The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
20VC: How To Do a 10x Seed Fund in 2025 | Three Frameworks to Evaluate Startups an Founders | Lessons from Losing Billions Missing Airbnb and Pinterest & Investing Lessons from Charlie Munger with Mike Maples @ Floodgate
Jan 6, 2025
In a captivating discussion, Mike Maples, co-founding partner at Floodgate and veteran seed investor, shares his insights from two decades in venture capital. He tackles the effectiveness of seed funding as an asset class and lays out strategies for achieving a 10x return. Mike reflects on valuable lessons learned from missing out on Airbnb and Pinterest, while revealing three frameworks for evaluating startups. He also addresses challenges posed by overfunding and the critical importance of product-market fit in today’s investment landscape.
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Quick takeaways
- To achieve a successful 10x seed fund, investors must strategically drive their investments to yield high returns despite market challenges.
- Identifying market inefficiencies and discerning investment opportunities is crucial for navigating the complexities within the seed funding landscape.
Deep dives
Risk and Reward in Seed Investing
Investing in the seed stage involves understanding the risk-reward balance that must be navigated to achieve success. It is essential to receive compensation for the risks undertaken, and the strategy is built around the principle that a small percentage of investments can yield outsized returns. Specifically, achieving notable returns requires that 5% of investments generate 100x cash returns, while 10-15% need to yield about 20x returns. This approach underscores the necessity of strategic decision-making and finding market inefficiencies to capitalize on investment opportunities.
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