Sarah Tavel and Eric Vishria, General Partners at Benchmark, discuss their firm's distinctive minimalistic approach to venture capital. They dive into the importance of deep partnerships with founders and how this shapes their investment strategy. The duo contrasts Benchmark's equal partnership model with larger firms, emphasizing the joy of collaboration. They also navigate the challenges of today’s market, highlighting the significance of sustainable investment practices and meaningful relationships in fostering long-term success.
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insights INSIGHT
Benchmark's Era
Benchmark is an internet-era firm, distinct from semiconductor-era firms like Sequoia and mobile-era firms like Andreessen Horowitz.
Each era's firms reflect the keys to success in their respective technological period.
insights INSIGHT
Benchmark's Structure
Benchmark's structure involves six equal partners, no platform team, and consistent fund sizes.
This model prioritizes direct GP involvement with founders but limits scalability.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Refounding Benchmark
Benchmark views each new partner as an opportunity to "re-found" the firm.
Both Eric Vishria and Victor, with different backgrounds, joined as equal partners despite lacking prior investing experience.
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In this episode of Turpentine VC, we're sharing Erik Torenberg's 2023 interview with Sarah Tavel and Eric Vishria from Benchmark, exploring the firm's unique minimalistic approach, commitment to deep founder partnerships, and their deliberate avoidance of platform teams.
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Benchmark was founded in 1995 as an "internet era" firm, distinct from semiconductor era firms like Sequoia (1970s) and mobile era firms like Andreessen Horowitz (2009).
The firm operates with six equal partners who split economics equally and make just 1-2 investments per year each.
Benchmark intentionally maintains no platform team, believing direct GP involvement leads to better founder outcomes.
The firm's Monday meetings have no agenda to encourage open-ended curiosity and foster creative thinking.
During 2020-2021, Benchmark's investment pace was historically slower due to the challenges of building relationships over Zoom.
The firm is currently on pace for making the most new investments in a year than they have in the past decade.
Benchmark sees three distinct opportunities in AI: foundational models, vertical companies selling work, and incumbent product enhancement.
The firm succeeded in crypto by focusing on company-building founders (Chainalysis, So Rare) rather than token-based speculation.
Benchmark prioritizes "seeing the present clearly" over making big macro predictions about the future.
The partners view their lack of a platform team as both a constraint on deal flow and a feature that ensures deep GP involvement.
The firm deliberately maintains consistent fund sizes and focused strategy, unlike peers who have expanded into multiple products.
Healthcare investments focus on peripheral areas (nurse marketplaces, medical devices) rather than core healthcare delivery.
The partners still cold email and DM founders directly, with no junior staff intermediating relationships.
The firm's equal partnership model intentionally doesn't scale beyond a small number of partners to maintain quality of collaboration.
Benchmark measures success by investment multiples rather than total capital returned, focusing on being in "the few deals that matter."
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