We The Builders

E30: Sunil Dhaliwal, Founder of Amplify Partners on Lessons from 27 Years in VC

Intro Sunil Dhaliwal has been in investing for 27 years, he was a General Partner at Battery Ventures for 14 years before starting Amplify Partners. He founded Amplify 13 years ago with the thesis of backing technical founders. Interestingly, the “business guy” was more investable back in the 2010/11 era. Amplify is an investor in companies like Datadog, Fastly, Recursion, Chai Discovery, Langchain, Anchorage Digital, Covariant, Runway ML, Temporal, Luma AI to name a few. These are either publicly traded or have privately achieved unicorn valuations. They have launched a dedicated bio fund after their latest $900m fund announcement building on top of the success of their bio portfolio, Sunil explains on the pod why they are uniquely positioned to operate in the space. We had a great conversation covering how to train junior investors, the madness of the dot-com era and how it rhymes with some of what we see today in technology bubbles, his investing philosophy, fundraising advice and more. Watch on YouTube Timestamps: 00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis] - Introduction 03:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=200s] - What was going on in the Dot-Com bubble?08:15 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=495s] - Collapse of the Telecom value chain 09:37 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=577s] - Why the AI boom is supply-constrained, not demand-constrained 12:37 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=757s] - OpenAI canceling Sora1 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=1035s]7:15 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=1035s] - Why brand and trust are self-reinforcing in enterprise software 19:17 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=1157s] - Shipping frequently as a mechanism to preserve vendor trust 22:58 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=1378s] - Debunking the SaaS apocalypse 30:23 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=1823s] - The Amplify playbook 38:05 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=2285s] - The shift from scale-up servers to agent-first platforms 41:42 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=2502s] - Progression timeline of autonomous agents 49:23 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=2963s] - Investing in Runway and the AI-meets-creativity thesis 52:08 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=3128s] - Why you're an idiot if your early-stage firm has an investment committee 55:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=3300s] - The failure of consensus markets and competing for growth deals on price 1:07:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=4020s] - Early-stage fundraising is a search problem, not a sales process 1:10:24 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=4224s] - Capping limited partner allocation at 10% 1:14:07 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=4447s] - The necessity of letting people learn from their own failures 1:14:58 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=4498s] - Launching a dedicated bio fund to capture compounding variables 1:17:57 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=4677s] - The art of training junior investors 1:26:05 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=5165s] - Why traditional biotech is a terrible place for returns 1:34:52 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=5692s] - How networks and relationship goodwill compound over decades 1:49:54 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=6594s] - Designing a platform team for recruiting and go-to-market execution 1:52:57 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA3kSHWrXis&t=6777s] - Closing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethebuilders.us [https://wethebuilders.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

E29: Todd Klein, Managing Partner at Revolution Growth on VC, AI, Board Meetings and Hollywood

Intro Todd Klein is a currently a Managing Partner at Revolution Growth, a VC firm founded by Steve Case. He has been in venture investing for over 25 years, his notable investments include companies like AirBnB, CAVA, Square, Pinterest, CustomInk. Watch on YouTube: Timestamps: 00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww] - Introduction 01:44 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=104s] - What have you changed your mind on?03:19 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=199s] - How capital has become a commodity?05:28 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=328s] -Why truly talented founders are a rare asset? 07:11 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=431s] - How founders must evolve through personality transformations? 09:56 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=596s] - The extraordinary velocity of job obsolescence 13:55 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=835s] - Has the software industry gotten too big? 15:08 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=908s] - Why AI will never replace human taste and judgment? 19:01 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=1141s] - Higher education: The value of "Camp" vs. credentials 24:16 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=1456s] - College campuses as a laboratory for microcultures 28:11 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=1691s] - Discussing Cava: Building a hospitality-first brand 31:40 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=1900s] - Controlling quality through slower, company-owned growth 36:29 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=2189s] - What makes for a great board member?40:38 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=2438s] - What makes an effective, future-oriented board meeting? 43:22 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=2602s] - Defining a structural compensation philosophy 45:58 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=2758s] - Communication failures and bad board meetings 49:28 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=2968s] - Storytelling as the ultimate form of peer leadership 52:38 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=3158s] - Jose Andres and changing the world through food 55:54 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=3354s] - Importance of the founders background59:53 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=3593s] - Hollywood 101: Insights from Anonymous Content1:06:37 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=3997s] - Relationships as investments1:11:05 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=4265s] - Identifying and solving for business model conflict 1:15:18 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCa1iFhqww&t=4518s] - Book recommendations This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethebuilders.us [https://wethebuilders.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

E28: Christian Keil, Partner at A16Z on Lessons from Scaling Astranis and Traits of Elite Operators

Intro I first met Christian Keil over Twitter/X DMs probably 3 years ago or so. He started building the Astranis media function in public, he was the face of it as he figured out Twitter and video in real time. When he joined, they were a team of 50 and by the time he left they were about 500 people. How to be an elite operator at a startup? Take on more projects. I agree with Christian on this and can relate. Some of them become whole orgs, Christian was hired for a finance job, got looped into recruiting as the company was struggling to find a good recruiter, he was involved in regulatory and building their owned premium media. He hired Jason Carman [https://wethebuilders.us/p/e21-jason-carman-on-building-story] (E21 on We The Builders), who he describes as generational video talent to start their owned premium media production at the company and they started doing this before cinematic video went mainstream as a channel for startups, especially frontier tech startups. In this conversation, we cover: * Hiring generational talent * How become good at something you have no experience in? * How to get good at Twitter/X without rage baiting * Podcasting and his show 1st Principles * How to think about what problem to go after? * Time allocation, digital and physical cleanliness Tune into the full episode for all the insights. Watch on YouTube: Timestamps: 00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y] - Introduction01:57 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=117s] - Growing Twitter/X04:37 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=277s] - Finding the message to fit the audience06:24 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=384s] - “Reply Guy” as a growth strategy 08:46 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=526s] - Building a marketing function from scratch10:50 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=650s] - Spotting generational talent12:47 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=767s] - Why you should only hire “Standard Deviation” outliers?15:13 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=913s] - Curiosity as the core predictor for successful operators at startups 16:52 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=1012s] - From 50 to 500 people18:46 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=1126s] - When to hire specialists vs. promoting from within?20:25 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=1225s] - What is the Chief of Staff role?21:54 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=1314s] - The process of becoming good at something new23:33 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=1413s] - Lessons in practicality and steady leadership24:30 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=1470s] - The stress and spectacle of a satellite launch33:31 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=2011s] - How space regulations work?35:44 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=2144s] - The “Parking Spots” of space and the ITU37:21 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=2241s] - Range Safety: Proving you won’t explode the pad40:15 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=2415s] - Why space-based Internet is easier than fiber?42:06 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=2526s] - Dedicated satellites vs. shared constellations44:33 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=2673s] - Why we don’t see many startups challenging telecom giants?46:09 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=2769s] - Goal of “First Principles”: Getting better at technical video48:23 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=2903s] - The harder path: Choosing optimism over rage-bait51:53 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=3113s] - How high school debate channels competitive energy?54:27 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=3267s] - 180 Mindset shift: Realizing parenting is hard58:11 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=3491s] - Joining the American Dynamism team at a16z1:00:06 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=3606s] - Why media and government engagement matter for VCs?1:01:46 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=3706s] - Advice for early talent: Optimizing for trajectory1:03:19 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=3799s] - Why you should work in-person early in your career?1:05:40 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=3940s] - Reducing mental burden through time allocation1:07:50 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=4070s] - The danger of “Job Hopping” every two years1:10:18 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=4218s] - Sci-Fi and the best Harry Potter book1:14:42 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=4482s] - Rebranding the “State Schooler” party with Chipotle1:17:52 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3_izC2YO9Y&t=4672s] - Closing thoughts This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethebuilders.us [https://wethebuilders.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

E27: Jonathan Lacoste, Founder of SpaceVC on Building & Investing in Frontier Tech & His Own Founder Journey

Intro Jonathan Lacoste, is the founder of SpaceVC, a pre-seed frontier tech fund with at least a 20% unicorn hit rate, this is my observation based on publicly reported valuations of the companies listed on their website. Before starting his fund, Jonathan was an entrepreneur, he dropped out of college to start his company Jebbit for which he raised for $90m and successfully exited to BlueConic. Their product was similar to a better version of SurveyMonkey or Qualtrix, like a Canva and SurveyMonkey fusion. Highlight of the company was that they sold billions of questions in consumer interactions with customers like NFL, NHL, eBay, NBA, P&G. Jonathan’s company was part of one of the early Techstars cohorts which is pretty successful and a mafia of its own. His cohort includes people like Nikita Bier, the founders of PillPack (TJ Parker & Elliot Cohen) acquired by Amazon for $750m, their MD Katie Rae is the Cofounder of The Engine at MIT, Kash Razzaghi who is now CCO of Circle ($CRCL) a $25B company. Highlights of what we cover: * Early investments in Castelion and True Anomaly which just announced a new funding round valuing them at $2.2B alongside friends of the show Colin Greenspon (E9 and E22), Seth Winterroth (E25), Thiel Capital etc * Why concentrated portfolio is a winning strategy * When to run away from a category? * How to identify top-decile founders? (by camping outside SpaceX, Anduril and Pentagon?) * What makes a great cofounding team? * Would SpaceVC ever consider getting acquired by a mega fund? * How the skill of debating is great for cofounding relationships * The State of Accelerators * Approaching venture as a craft business and learning from CJ Reim at Amity Watch on YouTube: Timestamps 00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0] - Introduction01:49 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=109s] - The state of start ups in Austin05:07 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=307s] - Why venture capital is concentrating into fewer deals? 07:54 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=474s] - The founder journey and transitioning to VC 09:59 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=599s] - Discussing Castalian and True Anomaly 11:17 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=677s] - How to find top-decile founders at inception? 13:26 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=806s] - Why small concentrated funds win at pre-seed? 16:17 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=977s] - What It Takes To Build a Frontier Tech Franchise? 19:42 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=1182s] - Frontier Tech vs. Deep Tech: Engineering execution over science risk 21:14 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=1274s] - Evaluating technical founders without data points 26:11 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=1571s] - The importance of speed and iteration 31:36 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=1896s] - Identifying market forces before they become obvious 36:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=2205s] - Finding insights at the edge of the venture lexicon 40:41 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=2441s] - Why now is the time to invest in biotech? 43:25 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=2605s] - Why being a founder is harder than being a VC? 44:54 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=2694s] - The power of a concentrated, hands-on portfolio 47:59 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=2879s] - Talent networks: SpaceX, Tesla, and the cultures of innovation 49:18 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=2958s] - The DNA of a complementary co-founding team 52:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=3140s] - The founding journey: From college dropout to multi-hundred million dollar exit 55:37 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=3337s] - Gorilla marketing and the early pivots in his company1:01:48 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=3708s] - How accelerators have evolved over 15 years? 1:06:27 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=3987s] - Brand degradation in the venture and education ecosystem 1:09:58 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=4198s] - Learning the craft: Mentorship and firm building 1:11:51 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=4311s] - Discipline in deployment: The courage to not do a deal 1:15:15 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=4515s] - Underwriting towards a standard 10-year fund life 1:18:05 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=4685s] - Cross-sector lessons in culture and fundraising 1:22:21 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=4941s] - The role of X and LinkedIn in VC marketing 1:24:42 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=5082s] - Historical influences: From Genghis Khan to Alan Turing 1:28:12 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=5292s] - Book recommendations: Ambition and breakthrough stories 1:32:34 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqev0YvJGz0&t=5554s] - Closing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethebuilders.us [https://wethebuilders.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

E26: Matt Ocko, Cofounder DCVC on Lessons from 30+ Years in DeepTech Venture Capital

Intro Matt Ocko is the Cofounder and Co-Managing Partner of DCVC, a firm he started with Zachary Bogue 16 years ago. Matt started his career at Oracle and then went on to join a $1B AUM fund called Helix Investments in the 90s where he learnt the lesson that venture is 90% people from Ben Webster. Matt coined the term “deeptech” almost a quarter of a century ago with Steve Jurvetson on a late 1999 winter night when they were talking about quantum computing being an investable category. DCVC has been investing in deeptech since its inception and has invested in companies like RocketLab, Oklo, Planet, Agility Robotics, SentinelOne, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Confluent, Evolv and many more. Watch on YouTube: Timestamps: 00:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o] - Introduction04:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=285s] - The Oracle Mafia08:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=525s] - Why venture outcomes are 90% people?12:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=765s] - The Great Man Theory 16:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=1005s] - What It Takes To Build a DeepTech Franchise? 20:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=1245s] - Customer trust in deeptech24:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=1485s] - Disucssing Latus Bio 28:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=1725s] - How Moore’s Law and open-source enabled modern deeptech32:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=1965s] - Validating nuclear energy on venture dollars 36:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=2205s] - The strategic failure of Chinese supply chain dependency 40:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=2445s] - What policy changes we need to decouple from China? 48:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=2925s] - Protecting energy markets and homeowner Equity 52:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=3165s] - How Pivot Bio disrupts global fertilizer monopolies 56:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=3405s] - The parallel journeys of Peter Beck and Elon Musk 1:00:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=3645s] - It takes a team to execute on vision 1:04:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=3885s] - Why every failed investment comes back to people 1:08:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=4125s] - First to market vs. first to scale 1:12:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=4365s] - You need a 100x better product at seed 1:16:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=4605s] - Overcoming the risk aversion of market 1:20:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=4845s] - Tidal Metals and the future of critical minerals 1:24:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=5085s] - Culture for successful organizations 1:28:45 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuibhoPE2o&t=5325s] - Closing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethebuilders.us [https://wethebuilders.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]