early-stage investors

also referred to as: early stage investor · early stage investors

23 statements across 22 episodes · 6 bullish · 8 bearish · 22 people on the record · first statement Feb 20, 2015 by Frank Meehan · across every show →

Everything said about early-stage investors, oldest first

Feb 20, 2015 negative
Insight
Meehan: Early-Stage Investors Fail to Match Startups' Global Scope
“But investors are very local, and investors, especially at early stage, have not matched the global expansions of startups these days.”
Frank Meehan Feb 20, 2015 ▶ 11:55 20 VC 013: Frank Meehan Series A, Spark Labs and The Future of The Asian Tech Market
Mar 30, 2016 positive
Insight
Craig: Founder qualities are the only thing early-stage investors can truly evaluate
“But to me, the, Qualities of the founders are the most important, the most enduring part of any company, and the only thing you can truly understand as an early stage investor”
Paige Craig Mar 30, 2016 ▶ 4:23 20VC: 'The Best Seed Investors Hunt' with Paige Craig @ Arena VC
Aug 8, 2016 positive
Insight
Early-stage investors evaluate follow-on funding better than late-stage VCs
“In a perverse sense, their adjudication of whether that company deserves another three million or five million or seven million dollars is at least as good, if not better, than the next guy up the line, especially if that next guy up the line is by necessity D…”
Matt Ocko Aug 8, 2016 ▶ 6:43 20VC: Data Collective's Matt Ocko on Why "All Fund Size Models Are Wrong" and The Lifecycle of Current Venture Funds Is Inefficient?
Aug 8, 2016 negative
Insight
Early-stage VCs bias investments to please late-stage investors, says Matt Ocko
“Meanwhile, the early stage investor Because they have to consider this capital formation risk is at best unconsciously and at worst very consciously biasing the nature of the investments that they pick towards what is popular or acceptable or soothing to the t…”
Matt Ocko Aug 8, 2016 ▶ 5:36 20VC: Data Collective's Matt Ocko on Why "All Fund Size Models Are Wrong" and The Lifecycle of Current Venture Funds Is Inefficient?
Sep 5, 2016 positive
Insight
Ben Lerer: Best Early-Stage VCs Are Former Operators, Not Number Crunchers
“But for me, the best investors, particularly the best early stage investors are going to be people who have actually been in the trenches and built and sold their own businesses and raised money for their own businesses and gone through sort of that slog versu…”
Ben Lerer Sep 5, 2016 ▶ 6:41 20VC: Lerer Hippeau's Ben Lerer on 'Investing With Imagination', Strategies To Avoid Fomo & Develop Pattern Recognition As An Investor and Why We Have Seen The Rise of Direct To Consumer Business & Will This Continue With Further M&A
Mar 27, 2017 negative
Opinion
Gur: Many early-stage VCs panic when portfolio companies face turbulence
“I find many investors, especially at the early stage, when things are not going well, it's like turbulence in a plane. They're like the, you know, the person freaking out and yelling, like, we're gonna die.”
Sar Gur Mar 27, 2017 ▶ 11:54 20VC: How Investors Can Build Relationships with Founders In Organic, Non-Transactional Ways & How VCs Should Handle Founder Disputes with Saar Gur, General Partner @ CRV
Jul 12, 2017
Insight
Wincek: Early-stage VC returns rely on a one-third fund-returner rule
“Early-stage investors, at the early stage, you really think, like, about a third of your companies are going to go to zero, a third of your companies are going to return their capital, and a third of your companies are going to return your fund.”
Roseanne Wincek Jul 12, 2017 ▶ 7:51 20VC: The Blurring of Early & Late Stage, Why Your Go To Market Strategy Is More Important Now Than Ever & Why Venture Is The Academia Of Tech with Roseanne Wincek @ IVP
Jul 19, 2017 negative
Opinion
Early-stage VCs reacting to current public IPO markets is stupid
“What's going on in the public markets today has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on what a liquidity market's going to look like when those companies are ready to either go public or be acquired. So I think it's really stupid, but it's quite commonplace”
Jason Pressman Jul 19, 2017 ▶ 10:53 20VC: Why It Is BS That You Never Regret Paying A High Price To Get Into A Good Company, Why There Are Only 2 Price Points That Work in SaaS and Why eSports Will Be Bigger Than Traditional Sports in 5 Years Time with Jason Pressman @ Shasta Ventures
Sep 6, 2017 positive
Insight
Jon Callaghan: Early-stage VCs must embolden founders to take major risks
“We think that the role of the early stage investor is to fully support and fully embolden those founders to take major, major risk and be bold and daring.”
John Callaghan Sep 6, 2017 ▶ 5:34 20VC: Why Investors Have The Biggest Problem with Bias, Why Our Job Is To Maximise Risk & Why It Is Essential To Get Good at Losing with True Ventures Founder, Jon Callaghan
Oct 23, 2017 positive
Insight
Early-stage VCs should maximize upfront ownership instead of heavy reserves
“I think early stage investors have to do the same thing. I think a few can and will be really good at investing in a lot of things and then pouncing on the things that are working, but most people won't have enough bandwidth to manage that.”
Semil Shah Oct 23, 2017 ▶ 17:19 20VC: Semil Shah on How To Raise An Institutional Venture Fund, Why LPs Mostly Have Reserve Allocation Theory Wrong & Why IPOs and Acquisitions Are Severely Constrained
Apr 30, 2018
Insight
Neumann: Half of early-stage investors enter venture capital by accident
“So I think half of the early stage investors out there did it on purpose, and the rest of us got into it by accident.”
Jerry Neumann Apr 30, 2018 ▶ 2:47 20VC: Why Follow-On Investments Are Always A Better Investment, Why Spray and Pray Investing Is Like The Stock Market & Why Startups Need A Board From Day One with Jerry Neumann
Mar 18, 2021
Insight
Borrero: Growth is the only metric early-stage venture investors care about
“You have to understand in what game you're playing, and this game is called growth, and what's important for early stage investors is, number one, growth, number two, growth, number three, growth, and that's it.”
Simon Borrero Mar 18, 2021 ▶ 12:41 20VC: Rappi Founder Simón Borrero on Growth vs Profitability, Capital Efficiency, Raising $1.7Bn as a LATAM Company and Why Uber Eats Did More To Help Than To Hurt Rappi
Apr 8, 2022 bearish
Prediction Held up
Stebbings: Startup market downturn will trickle down to early stage
“I think it's going to get worse, and I find it amazing that all these early stage investors are like, oh, it's fine, we're going to be great, and I think multiplier effect is real, and the trickle down will happen.”
Harry Stebbings Apr 8, 2022 ▶ 12:58 20VC: What Happens To Growth Rounds in this New Environment? Where is the Funding Crunch? How Does This Impact M&A and Going Public? How do Crossover Funds Respond? What Does it Mean For Early Stage and more with Eric Liaw, General Partner @ IVP
May 9, 2022 neutral
Insight
Grinda: Early-Stage VCs Should Focus on Macroeconomic Conditions 7-10 Years Out
“As an early stage investor, like pre-C, seed, and A, it doesn't really impact me too much because the macro I care about is the macro is seven, 10 years in the future.”
Fabrice Grinda May 9, 2022 ▶ 21:19 20VC: WTF Is Going On? 3 Outcomes for What Could Happen From Here; What Needs to Happen To Avoid Recession? Why Stagnation is Most Likely and What This Means for Startups and Venture & Why Catastrophe is More Likely Than Ever and Switzerland Could Be a "H
May 30, 2022 neutral
Insight
Rabois: Early-stage VCs must depend on downstream funding rounds
“Any early stage investor, unless they have running a billion dollar plus fund, Has to depend on future financings. Almost no company you or I will ever finance will be profitable on the first tranche of investment.”
Keith Rabois May 30, 2022 ▶ 2:44 Keith Rabois: The End of Woke Capitalism; Time Allocation Tips; Silicon Valley vs Miami | 20VC #891 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Jan 10, 2024 neutral
Insight
Sim: Early VCs need valuation discipline to succeed on $300M to $500M exits
“Cause if early guys will do well, as long as they're not paying 50 to 75 Brie for some of these inception rounds, you know, if they exit a three to 500, but you need more of those to return a fund. So it changes the dynamics of everything where ownership matte…”
Ed Sim Jan 10, 2024 ▶ 28:19 Ed Sim & Jamin Ball: Did Figma Kill M&A Markets & 3 Requirements to IPO in 2024 | E1101 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Feb 5, 2024 neutral
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Tisch: Early-stage speed advantage has been equalized across VC
“I think speed was an advantage before 2019 for early stage investors that has been sort of equalized by all firms across the entire spectrum.”
David Tisch Feb 5, 2024 ▶ 18:29 David Tisch & Terrence Rohan: Biggest Misconceptions & Hardest Truths About Seed Investing | E1112 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Aug 16, 2024 negative
Opinion
Sturdy: Early-stage VCs often lack understanding of public market dynamics
“There's a lot of private state private early stage investors that don't understand a lot of the dynamics of public markets and valuations and pricing and how and portfolio management at that scale.”
Laela Sturdy Aug 16, 2024 ▶ 39:51 Laela Sturdy: Life Inside Alphabet's $7BN Growth Fund | E1190 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Sep 23, 2024 neutral
Insight
Gurski: Early VCs must prioritize huge markets over incremental risk reduction
“The main job of early stage investor is to distinguish Cases with 100% of failure with cases 99% of failure and cases with small potential outcome and big potential outcome. And you should find cases when failure is not 100% guaranteed and the potential outcom…”
Dmitry Gurski Sep 23, 2024 ▶ 59:31 Dmitry Gurski: From Potato Farm to $200M in Revenue: The Never-Before-Told Story of Flo Health|E1205 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Nov 20, 2024 negative
Insight
Sertoglu: Early-stage VCs lose their edge once a startup goes public
“Once the stock is public, we felt that we have lost our entire edge in trying to Manage that investment. And I think as early stage investors, our job is to then leave that decision to our LPs.”
Cem Sertoglu Nov 20, 2024 ▶ 48:49 Cem Sertoglu: Lessons from the Greatest Venture Investment in European History | E1228 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Mar 26, 2025
Insight
Green: Early-stage investors should exit and sell upon IPO
“If you are a early stage investor, when your company goes public, you should get off the board and sell the company.”
Mitchell Green Mar 26, 2025 ▶ 22:01 Mitchell Green, Founder @ Lead Edge Capital: Why Traditional VC is Broken · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Mar 28, 2026 positive
Insight
Gili Raanan: Selfishness and greed are good traits for seed investors
“We need to be selfish, and we need to be greedy. Those are good trades for an early stage investor.”
Gili Raanan Mar 28, 2026 ▶ 0:33 Why Margins Don't Matter for Early-Stage Startups | Gili Raanan · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
May 30, 2026 negative
Opinion
Nico Laqua: Early-stage VCs are disrespectful in pitch meetings
“I've had people like, especially the first round, like the early stage investors are disrespectful.”
Nico Laqua May 30, 2026 ▶ 37:22 The Hardest Working Startup in America | Nico Laqua, Co-founder & CEO @ Corgi · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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