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BREAKING: Nominal Hits $1B Valuation — Founders Fund Preempts $80M B-2 Acceleration Round Just 10 months after Nominal's $75M Series B led by Sequoia's Alfred Lin CEO Cameron McCord & Trae Stephens (Founders Fund + Anduril) join Sourcery to discuss: - $155M raised in 10 months, nearly $200M total... funding - Early validation at Anduril - 4 of the 5 largest defense primes are now customers - Reducing major hardware test campaigns by 50–60% (which can cost ~$3M per day) - Strategy: platform expansion, potential M&A, and aggressive hiring - Anduril LORE All systems Nominal. Cameron McCord Trae Stephens Alfred Lin 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Trae Stephens & Cameron McCord (01:11) Nominal raises $80M from Founders Fund (03:32) Why Founders Fund made the investment (05:22) Palantir, FF, Anduril: Trae is a "Slashie" (07:14) Nominal: the GitHub for hardware testing (12:33) Why Sequoia believed Nominal’s TAM was much bigger (15:36) Inside Nominal’s growing defense customer base (17:32) Why government hardware testing still relies on Excel and MATLAB (22:22) Cutting hardware testing time by up to 60% (26:55) How AI changes hardware development (37:22) Why the government is backing new defense tech companies (33:35) Nominal's sales strategy (45:44) Competing with legacy software giants (46:24) Recruiting top engineers (50:56) Early Anduril LORE: Stories from the desertshow more

Molly O’Shea

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BREAKING: Nominal Raises $75M Series B Led by Sequoia Capital | No. 1 on Midas List, Alfred Lin Joins Board Closed in just 10 days, Cameron McCord, CEO & Founder of Nominal breaks down the process, market, & products on Sourcery We go deep into: 00:00 - $75M Series B Led by Sequoia 03:12- From Anduril to Nominal 06:01 - Market Opportunities & Challenges in AD 08:58 - Continuous Hardware Testing 11:48 - Nominal's Unified Operating Platform 15:03 - Role of Connect in Hardware Testing 17:55 - Trends & Predictions in Defense Sector 20:48 - Navigating Supply Chain & Testing Landscape 23:48 - Importance of Collaboration with Primes 26:49 - Delta Qualification 34:06 - Nominal's Products: Core & Connect 52:10 - Case Studies: Aerospace, Nuclear, and Maritime 01:00:24 - Efficiency Gains & Cost Savings 01:03:20 - Navigating Innovation in a Rapidly Changing Landscape 01:06:49 - GTM Strategies for Diverse Customers 01:09:10 - Building a Talented Team for Growth 01:14:57 - Lessons from Fundraising & Future Outlook

BREAKING: Nominal Raises $75M Series B Led by Sequoia Capital | No. 1 on Midas List, Alfred Lin Joins Board Closed in just 10 days, Cameron McCord, CEO & Founder of Nominal breaks down the process, market, & products on Sourcery We go deep into: 00:00 - $75M Series B Led by Sequoia 03:12- From Anduril to Nominal 06:01 - Market Opportunities & Challenges in AD 08:58 - Continuous Hardware Testing 11:48 - Nominal's Unified Operating Platform 15:03 - Role of Connect in Hardware Testing 17:55 - Trends & Predictions in Defense Sector 20:48 - Navigating Supply Chain & Testing Landscape 23:48 - Importance of Collaboration with Primes 26:49 - Delta Qualification 34:06 - Nominal's Products: Core & Connect 52:10 - Case Studies: Aerospace, Nuclear, and Maritime 01:00:24 - Efficiency Gains & Cost Savings 01:03:20 - Navigating Innovation in a Rapidly Changing Landscape 01:06:49 - GTM Strategies for Diverse Customers 01:09:10 - Building a Talented Team for Growth 01:14:57 - Lessons from Fundraising & Future Outlook

Molly O’Shea

96,799 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

FULL INTERVIEW: Trae Stephens (Trae Stephens), Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Anduril (& Partner at Founders Fund) Built when defense tech was still taboo, Anduril Industries's Palantir DNA & Peter Thiel–influenced bet on software, autonomy, manufacturing scale, & just-war ethics is now reshaping modern warfare. We cover: • From pariah to next-gen prime • 007 Story (thank you Jeff Miller for the rec) • Palantir DNA in hardware • "The factory is the weapon" Arsenal-1 • Just War Theory & autonomy • Thiel’s zero-to-one playbook This is Part 3 of 4 of our interview series with Anduril’s Founders, in addition to our compiled video, check them all out! Highlights: (00:00) Trae Stephens, Co-founder & Executive Chairman Anduril (01:03) Rise of defense tech & Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visit (03:58) Origin of Anduril & James Bond dreams (05:18) Anduril’s multi-domain defense strategy (06:42) China’s subsidies & US government investments (08:46) “Factory is the weapon” & re-industrialization (10:30) Arsenal-1 Ohio factory (13:44) What people get wrong about Anduril (17:08) Biggest Lesson from Palantir (19:04) Just War theory & defense ethics (22:16) Cultural shift from AI slop to good quests (23:49) How Anduril is building “Apple for defense” (27:03) Founders Fund investments: Varda, Armada, Cognition, General Matter (29:52) Why is Peter Thiel always right?

FULL INTERVIEW: Trae Stephens (Trae Stephens), Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Anduril (& Partner at Founders Fund) Built when defense tech was still taboo, Anduril Industries's Palantir DNA & Peter Thiel–influenced bet on software, autonomy, manufacturing scale, & just-war ethics is now reshaping modern warfare. We cover: • From pariah to next-gen prime • 007 Story (thank you Jeff Miller for the rec) • Palantir DNA in hardware • "The factory is the weapon" Arsenal-1 • Just War Theory & autonomy • Thiel’s zero-to-one playbook This is Part 3 of 4 of our interview series with Anduril’s Founders, in addition to our compiled video, check them all out! Highlights: (00:00) Trae Stephens, Co-founder & Executive Chairman Anduril (01:03) Rise of defense tech & Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visit (03:58) Origin of Anduril & James Bond dreams (05:18) Anduril’s multi-domain defense strategy (06:42) China’s subsidies & US government investments (08:46) “Factory is the weapon” & re-industrialization (10:30) Arsenal-1 Ohio factory (13:44) What people get wrong about Anduril (17:08) Biggest Lesson from Palantir (19:04) Just War theory & defense ethics (22:16) Cultural shift from AI slop to good quests (23:49) How Anduril is building “Apple for defense” (27:03) Founders Fund investments: Varda, Armada, Cognition, General Matter (29:52) Why is Peter Thiel always right?

Molly O’Shea

117,225 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

Ambition is timeless. Tools are not. Today Nominal is announcing an $80M fundraise at a $1B valuation, led by Trae Stephens and delian at Founders Fund. Since our Series B 10 months ago: 7x revenue growth. 2x team growth. Hardware engineers are stuck between 1980s-era tools and .com software built to be replaced. We're fixing the data supply chain so the industrial sector can adopt AI and enter the next era of ambition. We’re also releasing Volume 1 of the Nominal Product Catalog: "Tools for Progress." We're grateful for continued participation from Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Lightspeed, Redglass.vc, Avenir, and Haystack. All Systems Nominal.

Ambition is timeless. Tools are not. Today Nominal is announcing an $80M fundraise at a $1B valuation, led by Trae Stephens and delian at Founders Fund. Since our Series B 10 months ago: 7x revenue growth. 2x team growth. Hardware engineers are stuck between 1980s-era tools and .com software built to be replaced. We're fixing the data supply chain so the industrial sector can adopt AI and enter the next era of ambition. We’re also releasing Volume 1 of the Nominal Product Catalog: "Tools for Progress." We're grateful for continued participation from Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Lightspeed, Redglass.vc, Avenir, and Haystack. All Systems Nominal.

Nominal

241,917 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

"You earn the right to stand the night watch." - Cameron McCord Cameron McCord. Founder and CEO of Nominal. Submarine officer turned founder building the software stack for the physical AI era. New episode of Knuckle Up with Nakul is live ↓ 00:00 Who is Cameron McCord? 01:34 What did 484 days underwater teach him about leadership? 10:36 How do you "earn the right to stand the night watch"? 16:28 What was so special about Anduril’s culture? 28:39 What is the "power of ambiguity"? 31:29 How does Cameron think about recruiting? 37:39 Can you recruit “killers” who are also low ego? 46:50 What was the broken old way of testing hardware? 50:50 How do you actually crack selling to the government? 55:12 How did Nominal land four of the five largest defense primes? 1:01:33 What does "physical AI" actually mean? 1:18:14 What is Cameron still working on in his inner game? 1:23:22 Quickfire: military movies, leadership books, and a favorite office? 1:25:07 What advice would Cameron give to his 25-year-old self?

"You earn the right to stand the night watch." - Cameron McCord Cameron McCord. Founder and CEO of Nominal. Submarine officer turned founder building the software stack for the physical AI era. New episode of Knuckle Up with Nakul is live ↓ 00:00 Who is Cameron McCord? 01:34 What did 484 days underwater teach him about leadership? 10:36 How do you "earn the right to stand the night watch"? 16:28 What was so special about Anduril’s culture? 28:39 What is the "power of ambiguity"? 31:29 How does Cameron think about recruiting? 37:39 Can you recruit “killers” who are also low ego? 46:50 What was the broken old way of testing hardware? 50:50 How do you actually crack selling to the government? 55:12 How did Nominal land four of the five largest defense primes? 1:01:33 What does "physical AI" actually mean? 1:18:14 What is Cameron still working on in his inner game? 1:23:22 Quickfire: military movies, leadership books, and a favorite office? 1:25:07 What advice would Cameron give to his 25-year-old self?

Nakul Mandan

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NEW: Brian Singerman, fmr Founders Fund, now GPx, on why he only invests in *people* SpaceX is the reason he joined Founders Fund in 2008 "If SpaceX didn't work, Founders Fund would not exist." From Elon & SpaceX to Karp & Palantir, to Anduril, Airbnb, Stripe, & Stemcentrx, Brian Singerman's whole framework is one question: Is this the best founder in the world at their particular thing? We get into: - What makes Founders Fund unique: a team of strong-willed, genuinely authentic individuals - Why a 3x fund loses to the S&P - How a lifetime of strategy gaming shapes how he reads founders & now GPs - Why he bets against the end of the world every time - Why he's bullish on N-of-1 human cultural artifacts in an AI world - Why Cyan Banister & Palmer Luckey are genuinely N-of-1 people Thank you to Max Levchin, Trae Stephens & Scott Nolan for great questions 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Brian Singerman, Co-Founder of GPx, Former Partner at Founders Fund (00:42) Founders Fund (02:09) Max Levchin's unfiltered questions (05:25) How gaming shaped his investing (06:11) Joining Founders Fund in 2008 (07:34) Silicon Valley's most fascinating characters (09:29) Lessons from Peter Thiel (11:26) Building a culture of conviction (11:59) The art of spotting A+ founders (13:55) Trae's biggest lesson from Peter Thiel (14:41) Is socialism a threat to America? (15:58) Why capital is leaving California (17:03) The obsession with Hawaii (20:59) The Founders Fund playbook (24:51) "If SpaceX didn't work, Founders Fund would not exist" (26:03) Why Elon is one of one (27:30) Why everyone knew Starlink would win (28:42) Inside Founders Fund's biggest bets (31:06) The Founders Fund founder archetype (33:25) Backing fund managers instead of startups (35:22) The new generation of GPs (36:34) The most authentic people in tech (41:38) Why other VCs aren't the audience (44:05) Music, Memorabilia & N-of-1 Artifacts (46:25) The story behind Brian's music studio (49:22) What's next for Brian?

NEW: Brian Singerman, fmr Founders Fund, now GPx, on why he only invests in people SpaceX is the reason he joined Founders Fund in 2008 "If SpaceX didn't work, Founders Fund would not exist." From Elon & SpaceX to Karp & Palantir, to Anduril, Airbnb, Stripe, & Stemcentrx, Brian Singerman's whole framework is one question: Is this the best founder in the world at their particular thing? We get into: - What makes Founders Fund unique: a team of strong-willed, genuinely authentic individuals - Why a 3x fund loses to the S&P - How a lifetime of strategy gaming shapes how he reads founders & now GPs - Why he bets against the end of the world every time - Why he's bullish on N-of-1 human cultural artifacts in an AI world - Why Cyan Banister & Palmer Luckey are genuinely N-of-1 people Thank you to Max Levchin, Trae Stephens & Scott Nolan for great questions 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Brian Singerman, Co-Founder of GPx, Former Partner at Founders Fund (00:42) Founders Fund (02:09) Max Levchin's unfiltered questions (05:25) How gaming shaped his investing (06:11) Joining Founders Fund in 2008 (07:34) Silicon Valley's most fascinating characters (09:29) Lessons from Peter Thiel (11:26) Building a culture of conviction (11:59) The art of spotting A+ founders (13:55) Trae's biggest lesson from Peter Thiel (14:41) Is socialism a threat to America? (15:58) Why capital is leaving California (17:03) The obsession with Hawaii (20:59) The Founders Fund playbook (24:51) "If SpaceX didn't work, Founders Fund would not exist" (26:03) Why Elon is one of one (27:30) Why everyone knew Starlink would win (28:42) Inside Founders Fund's biggest bets (31:06) The Founders Fund founder archetype (33:25) Backing fund managers instead of startups (35:22) The new generation of GPs (36:34) The most authentic people in tech (41:38) Why other VCs aren't the audience (44:05) Music, Memorabilia & N-of-1 Artifacts (46:25) The story behind Brian's music studio (49:22) What's next for Brian?

Molly O’Shea

250,304 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

FULL INTERVIEW: Brian Schimpf, CEO of Anduril “We’re 8 years-ish in. We’re at about 7K employees. We have consistently doubled revenue every year— so even over $1B+, we’re still doubling revenue.” Schimpf joins Sourcery to discuss the company’s scale, strategy, & position in the defense market. He outlines Anduril’s growth to roughly 7K employees, $1B+ in revenue with continued YoY doubling, & their $30.5B valuation (too low?).. while addressing IPO speculation & these wild “fake SPVs” This is part 1 of 4 interviews with Anduril's founders. An extension of our compiled video that dropped yesterday :) Hope you enjoy. Brian Schimpf Anduril Industries Highlights (00:00) Brian Schimpf, CEO Anduril (01:32) Anduril’s scale today: $30B+ valuation, 7,000 employees, revenue doubling past $1B+ (02:20) Favorite product: Fury (03:55) How Anduril expanded from drones to missiles, aircraft, and Arsenal-1 (05:40) Market timing: why 3–5 year conviction beats 10-year moonshots (07:45) Lattice software and building a unified autonomous battlefield stack (09:25) Fixed-price contracts vs. legacy cost-plus defense procurement (11:20) Secretary Hegseth’s shift: speed, production, & affordability over perfection (13:05) Where the nearly $1T defense budget actually goes (17:25) Australia’s Ghost Shark program & rapid autonomous submarine production (19:45) Global defense backlogs & why allies are rethinking procurement (22:00) Manufacturing at scale: WWII lessons vs. modern “Galapagos” defense industry (25:55) Leadership lessons from Palantir: talent, artistry, and meritocracy (30:15) IPO rumors, fake SPVs, why Schimpf believes Anduril is undervalued

FULL INTERVIEW: Brian Schimpf, CEO of Anduril “We’re 8 years-ish in. We’re at about 7K employees. We have consistently doubled revenue every year— so even over $1B+, we’re still doubling revenue.” Schimpf joins Sourcery to discuss the company’s scale, strategy, & position in the defense market. He outlines Anduril’s growth to roughly 7K employees, $1B+ in revenue with continued YoY doubling, & their $30.5B valuation (too low?).. while addressing IPO speculation & these wild “fake SPVs” This is part 1 of 4 interviews with Anduril's founders. An extension of our compiled video that dropped yesterday :) Hope you enjoy. Brian Schimpf Anduril Industries Highlights (00:00) Brian Schimpf, CEO Anduril (01:32) Anduril’s scale today: $30B+ valuation, 7,000 employees, revenue doubling past $1B+ (02:20) Favorite product: Fury (03:55) How Anduril expanded from drones to missiles, aircraft, and Arsenal-1 (05:40) Market timing: why 3–5 year conviction beats 10-year moonshots (07:45) Lattice software and building a unified autonomous battlefield stack (09:25) Fixed-price contracts vs. legacy cost-plus defense procurement (11:20) Secretary Hegseth’s shift: speed, production, & affordability over perfection (13:05) Where the nearly $1T defense budget actually goes (17:25) Australia’s Ghost Shark program & rapid autonomous submarine production (19:45) Global defense backlogs & why allies are rethinking procurement (22:00) Manufacturing at scale: WWII lessons vs. modern “Galapagos” defense industry (25:55) Leadership lessons from Palantir: talent, artistry, and meritocracy (30:15) IPO rumors, fake SPVs, why Schimpf believes Anduril is undervalued

Molly O’Shea

268,968 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

RE-BREAKING: Hadrian Raises $260M Series C Led by Delian Asparouhov of Founders Fund, & Lux Capital, alongside a factory expansion loan facility from Morgan Stanley This brings Hadrian’s total funding to ~$500M since founding in 2020 CEO Chris Power (Chris Power) returns to Sourcery to announce Hadrian's 10x YoY growth, expansion plans, reindustrializing America, AI-powered factories, & more.. Highlights: (00:00) - Chris Power Returns (01:00) - $260M: delian, Lux, Morgan Stanley (03:35) - Factory 3 in Arizona & expansion (05:10) - Hadrian’s vision: full-stack production (06:55) - Customers: hardware startups, primes, DoD (08:30) - Why America needs 20 Hadrians (10:50) - Financing factories like solar & data centers (13:45) - ReIndustrialize 2025: momentum in policy & defense (15:45) - The Davidson Window: China, Taiwan, & U.S. readiness (22:57) - AI in manufacturing: Hadrian’s data moat & automation strategy (25:55) - Future Predictions: Trump, China, Recession (30:30) - Bloopers

RE-BREAKING: Hadrian Raises $260M Series C Led by Delian Asparouhov of Founders Fund, & Lux Capital, alongside a factory expansion loan facility from Morgan Stanley This brings Hadrian’s total funding to ~$500M since founding in 2020 CEO Chris Power (Chris Power) returns to Sourcery to announce Hadrian's 10x YoY growth, expansion plans, reindustrializing America, AI-powered factories, & more.. Highlights: (00:00) - Chris Power Returns (01:00) - $260M: delian, Lux, Morgan Stanley (03:35) - Factory 3 in Arizona & expansion (05:10) - Hadrian’s vision: full-stack production (06:55) - Customers: hardware startups, primes, DoD (08:30) - Why America needs 20 Hadrians (10:50) - Financing factories like solar & data centers (13:45) - ReIndustrialize 2025: momentum in policy & defense (15:45) - The Davidson Window: China, Taiwan, & U.S. readiness (22:57) - AI in manufacturing: Hadrian’s data moat & automation strategy (25:55) - Future Predictions: Trump, China, Recession (30:30) - Bloopers

Molly O’Shea

105,122 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

BREAKING: Sequoia Launches Two New Early Stage Funds: $200M Seed Fund VI & $750M Venture Fund XIX Alfred Lin (Alfred Lin), No 1 Midas List Investor (2 yrs in a row) shares Sequoia’s company-building philosophy with stories from OpenAI, DoorDash, Airbnb, Kalshi, Commure, Zipline, + For more than 50 years, Sequoia has partnered with founders to build some of the most consequential companies in history. Stats: - Since 2020, Sequoia has distributed over $43B+ to investors - Companies backed by Sequoia now account for more than 30% of NASDAQ’s total value, many of which were first supported at the seed or Series A stage, long before IPOs. With these two new funds, the mission remains the same: to help daring founders build legendary companies from idea to IPO & beyond. Highlights: (00:00) Alfred Lin, Sequoia (02:37) What makes an “outlier founder” (04:15) Founder support: Airbnb & DoorDash (07:10) Stories from Kalshi: regulation, elections & more markets (14:00) Little “p” pivots vs. Big “P” pivots (14:17) Zipline’s dramatic pivot to medical drones (18:00) DoorDash vs. Uber: efficiency as a weapon (19:49) When to pour capital into growth (20:07) Growth vs. true product-market fit (22:19) The race to $100M revenue – healthy or not? (25:55) Pilot/experimental revenue vs. real ARR (27:26) Breaking down revenue quality: SaaS vs. hardware vs. services (29:00) AI cycle, hype, & founder pressure (31:36) Why Sequoia expects more from this generation of founders (34:21) Measuring company velocity, not just revenue

BREAKING: Sequoia Launches Two New Early Stage Funds: $200M Seed Fund VI & $750M Venture Fund XIX Alfred Lin (Alfred Lin), No 1 Midas List Investor (2 yrs in a row) shares Sequoia’s company-building philosophy with stories from OpenAI, DoorDash, Airbnb, Kalshi, Commure, Zipline, + For more than 50 years, Sequoia has partnered with founders to build some of the most consequential companies in history. Stats: - Since 2020, Sequoia has distributed over $43B+ to investors - Companies backed by Sequoia now account for more than 30% of NASDAQ’s total value, many of which were first supported at the seed or Series A stage, long before IPOs. With these two new funds, the mission remains the same: to help daring founders build legendary companies from idea to IPO & beyond. Highlights: (00:00) Alfred Lin, Sequoia (02:37) What makes an “outlier founder” (04:15) Founder support: Airbnb & DoorDash (07:10) Stories from Kalshi: regulation, elections & more markets (14:00) Little “p” pivots vs. Big “P” pivots (14:17) Zipline’s dramatic pivot to medical drones (18:00) DoorDash vs. Uber: efficiency as a weapon (19:49) When to pour capital into growth (20:07) Growth vs. true product-market fit (22:19) The race to $100M revenue – healthy or not? (25:55) Pilot/experimental revenue vs. real ARR (27:26) Breaking down revenue quality: SaaS vs. hardware vs. services (29:00) AI cycle, hype, & founder pressure (31:36) Why Sequoia expects more from this generation of founders (34:21) Measuring company velocity, not just revenue

Molly O’Shea

356,307 Aufrufe • vor 9 Monaten

BREAKING: Zipline Raises $600M+ at $7.6 Billion Valuation, Surpassing 2,000,000+ Commercial Deliveries Becoming the world’s largest commercial autonomous delivery system. Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton (Keller Cliffton) joins Sourcery to break it all down Backed by Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, Valor, & Tiger Global, Zipline is entering a major U.S. & global scaling phase. The company was most recently valued at ~$5B in 2024, making this a meaningful step up. Highlights (00:00) Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Co-Founder & CEO, Zipline (01:11) The Cow Ranch origin story and Zipline’s latest fundraise (06:42) Zipline, the world’s largest commercial autonomous system (08:32) Alfred Lin (Alfred Lin) & Sequoia Capital's early bet (10:59) Building healthcare logistics that actually work (16:02) Why Zipline doesn’t need marketing? (20:23) Legos, rotisserie chickens, and delivering almost everything (22:51) When off-the-shelf hardware isn’t good enough (26:55) Defense interest & why Zipline stays commercially focused (29:47) What is Zipline’s “magical portal” model? (32:17) A simple decision that saved Zipline (37:17) Hiring mission-driven builders from Tesla & SpaceX (39:20) Learning how to scale from Tesla’s former CFO (41:28) The trillion-dollar path: 50B deliveries at 10x frequency (44:59) Expanding Africa operations with strong US government backing (47:33) Why this is the best time to be alive

BREAKING: Zipline Raises $600M+ at $7.6 Billion Valuation, Surpassing 2,000,000+ Commercial Deliveries Becoming the world’s largest commercial autonomous delivery system. Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton (Keller Cliffton) joins Sourcery to break it all down Backed by Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, Valor, & Tiger Global, Zipline is entering a major U.S. & global scaling phase. The company was most recently valued at ~$5B in 2024, making this a meaningful step up. Highlights (00:00) Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Co-Founder & CEO, Zipline (01:11) The Cow Ranch origin story and Zipline’s latest fundraise (06:42) Zipline, the world’s largest commercial autonomous system (08:32) Alfred Lin (Alfred Lin) & Sequoia Capital's early bet (10:59) Building healthcare logistics that actually work (16:02) Why Zipline doesn’t need marketing? (20:23) Legos, rotisserie chickens, and delivering almost everything (22:51) When off-the-shelf hardware isn’t good enough (26:55) Defense interest & why Zipline stays commercially focused (29:47) What is Zipline’s “magical portal” model? (32:17) A simple decision that saved Zipline (37:17) Hiring mission-driven builders from Tesla & SpaceX (39:20) Learning how to scale from Tesla’s former CFO (41:28) The trillion-dollar path: 50B deliveries at 10x frequency (44:59) Expanding Africa operations with strong US government backing (47:33) Why this is the best time to be alive

Molly O’Shea

131,672 Aufrufe • vor 6 Monaten

BREAKING: Inside a16z's $22B AUM Growth Fund Waymo, Kalshi, Coinbase, Robinhood, Stripe, Revolut, ElevenLabs, Flock Safety, Harvey, EliseAI, Hebbia, Roblox, Anduril, Sardine With a fresh $6.75B Growth fund, General Partner Alex Immerman (Alex Immerman) shares how a16z evaluates category leaders & why firms are rethinking old metrics in the AI era. “If you look at OpenAI & Anthropic alone, those two companies added as much revenue last year as 1/2 of the public cloud universe excluding the Mag Seven.” Even as AI added ~$6T in market value to the stock market in 2025, we discuss the private companies driving the next wave of growth. Topics include: • Marc Andreessen lore • Why the fastest-growing tech companies are still private • Waymo’s expansion & the future of autonomous vehicles • ElevenLabs & the breakout of voice AI platforms • Kalshi & the rise of prediction markets • The four largest tech companies adding 1% to U.S. GDP growth with $400B in spending in 2025 • How a16z grew from a startup VC to capturing 18% of all U.S. venture capital • Why engagement, retention, & product defensibility matter more than ever Full conversation ↓ 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Alex Immerman, GP a16z (00:53) Flock Safety: Most underrated company in America (03:43) Private vs public market growth gap (04:43) Do gross margins matter in AI companies? (06:33) Waymo’s growth & $16B funding round (08:13) The future of ride sharing & autonomous vehicles (10:01) Where the value in self driving tech will accrue (12:27) Tesla FSD vs Waymo’s full stack approach (13:50) The growing brand power of Waymo (15:43) What comes after autonomous cars? (17:41) Are people really worried about AI taking over? (18:55) Inside ElevenLabs’ $500M funding round (22:12) The real world use cases of voice AI agents (22:55) How a16z invested in Kalshi (24:11) Why Kalshi over Polymarket? (26:35) Prediction markets vs g*mbling (29:33) Is fintech making a comeback? (32:44) Why stablecoins are becoming important (33:30) Lessons from Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong (34:19) How a16z evaluates growth companies (36:52) Where startups spend money: R&D vs marketing (38:44) Why startups need a strong Act 2 (40:08) Why venture outcomes are getting bigger & bigger (42:24) Why backing the market leader matters (43:49) The best books for founders (44:59) How a16z built its media machine (47:03) Who will be the first Trillionaire?

Molly O’Shea

145,674 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

BREAKING: Inside Jake Paul's VC Fund Yes, that Jake Paul. Jake Paul & Geoffrey Woo (GEOFF) break down Anti Fund (Anti Fund) Anti Fund is a $65M+ AUM venture firm built to challenge traditional VC playbooks by investing flexibly across stages, leveraging culture, distribution, & AI Investments include: OpenAI, Anduril, Ramp, Cognition, Polymarket, Physical Intelligence, Flock Safety (via Aerodome), Chronosphere, Merge, & more.. We get into: • JP's Business Empire: W, Betr, Anti Fund, Most Valuable Promotions, Boxing Bullies, Celsius, Dog Haus, & his new Ranch • Flexible Strategy: enter early, scale conviction as companies prove out • Core Bets across AI, robotics, & defense • OpenAI Partnership, Sam Altman + involvement in the viral Sora launch • New Addition: Logan Paul Highlights: (00:00) Jake Paul & Geoffrey Woo, Anti Fund (01:26) Private jet new productivity unlock (03:37) Jake’s empire: W, Betr, Anti Fund, & more... (05:12) Silicon Valley then vs now: more alpha, same chaos (07:47) Daily routines: training, recovery, & anti-fund (10:39) Extreme context switching: from OpenAI meetings to TMZ interviews (12:54) Multiple personalities? (13:39) What it really means to be an entrepreneur (20:28) Thesis: culture, tech, timing, & urgency to win (23:11) Fund structure: AUM, check sizes, & strategy (25:45) Dynamic strategies in fast-moving AI markets (27:42) Creativity (30:33) Investment areas: AI infrastructure, applied AI, robotics, & defense tech (32:11) Meeting Sam Altman & Sora launch (35:32) Lessons from Sam Altman (37:30) Hot takes on influencers (40:46) Human stories, AI content, and robot boxing (43:22) Logan Paul joins Anti Fund (51:06) Scams (54:25) What Jake's excited about right now? (56:44) Anti Fund summit, building a 6,000-acre ranch (59:49) Doomsday bunker? (01:02:26) Setting benchmarks and goals for the next 12 months

BREAKING: Inside Jake Paul's VC Fund Yes, that Jake Paul. Jake Paul & Geoffrey Woo (GEOFF) break down Anti Fund (Anti Fund) Anti Fund is a $65M+ AUM venture firm built to challenge traditional VC playbooks by investing flexibly across stages, leveraging culture, distribution, & AI Investments include: OpenAI, Anduril, Ramp, Cognition, Polymarket, Physical Intelligence, Flock Safety (via Aerodome), Chronosphere, Merge, & more.. We get into: • JP's Business Empire: W, Betr, Anti Fund, Most Valuable Promotions, Boxing Bullies, Celsius, Dog Haus, & his new Ranch • Flexible Strategy: enter early, scale conviction as companies prove out • Core Bets across AI, robotics, & defense • OpenAI Partnership, Sam Altman + involvement in the viral Sora launch • New Addition: Logan Paul Highlights: (00:00) Jake Paul & Geoffrey Woo, Anti Fund (01:26) Private jet new productivity unlock (03:37) Jake’s empire: W, Betr, Anti Fund, & more... (05:12) Silicon Valley then vs now: more alpha, same chaos (07:47) Daily routines: training, recovery, & anti-fund (10:39) Extreme context switching: from OpenAI meetings to TMZ interviews (12:54) Multiple personalities? (13:39) What it really means to be an entrepreneur (20:28) Thesis: culture, tech, timing, & urgency to win (23:11) Fund structure: AUM, check sizes, & strategy (25:45) Dynamic strategies in fast-moving AI markets (27:42) Creativity (30:33) Investment areas: AI infrastructure, applied AI, robotics, & defense tech (32:11) Meeting Sam Altman & Sora launch (35:32) Lessons from Sam Altman (37:30) Hot takes on influencers (40:46) Human stories, AI content, and robot boxing (43:22) Logan Paul joins Anti Fund (51:06) Scams (54:25) What Jake's excited about right now? (56:44) Anti Fund summit, building a 6,000-acre ranch (59:49) Doomsday bunker? (01:02:26) Setting benchmarks and goals for the next 12 months

Molly O’Shea

823,056 Aufrufe • vor 5 Monaten

NEW: How 137 Ventures Built a 1%+ Position in SpaceX Over 16 Years Interview with Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Co-Founder & Managing Partner One of the most underrated investment stories in tech: a contrarian approach that built one of the most consequential ownership positions in the industry. 137 quietly accumulated SpaceX since 2011, investing over 2 dozen times & never sold a share. Today the firm runs $15B+ AUM, deployed $1.7B last year, holds positions in 40+ companies, & has backed nearly 60 portfolio companies in company’s history. Big names include: SpaceX, Palantir, Uber, Anduril, Cognition, Brex, Impulse Space, Gusto, Ramp, & Hadrian. The thesis, circa 2011: companies would stay private longer. That bet built into one of venture's largest SpaceX positions, accumulated through secondaries and tenders. We cover: - Early SpaceX conviction - Buying the tender cadence - Why secondary, why now - Companies over categories - Cash on cash discipline - Passing on foundational models - Impulse Series D 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at 137 Ventures (00:51) The story of SpaceX (02:50) Why companies are staying private longer (04:15) What Liquidity actually means for Founders and Employees (05:38) Why he left Founders Fund to start from scratch (06:23) $240B Secondaries market (07:01) What made SpaceX a generational bet (07:52) How the Falcon 9 made the entire Space Industry obsolete (10:59) When Starlink became the obvious winner (13:29) How 137 Ventures turns Conviction into Compounding (14:09) Backing SpaceX alumni: the Impulse investment (14:32) Will the secondary market keep growing? (15:15) Companies vs. Categories (16:25) Separating AI hype from long-term durability (17:47) How 137 Ventures is structurally different from traditional VC (22:19) SpaceX made blue collar workers rich (23:24) Ownership percentage vs. Cash on cash returns (24:31) The most memorable moments (25:43) The Third Falcon 1 Launch (26:55) Why test failures are actually a good sign (28:32) The biggest lessons from Elon and Gwynne (29:07) What's next for 137 Ventures

NEW: How 137 Ventures Built a 1%+ Position in SpaceX Over 16 Years Interview with Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Co-Founder & Managing Partner One of the most underrated investment stories in tech: a contrarian approach that built one of the most consequential ownership positions in the industry. 137 quietly accumulated SpaceX since 2011, investing over 2 dozen times & never sold a share. Today the firm runs $15B+ AUM, deployed $1.7B last year, holds positions in 40+ companies, & has backed nearly 60 portfolio companies in company’s history. Big names include: SpaceX, Palantir, Uber, Anduril, Cognition, Brex, Impulse Space, Gusto, Ramp, & Hadrian. The thesis, circa 2011: companies would stay private longer. That bet built into one of venture's largest SpaceX positions, accumulated through secondaries and tenders. We cover: - Early SpaceX conviction - Buying the tender cadence - Why secondary, why now - Companies over categories - Cash on cash discipline - Passing on foundational models - Impulse Series D 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Justin Fishner-Wolfson, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at 137 Ventures (00:51) The story of SpaceX (02:50) Why companies are staying private longer (04:15) What Liquidity actually means for Founders and Employees (05:38) Why he left Founders Fund to start from scratch (06:23) $240B Secondaries market (07:01) What made SpaceX a generational bet (07:52) How the Falcon 9 made the entire Space Industry obsolete (10:59) When Starlink became the obvious winner (13:29) How 137 Ventures turns Conviction into Compounding (14:09) Backing SpaceX alumni: the Impulse investment (14:32) Will the secondary market keep growing? (15:15) Companies vs. Categories (16:25) Separating AI hype from long-term durability (17:47) How 137 Ventures is structurally different from traditional VC (22:19) SpaceX made blue collar workers rich (23:24) Ownership percentage vs. Cash on cash returns (24:31) The most memorable moments (25:43) The Third Falcon 1 Launch (26:55) Why test failures are actually a good sign (28:32) The biggest lessons from Elon and Gwynne (29:07) What's next for 137 Ventures

Molly O’Shea

157,347 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

BREAKING: Google Completes $32B Acquisition of Wiz $6M Seed → $32 Billion Exit First seed investor Gili Raanan (Gili Raanan // Cyberstarts) of Cyberstarts explains how a $6M seed check became the largest cybersecurity exit ever — & what it’s like working with CEO Assaf Rappaport. Cyberstarts stats: - $1.5B+ AUM across 7 funds - Backed 30 companies - Portfolio represents over $61B in combined value (50% of the worldwide private cybersecurity companies market) - Backed at Seed: Wiz, Island, Fireblocks, Cyera, Transmit Security - 9 exits including Noname, Axis, Bionic, Dazz, Avalor This conversation took place in London February 12th, 2026. We cover: • Early days of Wiz & how the company evolved from seed to a $32B outcome • Why Wiz achieved such strong product market fit • What made Assaf (Assaf Rappaport) and the founding team special • How Cyberstarts picks founders before there is product or code • Why Gili believes AI could create the darkest decade in cybersecurity • What the next generation of $50B–$100B cyber companies could look like 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Gili Raanan, Founder Cyberstarts (01:05) From Sequoia to building a Cyber only venture fund (04:39) Building CAPTCHA and the first web application firewall at 27 (05:35) Growing up in a small Israeli town and discovering computers (09:15) Why he decided to focus only on cybersecurity (11:05) Investing in people, not ideas (12:45) The kind of founders he looks for (14:05) Why adversity creates better entrepreneurs (16:11) When a small fund delivers outsized returns (19:00) A portfolio with 50% of private cyber market value (20:12) Growing up introverted & learning to observe people (26:30) What makes a company truly important (30:48) Why do Israeli founders dominate cybersecurity? (31:05) Helping founders become the best version of themselves (37:06) Israeli culture, pressure, and resilience (41:25) Breaking the ceiling with companies like Wiz (43:24) Why limits exist mostly in our minds (46:15) Facing fears, Yoga and overcoming internal limits (47:32) The “Sunrise” method for finding PMF (51:55) Why building startups is an emotional journey (56:25) How cybersecurity ideas actually emerge (58:15) The dark decade of cybersecurity (01:06:45) Asimov’s laws of robotics and AI guardrails (01:09:55) The three biggest cybersecurity risks in 2026 (01:12:25) Inside the $32B Wiz deal (01:22:23) What makes Wiz co-founder Assaf exceptional (01:24:33) Surrounding yourself with great people (01:28:48) The biggest takeaways from his time at Sequoia: Doug Leone, Mike Moritz (01:32:05) What’s next for Cyberstarts?

BREAKING: Google Completes $32B Acquisition of Wiz $6M Seed → $32 Billion Exit First seed investor Gili Raanan (Gili Raanan // Cyberstarts) of Cyberstarts explains how a $6M seed check became the largest cybersecurity exit ever — & what it’s like working with CEO Assaf Rappaport. Cyberstarts stats: - $1.5B+ AUM across 7 funds - Backed 30 companies - Portfolio represents over $61B in combined value (50% of the worldwide private cybersecurity companies market) - Backed at Seed: Wiz, Island, Fireblocks, Cyera, Transmit Security - 9 exits including Noname, Axis, Bionic, Dazz, Avalor This conversation took place in London February 12th, 2026. We cover: • Early days of Wiz & how the company evolved from seed to a $32B outcome • Why Wiz achieved such strong product market fit • What made Assaf (Assaf Rappaport) and the founding team special • How Cyberstarts picks founders before there is product or code • Why Gili believes AI could create the darkest decade in cybersecurity • What the next generation of $50B–$100B cyber companies could look like 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Gili Raanan, Founder Cyberstarts (01:05) From Sequoia to building a Cyber only venture fund (04:39) Building CAPTCHA and the first web application firewall at 27 (05:35) Growing up in a small Israeli town and discovering computers (09:15) Why he decided to focus only on cybersecurity (11:05) Investing in people, not ideas (12:45) The kind of founders he looks for (14:05) Why adversity creates better entrepreneurs (16:11) When a small fund delivers outsized returns (19:00) A portfolio with 50% of private cyber market value (20:12) Growing up introverted & learning to observe people (26:30) What makes a company truly important (30:48) Why do Israeli founders dominate cybersecurity? (31:05) Helping founders become the best version of themselves (37:06) Israeli culture, pressure, and resilience (41:25) Breaking the ceiling with companies like Wiz (43:24) Why limits exist mostly in our minds (46:15) Facing fears, Yoga and overcoming internal limits (47:32) The “Sunrise” method for finding PMF (51:55) Why building startups is an emotional journey (56:25) How cybersecurity ideas actually emerge (58:15) The dark decade of cybersecurity (01:06:45) Asimov’s laws of robotics and AI guardrails (01:09:55) The three biggest cybersecurity risks in 2026 (01:12:25) Inside the $32B Wiz deal (01:22:23) What makes Wiz co-founder Assaf exceptional (01:24:33) Surrounding yourself with great people (01:28:48) The biggest takeaways from his time at Sequoia: Doug Leone, Mike Moritz (01:32:05) What’s next for Cyberstarts?

Molly O’Shea

159,650 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

BREAKING: The Future According to Sequoia $10 Trillion Companies Are Coming.. Alfred Lin, Partner & new Co-Steward of Sequoia (#1 investor on the Midas List) “When I joined Sequoia the largest market cap company was probably $300B or $400B dollars. Today we have companies that are worth $4-5T.” “If you give it another 5-10 years… those companies continue to compound, it’ll be worth $10 trillion or more.” For more than 5 decades, Sequoia Capital has backed many of the most consequential companies in technology, from Apple, Nvidia, Airbnb, DoorDash, Stripe, & more. But as Alfred Lin explains in this conversation, Sequoia does not think about the 54-year-old firm the way many others do. Rather than optimizing around AUM, Sequoia focuses on DPI & being a net liquidity provider to LPs. Since 2020, the firm has distributed more than $43 billion back to investors (as of Oct 27, 2025). In this conversation, Alfred breaks down: - Why AI is accelerating startup growth and product velocity - Why “AI kills SaaS” is the wrong framework - How moats change during paradigm shifts - What Alfred is hearing in boardrooms right now - Which companies are most vulnerable in the AI era - Founder-market fit & the importance of “spikes” - Why the next generation of companies could be much bigger than today’s giants - How Sequoia identifies outlier founders across companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, Kalshi, Zipline, Clay, Commure, Nominal, Physical Intelligence, Crosby, OpenAI, and Citadel Securities. Recorded live Feb 26th at the Upfront Ventures Summit 2026 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Alfred Lin, Partner & Co-Steward at Sequoia Capital (01:00) The metric Sequoia actually cares about (02:54) $43B distributed since 2020 (05:41) The biggest wave Alfred has seen in his career (08:19) Amazon did not k*ll Walmart (10:09) Paradigm shifts and changing moats (14:38) Boardroom conversations about the future (17:11) Companies that fail to adapt fall behind (19:31) From waterfall development to agile teams (23:06) Sequoia’s AI investment strategy (24:48) Managing context switching between portfolio companies (26:00) Becoming Co-Steward of Sequoia Capital (29:31) How to navigate the AI wave

BREAKING: The Future According to Sequoia $10 Trillion Companies Are Coming.. Alfred Lin, Partner & new Co-Steward of Sequoia (#1 investor on the Midas List) “When I joined Sequoia the largest market cap company was probably $300B or $400B dollars. Today we have companies that are worth $4-5T.” “If you give it another 5-10 years… those companies continue to compound, it’ll be worth $10 trillion or more.” For more than 5 decades, Sequoia Capital has backed many of the most consequential companies in technology, from Apple, Nvidia, Airbnb, DoorDash, Stripe, & more. But as Alfred Lin explains in this conversation, Sequoia does not think about the 54-year-old firm the way many others do. Rather than optimizing around AUM, Sequoia focuses on DPI & being a net liquidity provider to LPs. Since 2020, the firm has distributed more than $43 billion back to investors (as of Oct 27, 2025). In this conversation, Alfred breaks down: - Why AI is accelerating startup growth and product velocity - Why “AI kills SaaS” is the wrong framework - How moats change during paradigm shifts - What Alfred is hearing in boardrooms right now - Which companies are most vulnerable in the AI era - Founder-market fit & the importance of “spikes” - Why the next generation of companies could be much bigger than today’s giants - How Sequoia identifies outlier founders across companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, Kalshi, Zipline, Clay, Commure, Nominal, Physical Intelligence, Crosby, OpenAI, and Citadel Securities. Recorded live Feb 26th at the Upfront Ventures Summit 2026 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Alfred Lin, Partner & Co-Steward at Sequoia Capital (01:00) The metric Sequoia actually cares about (02:54) $43B distributed since 2020 (05:41) The biggest wave Alfred has seen in his career (08:19) Amazon did not k*ll Walmart (10:09) Paradigm shifts and changing moats (14:38) Boardroom conversations about the future (17:11) Companies that fail to adapt fall behind (19:31) From waterfall development to agile teams (23:06) Sequoia’s AI investment strategy (24:48) Managing context switching between portfolio companies (26:00) Becoming Co-Steward of Sequoia Capital (29:31) How to navigate the AI wave

Molly O’Shea

303,938 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

BREAKING: deel Hits $1.4B+ ARR Co-founded by CEO Alex Bouaziz (Alex Bouaziz) & CRO Shuo Wang (Shuo Wang), Alex shares their hypergrowth playbook.. Founded in 2019, at only 7 years old: - Deel has scaled to $1.4B+ ARR - Reached a $17.3B valuation - 40K+ customers across 150+ countries - 3+ years of being profitable Deel has rapidly become the #1 platform for hiring & paying employees worldwide. We discuss: • Scaling Deel to $1.4B+ ARR • Serving 40K+ companies across 150+ countries • Deel’s 10+ acquisition M&A strategy • Building a profitable hypergrowth SaaS company • The future of global hiring & distributed teams • How AI agents will transform the workforce Recent Financing: Oct 2025, Deel announced a $300 million Series E funding round, valuing the company at $17.3 billion co-led by Ribbit Capital (Ribbit Capital) as a new investor, alongside long-time partners Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) & Coatue Management (COATUE). This was filmed in London February 12, 2026 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Alex Bouaziz, Co-Founder & CEO at Deel (02:05) Working with co-founder & CRO Shuo Wang (03:54) What Deel actually does (05:05) Biggest customers (05:54) $17B valuation and latest funding round (06:35) How Deel approaches fundraising (07:50) Hitting $100M ARR and early growth (09:25) Why raise money if you are already profitable? (10:35) Inside the latest funding round (12:03) Why payroll is a huge global opportunity (14:21) How Deel expanded its product stack (15:21) The challenges of hiring globally (16:18) Running a 7,000 person fully remote company (18:29) Tips for building remote teams (19:50) Why Deel went global from day one (22:47) How AI is changing hiring (25:00) Deel’s moat in an AI world (26:19) A question from Micky Malka (26:57) From airlines to oil and gas: who uses Deel (27:58) M&A strategy and integration playbook (34:33) Biggest mistakes companies make with acquisitions (35:56) How to retain founders after acquisitions (36:34) Deel's new CFO (39:09) What it takes to be IPO ready (40:29) How AI could affect Deel’s future (42:55) The "Dubai founder controversy" (46:00) Leading in a competitive market (50:47) The biggest misconception about Deel (53:27) The right people around you (56:51) The "default optimism" (58:33) What’s next for Deel (01:01:05) The future of autonomous agents (01:03:35) Biggest lessons from Shuo (01:06:34) What makes a great salesperson (01:08:32) Partnering with Arsenal

BREAKING: deel Hits $1.4B+ ARR Co-founded by CEO Alex Bouaziz (Alex Bouaziz) & CRO Shuo Wang (Shuo Wang), Alex shares their hypergrowth playbook.. Founded in 2019, at only 7 years old: - Deel has scaled to $1.4B+ ARR - Reached a $17.3B valuation - 40K+ customers across 150+ countries - 3+ years of being profitable Deel has rapidly become the #1 platform for hiring & paying employees worldwide. We discuss: • Scaling Deel to $1.4B+ ARR • Serving 40K+ companies across 150+ countries • Deel’s 10+ acquisition M&A strategy • Building a profitable hypergrowth SaaS company • The future of global hiring & distributed teams • How AI agents will transform the workforce Recent Financing: Oct 2025, Deel announced a $300 million Series E funding round, valuing the company at $17.3 billion co-led by Ribbit Capital (Ribbit Capital) as a new investor, alongside long-time partners Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) & Coatue Management (COATUE). This was filmed in London February 12, 2026 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Alex Bouaziz, Co-Founder & CEO at Deel (02:05) Working with co-founder & CRO Shuo Wang (03:54) What Deel actually does (05:05) Biggest customers (05:54) $17B valuation and latest funding round (06:35) How Deel approaches fundraising (07:50) Hitting $100M ARR and early growth (09:25) Why raise money if you are already profitable? (10:35) Inside the latest funding round (12:03) Why payroll is a huge global opportunity (14:21) How Deel expanded its product stack (15:21) The challenges of hiring globally (16:18) Running a 7,000 person fully remote company (18:29) Tips for building remote teams (19:50) Why Deel went global from day one (22:47) How AI is changing hiring (25:00) Deel’s moat in an AI world (26:19) A question from Micky Malka (26:57) From airlines to oil and gas: who uses Deel (27:58) M&A strategy and integration playbook (34:33) Biggest mistakes companies make with acquisitions (35:56) How to retain founders after acquisitions (36:34) Deel's new CFO (39:09) What it takes to be IPO ready (40:29) How AI could affect Deel’s future (42:55) The "Dubai founder controversy" (46:00) Leading in a competitive market (50:47) The biggest misconception about Deel (53:27) The right people around you (56:51) The "default optimism" (58:33) What’s next for Deel (01:01:05) The future of autonomous agents (01:03:35) Biggest lessons from Shuo (01:06:34) What makes a great salesperson (01:08:32) Partnering with Arsenal

Molly O’Shea

284,164 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

BREAKING: Senra Systems Raises $65M Series B co-led by Lowercarbon Capital & Interlagos Total funding hits $112M+ Full interviews: › Co-Founder & CEO Jordan Black › Ken Venner Chief Tech & Product Officer (fmr SpaceX CIO) › Factory tour Wire harnesses are the nervous system of every rocket, car, & missile. Up to 25% of a vehicle's cost, & still 100% built by hand. Senra Systems is rebuilding wire harness manufacturing around software. Series B participation from General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Dylan Field, CIV, 8VC, The Friedkin Group, Jaws Estates Capital, Sozo Ventures, & Alumni Ventures We cover: › $65M round & Factory 3 › Ken Venner on scaling Broadcom & SpaceX › Quitting SpaceX to build harnesses on an apartment carpet › Supplying the fastest-scaling defense companies in America › Amp, their operating system › Where the name Senra comes from 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Jordan Black, Co-Founder & CEO & Ken Venner, CTPO at Senra Systems (00:57) Senra raises a $65M Series B (01:36) What Senra Systems actually builds (05:18) Why they built two very different factories (07:00) The reindustrialization of America (09:09) Commercial vs. Government: who's really buying? (09:52) The origin story (17:35) Turning a 2-year training pipeline into 4 weeks (25:06) Bringing on SpaceX legend Ken Venner (29:23) Why Jordan became obsessed with wire harnessing (31:46) The investors betting big on wire harnesses (34:16) The real story behind the name "Senra" (36:49) Will the SpaceX IPO fuel Senra's growth? (39:32) Ken Venner (41:40) Scaling lessons from Broadcom and SpaceX (43:21) Why Ken left Broadcom for SpaceX (44:40) Life as SpaceX's CIO (46:11) The secret to Elon Musk's management style (47:15) What it's really like working with Gwynne Shotwell (51:28) Scaling with AI vs. pure headcount (55:04) Factory tour with Jordan

BREAKING: Senra Systems Raises $65M Series B co-led by Lowercarbon Capital & Interlagos Total funding hits $112M+ Full interviews: › Co-Founder & CEO Jordan Black › Ken Venner Chief Tech & Product Officer (fmr SpaceX CIO) › Factory tour Wire harnesses are the nervous system of every rocket, car, & missile. Up to 25% of a vehicle's cost, & still 100% built by hand. Senra Systems is rebuilding wire harness manufacturing around software. Series B participation from General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Dylan Field, CIV, 8VC, The Friedkin Group, Jaws Estates Capital, Sozo Ventures, & Alumni Ventures We cover: › $65M round & Factory 3 › Ken Venner on scaling Broadcom & SpaceX › Quitting SpaceX to build harnesses on an apartment carpet › Supplying the fastest-scaling defense companies in America › Amp, their operating system › Where the name Senra comes from 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 (00:00) Jordan Black, Co-Founder & CEO & Ken Venner, CTPO at Senra Systems (00:57) Senra raises a $65M Series B (01:36) What Senra Systems actually builds (05:18) Why they built two very different factories (07:00) The reindustrialization of America (09:09) Commercial vs. Government: who's really buying? (09:52) The origin story (17:35) Turning a 2-year training pipeline into 4 weeks (25:06) Bringing on SpaceX legend Ken Venner (29:23) Why Jordan became obsessed with wire harnessing (31:46) The investors betting big on wire harnesses (34:16) The real story behind the name "Senra" (36:49) Will the SpaceX IPO fuel Senra's growth? (39:32) Ken Venner (41:40) Scaling lessons from Broadcom and SpaceX (43:21) Why Ken left Broadcom for SpaceX (44:40) Life as SpaceX's CIO (46:11) The secret to Elon Musk's management style (47:15) What it's really like working with Gwynne Shotwell (51:28) Scaling with AI vs. pure headcount (55:04) Factory tour with Jordan

Molly O’Shea

854,378 Aufrufe • vor 9 Tagen

NEW: How Benchmark invests, what Chetan Puttagunta looks for, and what every founder/operator needs to rethink about go-to-market. General Partner at Benchmark, Chetan Puttagunta (Chetan Puttagunta), joins GTMnow to give founders/operators an inside view to how they invest and think about go-to-market. He breaks down the $5.6B legal AI company that grew from $1M to $100M ARR in 18 months (despite a competitor already raising at $3B before they launched), Benchmark's first-ever $2B growth fund, and tips on scaling in the AI era. Highlights: 02:10 Why Benchmark's first-ever $2B growth fund is a historic departure 05:22 From Cursor and Lovable's PLG to AI-native direct sales companies 09:40 Why 12-month sales cycles are dead and expansion is happening in months 11:52 Meeting Legora's founder in YC, pre-Demo Day, Feb 2024 13:36 $1M to $100M ARR in 18 months, breaking enterprise speed records 17:46 The Salesforce vs Siebel analog playing out in AI right now 27:14 Workday took 5+ years to hit $100 million. Legora and Sierra did it in under 2. 33:39 Legora's pilots that don't expire (and the trust unlock) 41:46 Why hitting $1M ARR might take LONGER in the AI era 43:15 Why the MVP is dead (customers can vibe code simple apps themselves) 55:18 Benchmark's first $2B growth fund and the Star Cloud investment

NEW: How Benchmark invests, what Chetan Puttagunta looks for, and what every founder/operator needs to rethink about go-to-market. General Partner at Benchmark, Chetan Puttagunta (Chetan Puttagunta), joins GTMnow to give founders/operators an inside view to how they invest and think about go-to-market. He breaks down the $5.6B legal AI company that grew from $1M to $100M ARR in 18 months (despite a competitor already raising at $3B before they launched), Benchmark's first-ever $2B growth fund, and tips on scaling in the AI era. Highlights: 02:10 Why Benchmark's first-ever $2B growth fund is a historic departure 05:22 From Cursor and Lovable's PLG to AI-native direct sales companies 09:40 Why 12-month sales cycles are dead and expansion is happening in months 11:52 Meeting Legora's founder in YC, pre-Demo Day, Feb 2024 13:36 $1M to $100M ARR in 18 months, breaking enterprise speed records 17:46 The Salesforce vs Siebel analog playing out in AI right now 27:14 Workday took 5+ years to hit $100 million. Legora and Sierra did it in under 2. 33:39 Legora's pilots that don't expire (and the trust unlock) 41:46 Why hitting $1M ARR might take LONGER in the AI era 43:15 Why the MVP is dead (customers can vibe code simple apps themselves) 55:18 Benchmark's first $2B growth fund and the Star Cloud investment

GTMnow

28,958 Aufrufe • vor 29 Tagen

Episode #93: Michael Kim @ Cendana Michael Kim is the Founder of Cendana Capital, making anchor investments in very early stage VC funds. We talk 204x DPI funds, characteristics of the top performing venture investors, how Cendana does diligence on fund managers, portfolio construction best practices + Michael’s 60x rule, and why a high ownership to fund size ratio drives outlier returns. We also get into how VCs are using AI, the competition between Seed and multi-stage investors, why US endowments are under siege, and how secondaries are driving most early stage venture returns today. Michael also opens up about the early days of starting Cendana, the 18 month grind raising Cendana Fund 1, the day he almost died, and ranking in the top 2% globally in Call of Duty. Shoutout to Roger Ehrenberg, Kevin Hartz, Semil, Jeff Clavier, Beezer Clarkson, Jack Altman, Jeff Morris Jr., Sheel Mohnot, Nichole Wischoff, Ted Alling, and Rick Zullo for their help putting this together. Thanks bolt.new for supporting this episode (check out their Hackathon with $1m in prizes!) Full episode here on X, or grab a link in the replies. Timestamps: 4:24 The day Michael almost died 5:10 Call of Duty & video games 9:34 Hiring @ Cendana 10:31 How Cendana uses structured and unstructured data 16:51 How VCs are using AI 19:55 Why secondaries are driving most early stage venture returns 22:01 Deciding when to sell secondaries 24:28 Best performing venture funds ever 27:26 The best VCs have amazing access to the best founders 33:42 Why Cendana backs Solo GPs 35:57 How to invest over time and hype cycles 41:35 Why multi-stage firms are investing earlier 44:45 Cendana’s current thesis: High ownership % to fund size 45:51 Why Cendana started backing non-lead VCs 48:41 How Cendana does diligence on fund managers 52:22 VC NPS Scores and Ron Conway’s Silver Bullet 53:49 Good vs bad new VC firm strategies 56:36 Determining defensibility of a strategy 57:57 “Messy middle” software buyout fund 1:03:25 Portfolio construction best practice 1:08:11 Michael’s 60x Rule 1:14:28 How Seed funds compete with multi-stage funds 1:20:05 Should you collect logos writing small checks? 1:21:07 Becoming an LP for the city of SF 1:24:42 Taking 18+ months to raise Cendana Fund 1 in the GFC 1:26:48 Warehousing the first Cendana Fund 1 investments 1:29:56 How to do a first close 1:34:29 Why it’s hard to kill a VC firm 1:37:00 What happens to ZIRP tourist fund managers 1:40:22 How to raise a Fund 2 or 3 today 1:42:07 “US endowments are under siege” 1:44:55 What the best GP LP relationships look like 1:46:41 What Fund of Funds get wrong 1:50:43 The three most interesting trends in venture today

Episode #93: Michael Kim @ Cendana Michael Kim is the Founder of Cendana Capital, making anchor investments in very early stage VC funds. We talk 204x DPI funds, characteristics of the top performing venture investors, how Cendana does diligence on fund managers, portfolio construction best practices + Michael’s 60x rule, and why a high ownership to fund size ratio drives outlier returns. We also get into how VCs are using AI, the competition between Seed and multi-stage investors, why US endowments are under siege, and how secondaries are driving most early stage venture returns today. Michael also opens up about the early days of starting Cendana, the 18 month grind raising Cendana Fund 1, the day he almost died, and ranking in the top 2% globally in Call of Duty. Shoutout to Roger Ehrenberg, Kevin Hartz, Semil, Jeff Clavier, Beezer Clarkson, Jack Altman, Jeff Morris Jr., Sheel Mohnot, Nichole Wischoff, Ted Alling, and Rick Zullo for their help putting this together. Thanks bolt.new for supporting this episode (check out their Hackathon with $1m in prizes!) Full episode here on X, or grab a link in the replies. Timestamps: 4:24 The day Michael almost died 5:10 Call of Duty & video games 9:34 Hiring @ Cendana 10:31 How Cendana uses structured and unstructured data 16:51 How VCs are using AI 19:55 Why secondaries are driving most early stage venture returns 22:01 Deciding when to sell secondaries 24:28 Best performing venture funds ever 27:26 The best VCs have amazing access to the best founders 33:42 Why Cendana backs Solo GPs 35:57 How to invest over time and hype cycles 41:35 Why multi-stage firms are investing earlier 44:45 Cendana’s current thesis: High ownership % to fund size 45:51 Why Cendana started backing non-lead VCs 48:41 How Cendana does diligence on fund managers 52:22 VC NPS Scores and Ron Conway’s Silver Bullet 53:49 Good vs bad new VC firm strategies 56:36 Determining defensibility of a strategy 57:57 “Messy middle” software buyout fund 1:03:25 Portfolio construction best practice 1:08:11 Michael’s 60x Rule 1:14:28 How Seed funds compete with multi-stage funds 1:20:05 Should you collect logos writing small checks? 1:21:07 Becoming an LP for the city of SF 1:24:42 Taking 18+ months to raise Cendana Fund 1 in the GFC 1:26:48 Warehousing the first Cendana Fund 1 investments 1:29:56 How to do a first close 1:34:29 Why it’s hard to kill a VC firm 1:37:00 What happens to ZIRP tourist fund managers 1:40:22 How to raise a Fund 2 or 3 today 1:42:07 “US endowments are under siege” 1:44:55 What the best GP LP relationships look like 1:46:41 What Fund of Funds get wrong 1:50:43 The three most interesting trends in venture today

The Peel

61,707 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

BREAKING: Base Power Raises $1 Billion Series C Led by Addition Zach Dell, Co-Founder & CEO, joins Sourcery to discuss Base's strategic funding, rapid growth, & the world-class talent needed to seize the gigawatt-scale opportunity We Break Down: - $200M Series B to $1B Series C in < 6 months - Building Base Factory One in Austin and plans for more domestic manufacturing - How Base Power is reinventing America’s energy grid with distributed batteries - Why AI & data centers make energy the new bottleneck for innovation. - The culture & team powering one of America’s most ambitious startups Investors: All other major investors are re-investing, including Trust Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Thrive, Lightspeed, a16z, Altimeter, Stepstone, Elad Gil, 137 Ventures, Terrain, & Waybury. New major investors include Ribbit, CapitalG, Spark, BOND, Lowercarbon, Avenir, Glade Brook, Positive Sum, and 1789. Highlights (00:00) Factory Tour in Austin (01:21) $1 Billion Series C Led by Addition (02:15) Fast-Following $200M Series B (02:52) Growth Metrics: 30% MoM, Thousand+ Waitlist (03:36) Cap Table Breakdown: Addition, Thrive, Valor, a16z, Lightspeed, Ribbit, CapitalG & more (05:00) Strategic Investors: Lennar, Starwood, Endowments (06:30) Investor Involvement: Valor & Addition (08:18) Base Power’s “Blue Collar” Culture: Chop Wood, Carry Water (11:31) Founding Story: From Blackstone & Thrive to Anduril → Base Power (14:00) Recruiting Tesla, SpaceX, Anduril Veterans to Build the Team (16:45) Operational North Stars: Fastest Battery Deployment at Lowest Cost (17:30) Building the First Beloved Brand in Energy (19:00) Attracting Talent to Austin & Base’s Unique Culture (22:30) Energy as the Bottleneck for AI & Data Centers (25:00) Speed to Power: Deploying 100MW+ per Month (27:15) Texas ADER Qualification & National Expansion (30:30) Leadership Lessons: Hiring, Focus & Ruthless Prioritization (34:30) What’s Next: Factory One, New Products, Gigawatt Race Zach Dell Justin Lopas Base Power

Molly O’Shea

136,350 Aufrufe • vor 9 Monaten

New The Peel with Charles Hudson Charles started Precursor Ventures in 2015 to help create pre-seed as a category. We talk about how pre-seed investing has never been harder, why sitting out of bubbles can be more dangerous than joining, how Principals at Precursor get real money to make their own bets, + urgency and “the last $250k effect”. Full episode here + links below 0:00 Is Pre-Seed dead? 4:15 Do round names matter anymore? 12:27 Multi-stage signaling risk doesn’t exist 16:42 Smart LP’s love multi-stage funds 22:03 Is the traditional Seed model broken? 26:31 Velocity of capital deployment drives all incentives 30:30 How to compete with megafunds at early stage 34:24 Megafunds have Seed funds in a vice-grip 38:34 “The best Series A’s are all expensive" 39:33 Are we doing 2021 all over again? 41:53 It’s safer to participate in bubbles than sit out 47:35 Price you pay is everything 50:22 The system incentivizes an addiction to consensus 55:22 High valuation + high CapEx grows AUM 59:56 How Precursor actually invests today 1:01:32 Precursor’s Principal investor program 1:05:56 Deciding when to selling your winners 1:10:53 Raising as a pre-consensus founder 1:12:39 What Charles looks for in founders 1:17:20 What it’s actually like to start a fund 1:20:56 Misconceptions of first-time fund managers 1:26:22 300+ LP meetings to raise Precursor Fund 1 1:29:24 The single change to the pitch that raised his fund 1:31:54 Precursor’s evolution over time 1:34:57 The second desert of venture capital 1:37:34 The last $250k effect

New The Peel with Charles Hudson Charles started Precursor Ventures in 2015 to help create pre-seed as a category. We talk about how pre-seed investing has never been harder, why sitting out of bubbles can be more dangerous than joining, how Principals at Precursor get real money to make their own bets, + urgency and “the last $250k effect”. Full episode here + links below 0:00 Is Pre-Seed dead? 4:15 Do round names matter anymore? 12:27 Multi-stage signaling risk doesn’t exist 16:42 Smart LP’s love multi-stage funds 22:03 Is the traditional Seed model broken? 26:31 Velocity of capital deployment drives all incentives 30:30 How to compete with megafunds at early stage 34:24 Megafunds have Seed funds in a vice-grip 38:34 “The best Series A’s are all expensive" 39:33 Are we doing 2021 all over again? 41:53 It’s safer to participate in bubbles than sit out 47:35 Price you pay is everything 50:22 The system incentivizes an addiction to consensus 55:22 High valuation + high CapEx grows AUM 59:56 How Precursor actually invests today 1:01:32 Precursor’s Principal investor program 1:05:56 Deciding when to selling your winners 1:10:53 Raising as a pre-consensus founder 1:12:39 What Charles looks for in founders 1:17:20 What it’s actually like to start a fund 1:20:56 Misconceptions of first-time fund managers 1:26:22 300+ LP meetings to raise Precursor Fund 1 1:29:24 The single change to the pitch that raised his fund 1:31:54 Precursor’s evolution over time 1:34:57 The second desert of venture capital 1:37:34 The last $250k effect

Turner Novak 🍌🧢

49,454 Aufrufe • vor 29 Tagen