Apr 3, 2017 · 32m · 20vc
20VC: Homebrew's Hunter Walk on Why There Is No Series A Crunch, How To Package Portfolio Companies For The Next Round & Why The Bridge Round Is Not Always A Negative Sign?
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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, Hunter Walk, founding partner at Homebrew, discusses seed investing strategies, debunks the Series A crunch, and highlights milestone planning for early-stage startups. Host Harry Stebbings and Hunter also discuss tech's social responsibilities and behind-the-scenes podcast production mechanics.
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 34.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Harry as informed peer 3.1 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 2.6 Harry pushing back 1.4
speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 7:36 Hunter rejects the Series A crunch narrative
Hunter directly rejects the premise of a Series A crunch, arguing that solid companies that hit their agreed milestones consistently raise follow-on capital.
Hardest push from Harry ▶ 5:52 Harry jokes about ending the call over firm classificationWhen Hunter cheekily calls Harry's firm Atomico late-stage, Harry immediately pushes back with a humorous threat to hang up the call.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:25 Hunter reframes metric-driven venture frameworksHunter reframes Harry's metrics-focused thesis by explaining that early-stage seed investors must often back misunderstood market-network companies before SaaS metrics or standard goalposts exist.
Harry holds his own ▶ 28:58 Harry proves Snapchat channel mastery with operational metricsWhen Hunter questions his Snapchat focus, Harry demonstrates deep operational expertise by citing 64% open rates, A/B testing story formats, and specific analytics platforms like Snaplytics.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Harry as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Harry pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Walk's Path to VC & Founding Homebrew | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Hunter opens with a playful jab regarding VCs returning capital, setting a relaxed tone. Harry asks standard introductory questions about Hunter's transition from operator to investor. | |
| Evaluating Upstream Investors & Debunking the Series A Crunch | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | Hunter playfully teases Harry's firm Atomico as 'late stage' and explicitly rejects the widespread belief in a Series A crunch. Harry banteringly pushes back on the firm classification before accepting the point. | |
| Milestone Metrics & Evaluating Bridge Rounds | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | Harry introduces Jason Lemkin's metrics-focused investment thesis. Hunter agrees 'with an asterisk', educating Harry on non-standard seed markets like commercial construction where goalposts are not yet established. | |
| Key Founder Traits, Managing FOMO, & Homebrew's Brand | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Harry asks Hunter to contrast previous guest takes on founder traits and asks directly if Hunter experiences FOMO. Hunter calmly rejects FOMO and details Homebrew's brand positioning. | |
| The Evolution of Venture Capital & Tech's Social Responsibility | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The conversation shifts to macro topics including VC values and income inequality. Hunter shares a thoughtful perspective on tech optimism and safety nets while Harry acts as a supportive facilitator. | |
| Quick Fire Round with Hunter Walk | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Standard quick-fire round where Harry asks rapid questions and Hunter provides concise answers on books, LP expectations, and recent portfolio companies. | |
| Reverse Quick Fire: Hunter Interviews Harry Stebbings | 6 | 2 | 5 | 3 | Hunter turns the tables and interrogates Harry on production hours, deleted audio, Snapchat open rates, and childhood nicknames. Harry demonstrates strong expertise regarding his podcast analytics and distribution strategy. |
Statements from this episode (11)
Hunter Walk: There is no Series A crunch in tech
“I tend to be on the side that there is no Series A crunch in the sense that I have yet to find a company that I thought should be able to raise a Series A fail to do so.”
Hunter Walk: All Homebrew startups hitting milestones raised Series A
“And what I'll say, at least through first fund and, you know, starting to get halfway through our second fund, is when we and our founders agree on those milestones and they hit those milestones, none of them have had problems raising an A round.”
Hunter Walk: Early-stage investors must back misunderstood companies
“So I'd say Lemkin is totally correct when you're playing in a space where the goalposts are well documented. But I think as an early stage investor, you also need to be willing to back companies that are going to be misunderstood for a long period of time and …”
Walk: Managed by Q raised a strategic bridge round before Series A
“That's how we got involved in a company like Managed by Q, which is doing wonderfully. They were already at a revenue run rate and a growth rate that probably could have gotten them in a round, but they hadn't yet thought about what expansion at the time out o…”
Hunter Walk: Founder-market fit is Homebrew's primary investment evaluation criterion
“I think if Satya and I had to make a decision about any one quality that was present or not present in terms of impacting a investment decision, it would probably be something around founder market Or the why, why are they building this company?”
Hunter Walk: Homebrew targets making six to nine seed investments annually
“So long as we're making a set of six, seven, eight, nine investments each year that will ultimately turn into some number of meaningful, viable, transformative businesses.”
Hunter Walk: Most seed deal flow is dark and limited to few funds
“Because most of the, you know, at the seed stage, deal flow is more, I think, about what I'd call sort of dark deal flow. Deals that don't get seen outside of a handful of funds than necessarily 50 funds all fighting over and tracking the same company.”
Homebrew plans to raise Fund III in 2018 based on track record
“We Are going to be in that period coming into fund three in 2018, where we want to start being able to raise our funds off of how homebrew is doing and not just our reputation or what we were able to do before homebrew.”
Walk: Homebrew will cap at five or six funds, avoiding intergenerational scale
“We want to stay focused on early stage companies that we can put not just capital, but time behind. So it means a relatively concentrated investment philosophy. And, you know, we want our legacy to be the companies that we worked with over five or six funds, n…”
Harry Stebbings Spends Eight to Ten Hours Producing Each 20VC Episode
“So it's about between eight and 10 hours an episode. It's two hours of research for every single show.”
Harry Stebbings Reports 64% Open Rate on Snapchat Versus 36% Newsletter Rate
“I think for me in particular, the conversion is better than any other channel that I've seen. So if you compare it to like my newsletter, whereby I will have, say, a I think currently it's about a 36% open rate. My Snapchat is currently a 64% open rate”