multi-stage firm

also referred to as: multi-stage firms · multistage firm

15 statements across 11 episodes · 2 bullish · 8 bearish · 10 people on the record · first statement Oct 14, 2019 by Brianne Kimmel · across every show →

Everything said about multi-stage firm, oldest first

Oct 14, 2019 negative
Opinion
Multi-stage firms expect founders to solve tactical problems alone
“Multi-stage firms typically view this as things you should figure out on your own, where I think that a lot of the boutique seed funds already have the infrastructure in place.”
Brianne Kimmel Oct 14, 2019 ▶ 12:49 20VC: Worklife Ventures' Brianne Kimmel on Why More Operators Should Start Their Own Fund, How To Structure Your Round for the Highest Signal Round & What The Multi-Stage Funds Playing At Seed Means For The Rest of The Asset Class
Oct 14, 2019 neutral
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Repeat founders bypass seed funds for multi-stage firms
“I think you have enough repeat entrepreneurs who are working on their second or third idea already have a Establish relationships in Silicon Valley. They kind of already have a sense for who they want on their board. And for those individuals, they already hav…”
Brianne Kimmel Oct 14, 2019 ▶ 10:45 20VC: Worklife Ventures' Brianne Kimmel on Why More Operators Should Start Their Own Fund, How To Structure Your Round for the Highest Signal Round & What The Multi-Stage Funds Playing At Seed Means For The Rest of The Asset Class
Oct 14, 2019 negative
Opinion
Multi-stage firms issue seed checks quickly with little diligence
“And I think, to be honest, like one of the challenges that the existing seed funds face is that because of the large fund-sized From these multi-stage firms, then they can very quickly write a check with very little diligence, or they can do it based on existi…”
Brianne Kimmel Oct 14, 2019 ▶ 11:10 20VC: Worklife Ventures' Brianne Kimmel on Why More Operators Should Start Their Own Fund, How To Structure Your Round for the Highest Signal Round & What The Multi-Stage Funds Playing At Seed Means For The Rest of The Asset Class
Mar 23, 2020 negative
Opinion
Kumar: Multi-stage firms use seed checks as training wheels for new partners
“In a lot of cases, I feel that some of the multi-stage firms coming in and investing at the seed stage is not a function of a calculated strategy, but more of essentially providing a safe playground and training wheels for some of the new folks who are there.”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 9:40 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Mar 23, 2020 negative
Insight
Kumar: Multi-stage seed checks are option value that harms struggling startups
“For a lot of these multi-stage firms, the capital that they put into a company in the early stages is just an option value. And if it's just an option value, then if things don't go well, that company is going to have an incredibly difficult time at raising ca…”
Manu Kumar Mar 23, 2020 ▶ 8:12 20VC: Multi-Stage Funds Investing At Seed Are Option Value Investing, Why The Biggest Enemy For Venture Firms Is Group Think and How Running Companies Changes Your Investment Mentality with Manu Kumar, Founder @ K9 Ventures
Aug 14, 2020 positive
Insight
Anna Khan: Early-Stage VCs Build Deeper Founder Bonds Than Multi-Stage Firms
“It's really hard to forget the person that bet on you when no one knew your name or used your product, and I think that is sort of that secret weapon that early stage funds can use because they come out of it with a much deeper and much more emotional connecti…”
Anna Khan Aug 14, 2020 ▶ 22:14 20VC: Why Few Firms Are Doing True Early Stage Investing Today, Why Founders Should Spend Time with Analysts When Raising & The Rise of Pre-Empting Rounds and How To Know When To Engage vs Wait with Anna Khan, General Partner @ CRV
Aug 17, 2020
Insight
Multi-stage VC bureaucracy makes their decision-making slower than solo GPs
“Look, I can help you build this, and it's not to say that brand name firms can't do that, but there's more bureaucracy, and there's more red tape for a multi-stage firm, for instance, to be able to make a decision as quick as a solo GP.”
Apurva Mehta Aug 17, 2020 ▶ 11:09 20VC: Why Entrepreneurs Care Less About Firm Brand at Seed, How LPs Should Think About GP Commit & How The World of LPs and Fundraising Will Change Post COVID with Apurva Mehta, Managing Partner @ Summit Peak Investments
May 4, 2021 positive
Opinion
Tisch: Signaling risk from multi-stage seed investments is an overrated myth
“I think that the myth of sort of you take a seed check from a multi-stage firm, especially in this market, that you are going to struggle to raise your next round if that firm doesn't sort of write the term sheet. I think that's been proven to not be a materia…”
David Tisch May 4, 2021 ▶ 17:13 20VC: David Tisch on Why Ownership in Venture Does Not Matter, His Biggest Investing Misses and Hits and How His Investing Style Changed as a Result & 3 Core Reasons VCs Pass That Do Not Make Sense
Feb 5, 2024
Insight
Tisch: Outside VCs rarely wait to see if insider funds follow on
“If you have a multi-stage firm on your cap table that can lead your next round, and a new multi-stage firm shows up to explore your next round, very rarely are they like, will you get the answer from the other firm?”
David Tisch Feb 5, 2024 ▶ 1:22:34 David Tisch & Terrence Rohan: Biggest Misconceptions & Hardest Truths About Seed Investing | E1112 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Apr 24, 2025 negative
Opinion
Stebbings: Multi-stage VC funds are crushing traditional seed managers
“The multi-stage fund product at seed is so good, so efficient, and their cost of capital is so low that they're just crushing everyone at seed. And this, for me, is another example. Green Oaks leading the seed, doubling down on the A. I think all of the multi-…”
Harry Stebbings Apr 24, 2025 ▶ 10:10 How LP Deployment to Venture Will Change in 2025 & Are Endowment Funds in Trouble? · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Apr 28, 2025 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Hinrikus: Multi-stage firms' high-volume seed strategy will fail as founders wise up
“I don't think this game will last. I think the best founders will realize that getting a check on good terms from a multistage firm is by no means a guarantee of raising money from them in the future.”
Taavet Hinrikus Apr 28, 2025 ▶ 40:26 Plural Partner, Taavet Hinrikus: Why Founders Will Realise Multi-Stage Funds Damage Seed Rounds · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
May 5, 2025 negative
Opinion
Moore: Seed investors deliberately stoke founder fears over multi-stage signaling risk
“I will also say that any seed investor competing with a multi-stage firm will go very, very out of their way to instill this Wild fear in the founder's mind about like the risk of that.”
Bucky Moore May 5, 2025 ▶ 46:16 Bucky Moore @ Lightspeed Venture Partners: Why You Cannot Do VC If You Do Not Do Pre-Seed · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
May 5, 2025 neutral
Insight
Moore: Execution against milestones, not multi-stage signaling, determines Series A success
“Usually what I find is that it's like, it's just like the quality of the company at that stage and how they've executed against the milestones that they set forth that determines like the series a success rather than say like the whimsical taste of the multi-s…”
Bucky Moore May 5, 2025 ▶ 46:55 Bucky Moore @ Lightspeed Venture Partners: Why You Cannot Do VC If You Do Not Do Pre-Seed · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Aug 4, 2025
Insight
Multi-Stage VC Is 70% Access, Early-Stage Is 70% Picking
“I would say if you are a multi-stage firm that is, you know, deploying large checks at scale. 70% access. 30% picking. If you are a small and nimble early stage fund that is trying to break into the mold, I'm gonna say it's, you know, 80%, 70% picking. I'll fl…”
Miles Dieffenbach Aug 4, 2025 ▶ 14:36 Miles Dieffenbach: Inside Carnegie Mellon’s $4BN Endowment & The Math Behind DPI, TVPI, Illiquidity · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Dec 18, 2025 negative
Insight
O'Driscoll: Multi-stage VCs treat seed investing as marketing expense
“The dynamics of a multistage firm mean that if they choose to, they can swamp a seed business to some extent and just ride it off as marketing.”
Rory O'Driscoll Dec 18, 2025 ▶ 6:22 Will Cursor Kill Figma? Lightspeed Raises $9B & OpenAI’s $1B from Disney & #1 App in App Store · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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