Uncapped with Trae Stephens and delian from Founders Fund, and my partner Everett Randle. We talked about Founders Fund, the role of VCs, operating versus investing, their current views on the market, and dynamics in the AI supply chain and China. The conversation stayed almost entirely on the rails and as always I learned a bunch from the way they think. Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (0:54) What makes FF unique (8:01) Why lacking EQ can be an asset (12:10) Delian on working with Keith (18:30) Why Trae hates board meetings (24:13) Benchmark vs. Founders Fund (26:31) Investing as the exhaust of operating (28:52) Venture as a micro asset class (30:42) The infamous 2021 offsite (34:21) Current market sentiment (39:18) Can you beat the S&P? (48:53) America's semiconductor blind spot (51:56) Taiwan and the 90% probability (57:58) Robotics, humanoids, and the China question

278,290 views • 2 months ago

I think this is a brilliant observation from Lulu: people root for you when they think you deserve more than you've got, and root against you when it's the opposite. It captures an essential element of good comms...how can you help people think you're underrated rather than overrated? People are very motivated to correct the record in either direction, or as Lulu puts it, "We're all kind of reputational karens."

I think this is a brilliant observation from Lulu: people root for you when they think you deserve more than you've got, and root against you when it's the opposite. It captures an essential element of good comms...how can you help people think you're underrated rather than overrated? People are very motivated to correct the record in either direction, or as Lulu puts it, "We're all kind of reputational karens."

1,152,398 views • 1 year ago

My conversation with tobi lutke, founder and CEO of Shopify. Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (0:49) A problem worth solving (5:58) Building products people love (10:14) Why originality matters (11:47) Conformity in Silicon Valley (15:47) Founder-led companies (18:44) Shopify’s AI transition (23:52) Building with urgency (26:52) AI for small businesses (35:18) Raising the standard of living (41:11) Predicting the future with AI (48:14) Changing perception on talent (55:34) Reading and curiosity

My conversation with tobi lutke, founder and CEO of Shopify. Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (0:49) A problem worth solving (5:58) Building products people love (10:14) Why originality matters (11:47) Conformity in Silicon Valley (15:47) Founder-led companies (18:44) Shopify’s AI transition (23:52) Building with urgency (26:52) AI for small businesses (35:18) Raising the standard of living (41:11) Predicting the future with AI (48:14) Changing perception on talent (55:34) Reading and curiosity

319,188 views • 4 months ago

In many ways, Thrive is helping define the current era of venture capital. Vince Hankes is one of the best in the business; he's behind their investments in OpenAI, SpaceX, Databricks, Stripe, and many more. He's also an excellent board member and friend. Excited for more people to hear his thinking, hope you enjoy.

In many ways, Thrive is helping define the current era of venture capital. Vince Hankes is one of the best in the business; he's behind their investments in OpenAI, SpaceX, Databricks, Stripe, and many more. He's also an excellent board member and friend. Excited for more people to hear his thinking, hope you enjoy.

854,170 views • 11 months ago

This was an exceptionally cogent articulation from Roelof about the state of venture capital. "There's a lot more talent than really interesting companies to be built. And I think we're spreading a lot of that talent thin right now." "Venture is a return-free risk."

This was an exceptionally cogent articulation from Roelof about the state of venture capital. "There's a lot more talent than really interesting companies to be built. And I think we're spreading a lot of that talent thin right now." "Venture is a return-free risk."

745,679 views • 11 months ago

I asked Vince if he would rather invest in $10B companies that could go to $100B rather than $1B companies trying to go to $10B. He said usually yes and gave an incredibly clear articulation for why. "There've been 75 companies in the last decade that have reached $100B or more. There were only a few hundred in the $10B bucket. So if you think about picking the 75 out of a few hundred, that has much better odds than trying to pick from the thousand of unicorns which might get to $10B."

I asked Vince if he would rather invest in $10B companies that could go to $100B rather than $1B companies trying to go to $10B. He said usually yes and gave an incredibly clear articulation for why. "There've been 75 companies in the last decade that have reached $100B or more. There were only a few hundred in the $10B bucket. So if you think about picking the 75 out of a few hundred, that has much better odds than trying to pick from the thousand of unicorns which might get to $10B."

709,347 views • 11 months ago

New Uncapped with two of the greats, Vinod Khosla and Keith Rabois. I don't think I've seen them on a podcast together so I was especially excited about this. I asked them about how they work together, how they see the world, what's changed in tech, and of course a little bit about their politics. Enjoy. (0:00) Intro (0:58) The working relationship (4:26) Pie chart on what’s discussed (7:11) Ethos of investors today vs the past (10:42) Comparing FF and KV (12:46) What makes a great founder (22:56) Alpha in today’s market (30:05) Themes in AI (38:23) How AI companies are built (46:23) Interests outside of AI (53:12) Their politics on X (58:24) Evolution of political leanings

New Uncapped with two of the greats, Vinod Khosla and Keith Rabois. I don't think I've seen them on a podcast together so I was especially excited about this. I asked them about how they work together, how they see the world, what's changed in tech, and of course a little bit about their politics. Enjoy. (0:00) Intro (0:58) The working relationship (4:26) Pie chart on what’s discussed (7:11) Ethos of investors today vs the past (10:42) Comparing FF and KV (12:46) What makes a great founder (22:56) Alpha in today’s market (30:05) Themes in AI (38:23) How AI companies are built (46:23) Interests outside of AI (53:12) Their politics on X (58:24) Evolution of political leanings

489,474 views • 8 months ago

This week, on Benchmark's new podcast Uncapped 😂, I sat down with Bret Taylor, founder of Sierra and Chairman of OpenAI. He's easily one of the most impressive people I’ve met in tech or in general. We talked about AI and the saaspocalypse, the unique considerations of building an AI native / agent company, whether young or experienced founders have the advantage right now, Codex and OpenAI ads, and much more. Learned a ton from Bret, hope you enjoy. (0:00) Intro (0:20) The Saaspocalypse and systems of record (12:34) Sierra's landscape (17:05) Outcome-based pricing (24:22) The rapid evolution of AI support technology (28:21) Young founders vs. experienced founders (34:12) What comes next beyond support (38:47) Codex and the future of software engineering (51:49) OpenAI and advertising (54:59) Working with investors and boards

This week, on Benchmark's new podcast Uncapped 😂, I sat down with Bret Taylor, founder of Sierra and Chairman of OpenAI. He's easily one of the most impressive people I’ve met in tech or in general. We talked about AI and the saaspocalypse, the unique considerations of building an AI native / agent company, whether young or experienced founders have the advantage right now, Codex and OpenAI ads, and much more. Learned a ton from Bret, hope you enjoy. (0:00) Intro (0:20) The Saaspocalypse and systems of record (12:34) Sierra's landscape (17:05) Outcome-based pricing (24:22) The rapid evolution of AI support technology (28:21) Young founders vs. experienced founders (34:12) What comes next beyond support (38:47) Codex and the future of software engineering (51:49) OpenAI and advertising (54:59) Working with investors and boards

417,178 views • 7 months ago

Something Sam learned with Parker Conrad is the importance of creating a demand-rich GTM environment. When you don't have enough leads, every deal is too precious, so targets can be easily be missed and more importantly reps might try to close bad-fit deals.

Something Sam learned with Parker Conrad is the importance of creating a demand-rich GTM environment. When you don't have enough leads, every deal is too precious, so targets can be easily be missed and more importantly reps might try to close bad-fit deals.

121,032 views • 2 months ago

"We were probably the 30th investor in Airbnb but I think we made the second most amount of money" Brian talked about how one of his big lessons was in putting in your ego aside when you make a mistake and taking each new decision fully fresh. Hard to do!

"We were probably the 30th investor in Airbnb but I think we made the second most amount of money" Brian talked about how one of his big lessons was in putting in your ego aside when you make a mistake and taking each new decision fully fresh. Hard to do!

35,602 views • 18 days ago

a16z just announced their newest fund - $15 billion! I had benahorowitz.eth on Uncapped to discuss how they run the firm, how he thinks about venture talent, a16z's overall investment approach, deploying capital at scale, media, and more. He's easily one of the most impressive people I've gotten to have on the podcast. Hope you enjoy.

a16z just announced their newest fund - $15 billion! I had benahorowitz.eth on Uncapped to discuss how they run the firm, how he thinks about venture talent, a16z's overall investment approach, deploying capital at scale, media, and more. He's easily one of the most impressive people I've gotten to have on the podcast. Hope you enjoy.

372,766 views • 8 months ago

For this episode of Uncapped I got to sit down with my close friend Max Mullen, cofounder of Instacart 🥕 We talked about the key moments of Instacart...how it got started, critical wins, tough losses, competitive dynamics, earned insights, going public, and Instacart's future. Max is also an awesome startup investor, and we talked about what he looks for in founders, consumer investing, and what he's building with Workshop. He's one of the best people I know, hope you enjoy. (0:00) Intro (0:36) The inception of Instacart (4:55) Finding product market fit (7:20) Landing Trader Joe’s (11:04) Big levers for growth (13:36) Operationally complex businesses (14:55) Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods (17:50) COVID and Instacart’s IPO (20:02) Prioritizing profitability (23:21) Avoiding temptations (24:59) The future of Instacart (25:53) Investing in consumer (28:21) Irrationally optimistic founders (29:49) B2B vs consumer founders (30:35) How to work with investors (33:38) Building Workshop

For this episode of Uncapped I got to sit down with my close friend Max Mullen, cofounder of Instacart 🥕 We talked about the key moments of Instacart...how it got started, critical wins, tough losses, competitive dynamics, earned insights, going public, and Instacart's future. Max is also an awesome startup investor, and we talked about what he looks for in founders, consumer investing, and what he's building with Workshop. He's one of the best people I know, hope you enjoy. (0:00) Intro (0:36) The inception of Instacart (4:55) Finding product market fit (7:20) Landing Trader Joe’s (11:04) Big levers for growth (13:36) Operationally complex businesses (14:55) Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods (17:50) COVID and Instacart’s IPO (20:02) Prioritizing profitability (23:21) Avoiding temptations (24:59) The future of Instacart (25:53) Investing in consumer (28:21) Irrationally optimistic founders (29:49) B2B vs consumer founders (30:35) How to work with investors (33:38) Building Workshop

237,070 views • 5 months ago

"I am very uncomfortable, I am not enjoying this moment at all...we're getting back to this point where prices are untethered from reality and it reminds me a lot of 2021." Trae and FF have been among the best hard tech investors in the business, so it was interesting to hear him say that hard tech may be in an even more exuberant moment than AI.

"I am very uncomfortable, I am not enjoying this moment at all...we're getting back to this point where prices are untethered from reality and it reminds me a lot of 2021." Trae and FF have been among the best hard tech investors in the business, so it was interesting to hear him say that hard tech may be in an even more exuberant moment than AI.

125,858 views • 2 months ago

This week's Uncapped guest was Roelof Botha, who runs Sequoia. We talked about his psychology leading the firm, how Sequoia makes decisions, and his views on the state of technology markets today. Unsurprisingly, I learned a ton. Hope you enjoy listening.

This week's Uncapped guest was Roelof Botha, who runs Sequoia. We talked about his psychology leading the firm, how Sequoia makes decisions, and his views on the state of technology markets today. Unsurprisingly, I learned a ton. Hope you enjoy listening.

410,745 views • 11 months ago