Today we’re back with Sam Lessin for a round 2 focused on the changing landscape of venture. We dig into the viability of M&A as a strategy for startups, “its always been crypto”, media businesses, and the role of reputation systems. If you need an ecommerce platform, check out our sponsor Shopify: https://shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period.
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RECOMMENDED PODCAST: History 102 with WhatifAltHist
Every week, creator of WhatifAltHist Rudyard Lynch and Erik Torenberg cover a major topic in history in depth -- in under an hour. This season will cover classical Greece, early America, the Vikings, medieval Islam, ancient China, the fall of the Roman Empire, and more.
Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36Kqo3BMMUBGTDo1IEYihm
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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@History102-qg5oj
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We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.
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Join our free newsletter to get Erik's top 3 insights from each episode: https://turpentinevc.substack.com/
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TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Episode Preview
(01:27) Round 2 with Sam, the VC Doomer
(06:24) The mechanism of how low interest rates leads to public markets valuing companies at super high multiples
(10:28) Disruption fundamentally changed who the winners and losers would be
(15:49) Sponsor - NetSuite
(16:50) What would a $100B company look like in 15-20 years
(23:20) The emergence of cultural changes after Covid-19
(28:27) The only way to make real money is to be betting differently
(36:36) Do franchises go public and the fundamental liquidity question
(42:01) What's the best business to build on top of media company?
(51:20) Sam's insights on reputation businesses
(55:00) Sam's take on advanced reputation system
