Navigating Growth and Relationships in Venture Capital

My guests this week are Peter Fenton and Victor Lazarte. Peter and Victor are both General Partners at Benchmark. Of the six equal partners at the storied venture firm, Peter is the longest serving and Victor is the newest, having spent the past decade founding and building Wildlife Studios into one of the biggest independent mobile gaming companies in the world.

Peter has been a board member at Wildlife for the past four years and has a remarkable track record of tech investing over his two decades at Benchmark. In our discussion, we talk about the core motivators behind great entrepreneurs, Benchmark's unique operating philosophy, and what it's like to transition from builder to investor. Please enjoy this conversation with Peter Fenton and Victor Lazarte.

Listen to Founders Podcast: #326 Anna Wintour 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

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Show Notes

(00:04:10) - (First question) - Victor’s early expectations after being at the company for just three months

(00:05:39) - What Victor misses from the operating life

(00:06:59) - Peter’s opinion on what makes Benchmark a fascinating company

(00:15:00) - Peter and Victor’s perspective on the significance of the phrase “life’s work”

(00:24:19) - The influence of market tailwinds on success in investing

(00:29:42) - How to keep founders’ generative drive at peak levels

(00:32:39) - Balancing aggression, desire and generative drive when building and operating a business

(00:34:22) - Victor’s approach to dealing with pleasure seeking as a successful operator 

(00:38:29) - Why Benchmark intentionally raises funds at half the suggested amount

(00:43:13) - Lessons learned from navigating challenging scenarios in venture capital 

(00:46:27) - What excites Victor as he starts a new venture at Benchmark

(00:48:19) - Why AI is more akin to the internet than crypto

(00:52:41) - The significance of platform-based businesses in the contemporary landscape

(00:57:45) - The impact tech giants exert on new entrants in the industry 

(00:61:00) - Victor’s opinion on what makes great games and great gaming businesses

(01:13:44) - Where Peter and Victor feel they have areas to grow

(01:19:48) - Perspectives on human progress

(01:21:14) - The kindest thing that anyone has done for both Peter and Victor