20VC: Chris Sacca on Coming Out of Retirement To Unf**k The Planet with Lowercarbon, How Chris Evaluates His Relationship To Money Today, Why We Have Bred a Generation of Ass**** Kids, Do VCs Provide Any Real Value and The True Unfiltered Opinion on Faceb
Oct 11, 2021
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Chris Sacca, Founder and Chairman of Lowercase Capital and Lowercarbon Capital, dives into his mission to combat climate change and the motivation behind his return to investing. He reflects on his early ventures, including his pivotal $25K investment in Twitter, and shares candid insights on his evolving relationship with wealth. Sacca discusses the challenges of modern parenting, highlighting the need for resilience and empathy in raising today's children. He critiques major tech companies like Facebook while advocating for diversity and innovation in venture capital to drive meaningful environmental change.
Chris Sacca's mission is to back companies that make real money slashing CO2 emissions and buying us time to unf**k the planet.
Chris Sacca emphasizes the importance of learning from failures and setbacks in investing.
Ownership and strong company culture are crucial for success according to Chris Sacca.
Transitioning to clean energy solutions not only benefits the planet but also offers massive financial opportunities.
Deep dives
Passion for Making a Difference
In this episode, Chris Sacca, founder and chairman at Lowercase Capital, discusses his passion for making a difference in the world through investing. He highlights his mission to back companies that have a positive impact, mentioning Lower Carbon Capital, a fund focused on reducing CO2 emissions. Sacca emphasizes the importance of using money to create a better future, tackle climate change, and support social causes.
Learning from Failure
Sacca shares his personal experiences of both success and failure. He talks about his early investments, including PhotoBucket and Twitter, and how those experiences shaped his approach to investing. He discusses the importance of learning from failures and setbacks and the need to maintain humility and cautiousness, especially in volatile markets.
The Importance of Ownership
Sacca emphasizes the significance of ownership and efforts to build a strong company culture. He believes in empowering employees and giving them ownership and responsibility. Sacca explains how he values employees who take ownership and put in the effort to succeed. He also discusses the role of strong leadership in holding individuals accountable and creating a high-performance team.
Being Obsessive and Bringing It
Sacca talks about the mindset required for success in venture capital. He emphasizes the need for obsessiveness, constant learning, and always bringing one's best to the job. Sacca shares his belief in surrounding himself with talented people who are passionate, driven, and willing to go the extra mile. He also discusses the importance of hiring individuals who exhibit a strong work ethic and ownership mentality.
Changing Unit Economics in the Clean Energy Industry
The podcast episode discusses how the unit economics in the clean energy industry have changed, making it more affordable and viable to start clean energy companies. The cost of starting a clean tech startup has significantly decreased due to shared infrastructure, such as reactors and computing clusters, and advancements in machine learning. The podcast provides examples of startups like Heart Aerospace, which developed a 19-seat electric airplane with a small team and relatively low investment. The episode highlights the massive scalability and potential impact of clean energy companies, making them attractive investment opportunities.
The Shift to Cheaper and Better Clean Energy Solutions
The podcast emphasizes the economic advantages of transitioning to clean energy solutions. It argues that powering the economy with fossil fuels is not only harmful to the planet but also expensive and inefficient. Clean energy alternatives, such as solar power, are not only cheaper but also offer better performance and benefits in various sectors like transportation, agriculture, and building materials. The podcast emphasizes that clean energy solutions represent massive total addressable markets, as they cater to everyone who eats, moves, lives, and consumes energy. The potential for financial success by investing in the clean energy sector is highlighted.
The Importance of Collaboration and the Role of VC Investors
The podcast stresses the importance of collaboration in the clean energy industry and the role that venture capital (VC) investors play. Successful VC investors are those with a strong reputation and a track record of adding value to companies. The ability to connect with experts and hire the best talent is crucial. The podcast also discusses the need for deeper pockets to invest in the capital-intensive clean energy space. Additionally, it emphasizes the philanthropic aspect of VC investment, where investors look for both financial returns and positive impact. The episode highlights the significance of VC investors in funding and scaling clean energy companies to drive the transition to a sustainable future.
Chris Sacca is the Founder and Chairman @ Lowercase Capital, one of the best performing funds in the history of venture capital with a portfolio including Uber, Stripe, Twitter, Instagram, Twilio, Docker and many more. Despite this incredible success, in 2017, Chris and his wife, Crystal announced they would be stepping back from day to day investing to focus on ongoing efforts to rescue our democracy, heal the planet, promote diversity within venture capital. Earlier this year, they announced Lowercarbon Capital, with $800M AUM, with the mission to back companies that make real money slashing CO2 emissions, and buying us time to unf**k the planet. Fun fact: As a result of his incredible investing success Chris has also been a Shark on Shark Tank and even starred in an episode of Billions.
In Today’s Episode with Chris Sacca You Will Learn:
1.) How Chris made his way into the world of investing having started life as a lawyer? What was his first investment? How did the first Twitter $25K angel check come about?
2.) How does Chris evaluate his own relationship to money and wealth? Why did Chris and Crystal interview some of the wealthiest people? What did they learn from those discussions? How does Chris view the role of luck? Why was it when Chris lacked optimism he lost the most money? How did being $4M in the hole from public markets impact his mindset?
3.) What does it mean for Chris to bring up healthy and happy children? Why does Chris believe today's parenting has bred a generation of asshole kids? In what way is great parenting aligned to great team management? How does Chris give feedback to his teams vs his children? What tone should be used? Should it always be "radical candor"? Should it be immediate?
4.) Does Chris believe that VCs really add any value? What does Chris believe is his secret sauce? Why does Chris believe that as a VC you have to be outspoken and loud about the value you provide? What have been some of the biggest lessons for Chris from sitting on boards and working with Bill Gurley? Why does Chris believe that most VCs are shitty managers?
5.) Why did Chris decide to come back from retirement and found Lowercarbon with Crystal? Why did he not decide to do it all with his own money? Why is now different for climate tech than prior generations of climate tech innovation? How big does Chris want to scale Lowercarbon? Will Chris make more money from climate investing than from tech?
Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Chris Sacca
