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

20VC: Turning $16.5M into $2.1BN; Lessons from the Greatest Venture Investment in European History: UiPath | Why VC is Not Being Commoditised | Why Price Does Not Matter | Lessons on Loss Ratio, Selling and Signalling with Cem Sertoglu

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Nov 20, 2024

Cem Sertoglu, a prominent venture investor known for turning a $16.5 million investment in UiPath into an astounding $2.1 billion return, shares his insights on the venture capital landscape. He discusses why he believes VC hasn't been commoditized and the importance of founder relationships. Cem reflects on crucial lessons from his UiPath journey, including reserve management and the significance of selective investment. He addresses common misconceptions, advising founders on how to choose the right VC and why price may not be the most critical factor.

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INSIGHT

VC Commoditization

Venture capital hasn't been fully commoditized, despite multi-stage firms' seed strategies.
True early-stage VC requires specialized skills and attention, unlike later-stage investing.

ADVICE

Founder-Investor Alignment

Founders seeking involved partners should carefully consider who they work with.
Top founders prioritize investors as individuals, not just sources of capital.

INSIGHT

Price vs. Power Law

While price matters in venture, power law dynamics diminish its impact on top outcomes.
UiPath's success demonstrates that even double the initial price wouldn't significantly alter massive returns.

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Cem Sertoglu is one of the great venture investors of the last decade. Cem is famed for writing the first check into UiPath and over several rounds turning $16.5M into $2.1BN. Cem recently started Bek Ventures, a $250M fund that was 3x oversubscribed.

In Today’s Show with Cem Sertoglu We Discuss:

1. Has Venture Capital Been Commoditised:

Why does Cem believe that VC has not been commoditised?
Why does Cem believe many VCs today are not even VCs anymore?
How does Cem advise founders who have offers from large multi-stage firms? What questions should they ask them pre-working with them?
How do the best founders select the VC they choose to work with?

2. Price, Reserves, Loss Ratios:

Why does Cem believe that price does not matter?
How does Cem approach reserves and reserves management?
What does Cem know now about reserves that he wishes he had known when he started investing?
Does Cem care about loss ratio? Does he do scenario planning when making investments?

3. Making $2.1BN on UiPath:

How did Cem meet Daniel for the first time? Was it obvious he was incredible?
Why did they only write a $1M check and not take the whole round with $1.5M?
Why did 40 of the best investors in Europe all turn down UiPath for the Series A?
What did doing the bridge round for UiPath teach Cem about reserves?
When was it obvious UiPath was going to be a mega hit?
How did they continue to concentrate capital with each round?
When did they first start to sell shares in UiPath?
What was their approach to the selldown of their position?
When the company IPO’d, how much of it did they have?

4. AMA with One of Europe’s Best:

Does signalling exist? How does Cem advise founders on this?
What has been his biggest loss? How did that change his mindset?
What has been Cem’s biggest miss? What did he not see?
Why does Cem always believe you should manufacture arguments with founders before investing?
Why does Cem believe a high GP commit can actually misalign the GP and the LP?