
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) interviews the world's greatest venture capitalists with prior guests including Sequoia's Doug Leone and Benchmark's Bill Gurley. Once per week, 20VC Host, Harry Stebbings is also joined by one of the great founders of our time with prior founder episodes from Spotify's Daniel Ek, Linkedin's Reid Hoffman, and Snowflake's Frank Slootman.
If you would like to see more of The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), head to www.20vc.com for more information on the podcast, show notes, resources and more.
Latest episodes

108 snips
Jul 3, 2025 • 1h 11min
20VC: Figma's IPO: The Full Breakdown | Index Returns $3.5BN on Two Deals | Why Melio's $2.5BN Acquisition is "Discouraging" | Asana's New CEO and the Great Founder Exodus | Oracle's $30BN AI Deal and What it Means for Incumbents
Dive into the fascinating world of startup valuations with insights on Figma's impressive IPO and Adobe's missed acquisition opportunity. Explore the reasons behind Melio’s surprising $2.5 billion exit, despite rapid growth. Discuss the rampant surge in AI investments and their potential implications for the market. Analyze the challenges of tech acquisition amidst a wave of CEO exits. Unpack the dynamics of venture capital, especially the balance between personal relationships and financial decisions in this shifting landscape.

221 snips
Jun 30, 2025 • 1h 2min
20VC: Inside KKR's Monster $8BN European Fund | The $500M Turkey Gamble That Went Wrong | Do Andreessen & General Catalyst Scare KKR? | Will AI Kill the PE Model? | Can The PE Model Survive without IPOs and Where is the Liquidity with Philip Freise
Philip Freise, Co-Head of European Private Equity at KKR, shares insights into managing Europe's largest private fund with a whopping $8 billion. He recounts the $500 million loss in Turkey and the lessons learned, alongside a candid discussion on KKR's bold COVID investments. Freise challenges conventional wisdom, questioning if AI could impact the private equity model, and explores the looming $3 trillion liquidity crisis. He also predicts how KKR may dramatically expand its European presence and unpacks the evolving landscape of deep tech investments.

366 snips
Jun 27, 2025 • 1h 17min
20Sales: How to Layer Enterprise Sales on PLG | How to Sell AI Tools To Enterprises That Are Scared | Should Reps Own Their Own Pipeline | Mistakes All Founders Make When Moving From Founder-Led to Rep-Led Sales with Kim Graves
Kim Graves, Head of Sales, Americas at Notion and co-founder of 20sales.vc, shares her insights on enterprise sales strategies and the challenges of integrating AI tools. She discusses the importance of mindset over mere sales stages and reveals how to navigate customer conversations effectively. Kim highlights key mistakes founders make when shifting from founder-led to rep-led sales, and why cold calling remains relevant in the future. With a focus on spotting true grit in sales hires and the evolving role of AI, her perspective is both refreshing and insightful.

520 snips
Jun 26, 2025 • 1h 14min
20VC: Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross Bought with Zuck's $100BN AI Budget | Navan Files to Go Public and Canva Pulls the Brakes: Why and What Happens | Why Larry Ellison is the Smartest Man in Tech | Substance or Sizzle: What is Real and What is BS in AI
In an engaging discussion, the podcast dives into Facebook's massive $100 billion AI investment and the recent acquisitions of talent like Nat Friedman. The hosts debate whether loyalty still exists in Silicon Valley amid a talent exodus. There's a buzz around Navan's IPO and the uncertain future of Canva as it hesitates to go public. Larry Ellison's strategic moves to reclaim his empire also take center stage. The hosts explore the fine line between genuine innovation and mere marketing hype in the AI landscape.

122 snips
Jun 23, 2025 • 1h 17min
20VC: The Wild Story Raising $450M From Masa and Softbank | Why My Biggest Mistakes Came From Listening to VCs | Why 100 VCs Turned Us Down | Why European Founders Are Tougher Than US Founders with Johannes Reck, GetYourGuide
In this conversation, Johannes Reck, Founder and CEO of GetYourGuide, shares his entrepreneurial journey from modest beginnings to a $2 billion valuation. He reveals the tough lessons learned from his early fundraising mistakes and the significant impact of dilution. Reck discusses the stark differences between the VC landscapes in Europe and the US, and how European founders often face tougher challenges. He recounts the wild story behind raising $450 million from Softbank and his personal experiences with hiring missteps and pandemic-induced revenue drops.

332 snips
Jun 20, 2025 • 1h 19min
20Product: How Duolingo Build Product 10x Faster with AI | Duolingo's Biggest Lessons on Paywalls, Push Notifications and In-App Purchases | Why Small Teams are the Future of Product | Why PMs Will Become Extinct with Cem Kansu, CPO @ Duolingo
Cem Kansu, Chief Product Officer at Duolingo, leads the charge in product innovation for over 90 million learners. He discusses how smaller teams can drive faster development, and delves into Duolingo’s strategy for successful AI integration. Cem shares insights on monetization challenges, the effectiveness of targeted paywalls, and the quirky psychology behind retention strategies. He reflects on the future of product managers in an AI-driven world, sparking a thought-provoking debate on the balance between user engagement and monetization.

204 snips
Jun 19, 2025 • 1h 7min
20VC: Scale's $14.8BN Acquisition: Is Scale a Dead Man Walking / What Did Meta Buy | Chime IPO: Are IPOs Hotter Than Ever | Ramp Hits $16BN Diluting Only 1% | Salesforce, Slack and Dropbox Falling Behind: Are Incumbents Losing Ground
In a deep dive into Meta's $14.8 billion acquisition of Scale, experts discuss the potential fallout and whether Scale can sustain its $800 million ARR. The conversation shifts to Chime's IPO and the resurgence of IPOs in the market. Ramp's remarkable $16 billion valuation catches attention, raising questions about fintech competition. Legacy companies like Salesforce and Dropbox grapple with innovation challenges. Predictions swirl around China's AI dominance and market shifts, painting a dynamic picture of the tech landscape.

163 snips
Jun 16, 2025 • 1h 35min
20VC: How We Made $800M on Coursera | We Lost Money on Uber and Made Money on Lyft | We Did 3x on Postmates in 18 Months | DPI is King, MOIC is BS | We Dodged Theranos and I Still Lost Millions with Larry Aschebrook @ G Squared
Larry Aschebrook is the Founder and Managing Partner of G Squared in what is one of the wildest stories of venture capital. Larry started G Squared with nothing, dialling for dollars having personally invested in Twitter and Uber. In his first fund, Larry made sizable bets into SpaceX, Palantir, Alibaba and Twitter. Larry has also had mega losses along the way (discussed in the show) in Getir, 23andme and more. Today, Larry manages over $5BN and has invested in all the best from Wiz to Spotify to Revolut and Anthropic. Agenda: 00:00 – From Broke to Billion-Dollar Bets 03:40 – The $800M Coursera Windfall 06:10 – Lyft Made Millions, Uber Lost $50M 09:05 – “We Fcked Up”: The Billion-Dollar Vintage 11:50 – How a $150M Spotify Bet Made a Billion 15:10 – The Gut Call That Dodged Theranos 18:00 – Vampires vs Zombies: The Coming Startup Purge 20:30 – When Success Almost Killed the Firm 24:20 – DPI Is King, MOIC Is Bullsht 27:40 – Why I’d Buy Anthropic at $61BN Today 30:05 – Losing $70M on 23andMe 32:10 – The Janitor of Venture Capital 34:00 – The Getir Deal That Nearly Broke Me 36:25 – Does Money Actually Make You Happy? 39:00 – What Cal Ripken Jr. Taught Me About Venture

192 snips
Jun 12, 2025 • 1h 16min
20VC: SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink: Elon’s Empire After the Firestorm | Are Circle and Coreweave Meme Stocks: IPO Analysis | Anduril Raises $2.6BN & Becomes Founders Fund's 1st and 2nd Largest Check Ever | Cursor Now 20% of SaaS Spend and the SaaS Slowdown
Dive into the wild world of IPOs and market dynamics as Circle's recent debut raises eyebrows and questions. Explore how the US stock market eclipses its global competitors, drawing companies like Deliveroo and Wise. Unpack the chilling reality that half of all unicorns might be on a crash course. Witness the rise of Anduril, securing an epic $2.6 billion from Founders Fund. Finally, grapple with the seismic shifts in SaaS spending amid AI's looming dominance and ponder the fate of tech leadership in a fast-paced, changing landscape.

497 snips
Jun 9, 2025 • 1h 6min
20VC: Fiverr CEO: ‘If You’re Not Adapting to AI, F* You. You’re Done | Why "Time to Copy" is the Most Important Metric in Startups Today | Why 99% of AI Companies Today Will Die | Why Governments Will Take Control of AI with Micha Kauffman
Micha Kauffman, Founder and CEO of Fiverr, shares insights from his three-decade journey in the startup world. He emphasizes the urgent need for companies to adapt to AI or face extinction. Kauffman provocatively challenges employees to embrace AI, claiming that 99% of current AI startups will fail. He also discusses the alarming speed at which ideas can be cloned and the shifting importance of distribution over code. Lastly, he warns about potential government regulation of AI, likening it to the Manhattan Project.