Jun 22, 2015 · 23m · 20vc
20 VC 047: 4 Ways Investors Find Great Startups with Rob Moffat, Principal @ Balderton Capital
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of The 20 Minute VC, host Harry Stebbings interviews Rob Moffat, Principal at Balderton Capital, about early-stage venture capital investing. Moffat shares perspectives on deal sourcing frameworks, evolving market competition, portfolio management models, and practical advice for breaking into the venture industry.
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 26.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Harry as informed peer 2.9 Guest teaching 3.9 Guest disagreement 1.0 Harry pushing back 0.6
speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 17:10 Rob on AngelList vs. Crowdfunding Threat
Rob rejects the general premise that crowdfunding platforms compete directly with VCs, forcefully redirecting the threat toward AngelList syndicates.
Hardest push from Harry ▶ 17:47 Harry's Counter-Example on Syndicate SizeWhen Rob wonders what check sizes AngelList syndicates can write, Harry immediately pushes back with specific data about Tim Ferriss's $6M syndicate.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 13:12 Contrasting Benchmark and Andreessen Horowitz ModelsRob provides a clear industry breakdown of opposing VC operating models, contrasting Benchmark's strict 5-partner firm against Andreessen Horowitz's 100+ person service machine.
Harry holds his own ▶ 13:04 Host Framing VC Structural EvolutionHarry demonstrates sophisticated industry knowledge by citing Andreessen Horowitz's service-based model and HR department approach to frame his question on evolving VC structures.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Harry as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Harry pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rob Moffat's Career Path to Balderton Capital | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Harry asks introductory biographical questions about Rob's transition from Bain and Google into Balderton Capital. Rob answers openly and with self-deprecating humor about being an accidental VC. | |
| Key Traits and Mindset of a Great VC | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Rob gently nuances Harry's opening compliment before outlining what truly makes a great VC, highlighting Zendesk's disruption of enterprise sales assumptions. Harry summarizes Rob's points politely. | |
| Portfolio Management vs. Deal Sourcing Time Split | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Harry references Paige Craig's article on deal sourcing frameworks to structure the discussion. Rob walks through the hunter, trader, farmer, and trapper archetypes and explains his personal evolution. | |
| Shift Toward Early-Stage VC Competition | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Harry asks an insightful question about changing VC firm structures, specifically citing Andreessen Horowitz. Rob details the structural spectrum between lean partnerships like Benchmark and massive service-oriented firms like a16z. | |
| Crowdfunding, Syndicates, and Venture Capital Co-existence | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | Harry brings data on specific crowdfunding rounds, prompting Rob to reframe the debate by arguing AngelList syndicates pose a far more direct threat to VCs than platforms like Crowdcube. Harry counters by highlighting Tim Ferriss's $6M syndicate size. | |
| Online Reading Habits and Startup News Sources | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Rob offers contrarian advice to aspiring VCs, candidly telling them 'don't' try to force their way in since most candidates are headhunted, before breaking down ideal analytical and operational backgrounds. | |
| Quick Fire Questions with Rob Moffat | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | In a quick-fire segment, Rob shares his reading habits and investment rationale for Nutmeg, emphasizing that venture investing relies on evaluating lines rather than single data points. |
Statements from this episode (15)
Google doubled its London headcount from 250 to 500 in 2006
“So when I interviewed in 2006, they had 250 people in London. And when I joined three months later, it was more like 500.”
VCs in 2009 sought candidates with Bain consulting and tech backgrounds
“Yeah, so I was lucky enough that in 2009 I sort of started looking elsewhere and for some reason that combination of Bain, so the consulting plus a big internet company was a profile that a few VCs were looking for.”
Moffat: Great VCs challenge assumptions rather than relying on pattern recognition
“In terms of finding interesting deals, I think the ability to keep challenging your assumptions. I think it's easy to get a VC to talk about pattern recognition and you have a bunch of sort of simple shortcuts in your brain on what a good entrepreneur should l…”
Zendesk disproved the $1,000/month minimum pricing rule for enterprise software
“Five years ago, it used to be the case that You enterprise products had to be something you could sell for at least a thousand dollars a month. Otherwise you couldn't sell them economically. And then Zendesk comes along and completely rips that apart.”
Portfolio support grows from 10% to 50% of a VC's time
“The longer you spend in VC, I've been doing it for six years now, and started off with probably 10% of my time on portfolio companies and now it's probably more like 50%,”
Junior VCs must start as hunters before trading or farming deals
“So I think when you start in VC, you have to be a hunter because you've got nothing to trade with. Farming hasn't had any results yet. And so, yeah, I think you always start off as a hunter and you're kind of chasing what you think are interesting new sectors.”
Moffat: Forced deal trading with other VCs does not come naturally
“I don't think I'm a very good trader. That doesn't come naturally to me, this kind of idea of forced trading deals and maintaining a kind of a balance of payments with other VCs.”
Moffat: Startups are being funded earlier and with less data
“And what you're now seeing is good companies are getting chased by VCs. They're getting funded before they were thinking about doing a funding round. They're getting funded on less sort of traction, less data than would have been the case a few years ago.”
Moffat: VC firms must commit to a distinct organizational model
“And I think all three of those models are valid. And I think every VC has to look at those and work out what makes sense for them, but they do need to make a clear decision on what their approach is going to be.”
Balderton Capital invested around £4 million in Crowdcube
“As we did on CrowdCube, we invested four million or so pounds”
AngelList syndicates pose a direct competitive threat to traditional VCs
“I think AngelList are more directly competing with VC.”
VCs will launch separate seed arms to leverage AngelList
“I think a lot of this will be VCs probably having some sort of separate Seed funding arm, which probably uses AngelList alongside to help to do that early stage investing.”
Rob Moffat: Most venture capital recruits are headhunted
“Most people who get recruited into BC get headhunted so sort of chasing it is unlikely to work”