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Jan 18, 2015 · 22m · 20vc

20 VC 004: David Hornik on the Magic of Stanford and Startups

David Hornik · 17m spoken Harry Stebbings · 4m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

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In this episode of The 20 Minute VC, host Harry Stebbings speaks with August Capital partner David Hornik about transitioning from tech law to venture capital, evaluating early-stage startups, and leveraging strategic generosity to support entrepreneurs.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Harry holds 19.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Harry as informed peer 2.2 Guest teaching 3.6 Guest disagreement 0.8 Harry pushing back 0.6
05100:0010:0020:001:21–3:41 · Harry as informed peer 1/10 David Hornik's Background and Transition from Law to Venture Capital Harry welcomes David and asks a standard open-ended background question about his transition from law to venture capital. David walks through his early career and how his loud mouth in board meetings at Evite led to joining August Capital.3:42–9:02 · Harry as informed peer 2/10 Stanford Ecosystem and the Culture of Entrepreneurship When Harry asks if a legal mindset is valuable for VC, David bluntly rejects the premise, calling it a 'terrible asset'. David educates Harry on the distinction between risk-averse agents and decision-making principals.9:02–13:06 · Harry as informed peer 3/10 Evaluating Startups, Pattern Matching, and Market Size Requirements Harry demonstrates good research by referencing a specific post on David's blog regarding Ebates and asks about market size requirements. David explains fund economics and why a $300M fund necessitates billion-dollar market outcomes.13:06–16:00 · Harry as informed peer 2/10 Core Business Wisdom, Launching Venture Blog, and Target Audience Focus Harry asks for the best business advice David has received. David shares a lesson on investing versus spending and explains how defining a clear target audience guided Venture Blog.16:01–20:08 · Harry as informed peer 3/10 Book Recommendation: Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' and Strategic Generosity Harry recognizes Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' when David mentions it. David explains the deeper thesis of the book around strategic generosity and debunking the myth that nice guys finish last in business.1:21–3:41 · Guest teaching 2/10 David Hornik's Background and Transition from Law to Venture Capital Harry welcomes David and asks a standard open-ended background question about his transition from law to venture capital. David walks through his early career and how his loud mouth in board meetings at Evite led to joining August Capital.3:42–9:02 · Guest teaching 5/10 Stanford Ecosystem and the Culture of Entrepreneurship When Harry asks if a legal mindset is valuable for VC, David bluntly rejects the premise, calling it a 'terrible asset'. David educates Harry on the distinction between risk-averse agents and decision-making principals.9:02–13:06 · Guest teaching 4/10 Evaluating Startups, Pattern Matching, and Market Size Requirements Harry demonstrates good research by referencing a specific post on David's blog regarding Ebates and asks about market size requirements. David explains fund economics and why a $300M fund necessitates billion-dollar market outcomes.13:06–16:00 · Guest teaching 3/10 Core Business Wisdom, Launching Venture Blog, and Target Audience Focus Harry asks for the best business advice David has received. David shares a lesson on investing versus spending and explains how defining a clear target audience guided Venture Blog.16:01–20:08 · Guest teaching 4/10 Book Recommendation: Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' and Strategic Generosity Harry recognizes Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' when David mentions it. David explains the deeper thesis of the book around strategic generosity and debunking the myth that nice guys finish last in business.1:21–3:41 · Guest disagreement 0/10 David Hornik's Background and Transition from Law to Venture Capital Harry welcomes David and asks a standard open-ended background question about his transition from law to venture capital. David walks through his early career and how his loud mouth in board meetings at Evite led to joining August Capital.3:42–9:02 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Stanford Ecosystem and the Culture of Entrepreneurship When Harry asks if a legal mindset is valuable for VC, David bluntly rejects the premise, calling it a 'terrible asset'. David educates Harry on the distinction between risk-averse agents and decision-making principals.9:02–13:06 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Evaluating Startups, Pattern Matching, and Market Size Requirements Harry demonstrates good research by referencing a specific post on David's blog regarding Ebates and asks about market size requirements. David explains fund economics and why a $300M fund necessitates billion-dollar market outcomes.13:06–16:00 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Core Business Wisdom, Launching Venture Blog, and Target Audience Focus Harry asks for the best business advice David has received. David shares a lesson on investing versus spending and explains how defining a clear target audience guided Venture Blog.16:01–20:08 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Book Recommendation: Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' and Strategic Generosity Harry recognizes Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' when David mentions it. David explains the deeper thesis of the book around strategic generosity and debunking the myth that nice guys finish last in business.1:21–3:41 · Harry pushing back 0/10 David Hornik's Background and Transition from Law to Venture Capital Harry welcomes David and asks a standard open-ended background question about his transition from law to venture capital. David walks through his early career and how his loud mouth in board meetings at Evite led to joining August Capital.3:42–9:02 · Harry pushing back 2/10 Stanford Ecosystem and the Culture of Entrepreneurship When Harry asks if a legal mindset is valuable for VC, David bluntly rejects the premise, calling it a 'terrible asset'. David educates Harry on the distinction between risk-averse agents and decision-making principals.9:02–13:06 · Harry pushing back 1/10 Evaluating Startups, Pattern Matching, and Market Size Requirements Harry demonstrates good research by referencing a specific post on David's blog regarding Ebates and asks about market size requirements. David explains fund economics and why a $300M fund necessitates billion-dollar market outcomes.13:06–16:00 · Harry pushing back 0/10 Core Business Wisdom, Launching Venture Blog, and Target Audience Focus Harry asks for the best business advice David has received. David shares a lesson on investing versus spending and explains how defining a clear target audience guided Venture Blog.16:01–20:08 · Harry pushing back 0/10 Book Recommendation: Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' and Strategic Generosity Harry recognizes Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' when David mentions it. David explains the deeper thesis of the book around strategic generosity and debunking the myth that nice guys finish last in business.

speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Harry 50.6% · guest 49.4%0:00 · Harry 50.6% · guest 49.4%3:00 · Harry 14.8% · guest 85.2%3:00 · Harry 14.8% · guest 85.2%6:00 · Harry 4.9% · guest 95.1%6:00 · Harry 4.9% · guest 95.1%9:00 · Harry 22.9% · guest 77.1%9:00 · Harry 22.9% · guest 77.1%12:00 · Harry 8.5% · guest 91.5%12:00 · Harry 8.5% · guest 91.5%15:00 · Harry 9.1% · guest 90.9%15:00 · Harry 9.1% · guest 90.9%18:00 · Harry 18% · guest 82%18:00 · Harry 18% · guest 82%21:00 · Harry 30.5% · guest 69.5%21:00 · Harry 30.5% · guest 69.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 5:28 Direct premise rejection on legal training

David immediately shuts down Harry's query on whether legal mindset is valuable by stating it is actually a 'terrible asset'.

 Hardest push from Harry ▶ 7:07 Probing follow-up on agent versus principal mindset shift

Harry presses David on whether a founder can actively take steps to shift from being instructed to becoming the instructor.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:30 Explaining why lawyers make poor VCs

David breaks down the fundamental difference between risk-averse agents who follow instructions and principals who must make high-stakes decision under uncertainty.

 Harry holds his own ▶ 9:02 Referencing blog context and Ebates timeline

Harry shows strong episode preparation by quoting David's grandmother from a Venture Blog post and referencing the 15-year Ebates exit.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicHarry as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementHarry pushing backWhy
David Hornik's Background and Transition from Law to Venture Capital 1200 Harry welcomes David and asks a standard open-ended background question about his transition from law to venture capital. David walks through his early career and how his loud mouth in board meetings at Evite led to joining August Capital.
Stanford Ecosystem and the Culture of Entrepreneurship 2532 When Harry asks if a legal mindset is valuable for VC, David bluntly rejects the premise, calling it a 'terrible asset'. David educates Harry on the distinction between risk-averse agents and decision-making principals.
Evaluating Startups, Pattern Matching, and Market Size Requirements 3411 Harry demonstrates good research by referencing a specific post on David's blog regarding Ebates and asks about market size requirements. David explains fund economics and why a $300M fund necessitates billion-dollar market outcomes.
Core Business Wisdom, Launching Venture Blog, and Target Audience Focus 2300 Harry asks for the best business advice David has received. David shares a lesson on investing versus spending and explains how defining a clear target audience guided Venture Blog.
Book Recommendation: Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' and Strategic Generosity 3400 Harry recognizes Adam Grant's 'Give and Take' when David mentions it. David explains the deeper thesis of the book around strategic generosity and debunking the myth that nice guys finish last in business.

Statements from this episode (8)

Assertion Supported
David Hornik created the first venture capital blog, VentureBlog
“David created the first ever venture capital blog, Venture Blog, and he also lectures at Harvard Law School, where he teaches entrepreneurship and venture capital.”
Harry Stebbings Jan 18, 2015 ▶ 0:32
Insight
Hornik: Starting a startup is unreasonable and extraordinarily unlikely to succeed
“Now, the reality is that, of course, it's completely unreasonable to start a startup. They're extraordinarily hard. It's extraordinarily unlikely they succeed.”
David Hornik Jan 18, 2015 ▶ 4:38
Opinion
Hornik: Legal training is a terrible asset for venture capitalists
“Well, largely venture, sorry, lawyers are trained to be to be very conservative, right? They're, the training is to sit, to find all of the problems that one might run into, and to try and you know, worry about those things, and not say to yourself, what are t…”
David Hornik Jan 18, 2015 ▶ 5:36
Disclosure
Hornik: August Capital investments Ebates, Zulily, and Splunk were multi-billion-dollar exits
“Valuable investments that, that we have made in, you know, the Ebates or Zulily or Splunk were all multi-billion dollar outcomes.”
David Hornik Jan 18, 2015 ▶ 11:58
Insight
Hornik: Venture funds require billion-dollar addressable markets because startups capture small fractions
“You really need to have markets that that, that span billion dollars of available opportunity, because in all likelihood, you're going to get small fractions of those markets, and it's incumbent upon you to then you know, eek, eek out your hundreds of millions…”
David Hornik Jan 18, 2015 ▶ 12:43
Opinion
Hornik: Peter Thiel's 20 Under 20 fellowship is "bullshit"
“I think it's bullshit.”
David Hornik Jan 18, 2015 ▶ 20:23
Insight
Hornik: Big tech giants are slowly morphing into the same company
“I think that if you look at what Amazon is doing, what Google is doing, what Facebook is doing, they all are slowly but surely, and in many ways Apple, they're all slowly but surely morphing into the same company.”
David Hornik Jan 18, 2015 ▶ 21:15
Prediction Not checkable as stated
David Hornik: Google is best positioned to become the first $1T company
“I think that I think that Google is in the best position to do it today.”
David Hornik Jan 18, 2015 ▶ 21:48
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