The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Why Seed is Systemically Broken | Why Pricing is Worse Than Ever and There is More Funding Than Ever | Benchmarks for Churn, Retention and Growth Rates - Good vs Great | Why Last Vintage for Private Equity Will Suck with Jason Lemkin

May 27, 2024

In this engaging discussion, Jason Lemkin, a pioneering SaaS investor and founder of the SaaStr community, shares insights from his impressive portfolio of unicorns. He delves into why the traditional seed VC model is broken and how companies are now inundated with cash that often fails to ensure well-grounded growth. Additionally, Jason emphasizes the importance of strong founder dynamics, particularly the winning combination of a CEO with sales prowess and a technical CTO. He also highlights critical metrics for startup success, such as churn and retention rates, offering an expert's perspective on what truly drives sustainable growth.

01:14:18

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Episode guests

Jason Lemkin

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Quick takeaways

Founder partnership of CEO salesperson and CTO is crucial for success in startups.

Venture capital industry faces challenges due to broken seed funding and problematic pricing.

Achieving triple-digit growth rates and IPO readiness require strategic planning and aggressive market expansion.

Maintaining a healthy burn ratio is essential for long-term viability in software as a service (SaaS) companies.

Deep dives

Seed Investments in Systemically Broken Today

Seed investments are facing challenges with increasing capital and fewer scalable opportunities for triple-digit growth rates. The best investments typically reach 1 to 10 million within five quarters or less. Achieving IPO readiness often requires tripling revenue multiples before entering the public market. Expansion beyond a 10% market share is crucial for sustained growth.

Commitment and Speed in Investments

01:38

Acceptable Churn Rates for SMB and Enterprise

04:15

Qualities of a Great CEO & CTO

02:13

Thorough Diligence: Key to Investment Success

01:26

Intro

4min

Navigating Venture Capital: Key Insights on CTOs and Investments

14min

Navigating Competitive Markets

12min

Lessons from Investment Failures

14min

Understanding Churn and Retention in Business

15min

Lessons in Fund Management and Investment Strategy

2min

Evaluating Underrated Giants and Overvalued Entities in SaaS

2min

Navigating Growth in Competitive Markets

7min

The Importance of Dynamic Websites and Effective Business Solutions

3min

Jason Lemkin is one of the OG SaaS investors with all of his first five investments turning into unicorns with Pipedrive, Algolia, Talkdesk, Salesloft and RevenueCat all in his portfolio. SaaStr is the largest global community in SaaS and he has taught a generation the fundamentals of SaaS on saastr.com.

In Today's Episode with Jason Lemkin We Discuss:

1. Growth Rates and Churn Rates: Average/Good/Great:

What is a growth rate that would excite Jason in a SaaS company? What is average?
What levels of churn would worry Jason to see? What would excite him to see?
What does Jason never tolerate when it comes to either growth rate or retention?

2. What Founder Combination Always Wins:

Why does Jason believe you cannot lose money on a CEO salesperson and a technical CTO founding partnership?
Why does Jason always meet the CTO for a second meeting in the diligence process? What questions does he ask? What do the best CTOs do or say?
Why does Jason always want to sell his shares when the founders want to sell?
Why does Jason believe that a company is never the same when the founders leave?

3. WTF is Happening in the World of VC:

Why does Jason believe that pricing is worse than it has ever been in venture?
Why does Jason believe that traditional seed VC is systemically broken?
Why are companies getting stuffed with more cash than ever before?
What does Jason know now about dilution that he wishes he had known when he started?
Why does Jason believe that you should always recycle everything?

4. WTF is Happening in PE and Later Stage Markets:

What happens to all the overpriced acquisitions like Zendesk and Salesloft where private equity way overpaid for them, they have no growth and no product innovation?
What happens to the generation of public companies like Box, Dropbox and Twilio, all with low growth and little product innovation in the single-digit market caps?
Why does Jason believe that Klaviyo is the most undervalued public company today?
What does Jason believe will happen to Anaplan with Pigment eating their lunch?

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The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Why Seed is Systemically Broken | Why Pricing is Worse Than Ever and There is More Funding Than Ever | Benchmarks for Churn, Retention and Growth Rates - Good vs Great | Why Last Vintage for Private Equity Will Suck with Jason Lemkin

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Seed Investments in Systemically Broken Today

Analyzing Best and Worst Deals with Investor Jason Lemkin

Importance of Founder Commitment in VC Investments

Diligence and Investment Decision-Making in VC

Navigating Challenges in Competitive Markets and Growth Models

Managing Churn Rates and Growth Challenges in VC Investments

Importance of Efficient Burn Ratio in SaaS Companies

Challenges of Investor Mindset in Fast-Growing Funds

Commitment and Speed in Investments

Acceptable Churn Rates for SMB and Enterprise

Qualities of a Great CEO & CTO

Thorough Diligence: Key to Investment Success

Get the Snipd
podcast app

AI-powered
podcast player

Discover
highlights

Save any
moment

Share
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Discover
highlights

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Why Seed is Systemically Broken | Why Pricing is Worse Than Ever and There is More Funding Than Ever | Benchmarks for Churn, Retention and Growth Rates - Good vs Great | Why Last Vintage for Private Equity Will Suck with Jason Lemkin

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Seed Investments in Systemically Broken Today

Analyzing Best and Worst Deals with Investor Jason Lemkin

Importance of Founder Commitment in VC Investments

Diligence and Investment Decision-Making in VC

Navigating Challenges in Competitive Markets and Growth Models

Managing Churn Rates and Growth Challenges in VC Investments

Importance of Efficient Burn Ratio in SaaS Companies

Challenges of Investor Mindset in Fast-Growing Funds

Commitment and Speed in Investments

Acceptable Churn Rates for SMB and Enterprise

Qualities of a Great CEO & CTO

Thorough Diligence: Key to Investment Success

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