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Sep 2, 2021 · 36m · 20vc

20VC: The Crowdstrike Memo: Accel's Sameer Gandhi on Leading Multiple Internal Rounds for Crowdstrike, Telling George Kurtz to Go Shop His Term Sheet, How To Think Through Market Sizing & The Importance of Speed of Execution and Knowing When To Go Slow To

Sameer Gandhi · 24m spoken Harry Stebbings · 10m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of 20VC, host Harry Stebbings interviews Accel Partner Sameer Gandhi to dissect the investment memo and growth trajectory behind CrowdStrike's rise to a multi-billion-dollar cybersecurity leader. Gandhi shares deep insights on evaluating cloud-native architecture, navigating services versus software revenue, leading internal funding rounds, and building lasting founder trust.

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 30.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Harry as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 3.7 Guest disagreement 1.0 Harry pushing back 2.5
05100:0010:0020:0030:002:51–6:17 · Harry as informed peer 3/10 20VC Podcast Destination Audio ID Harry opens with lighthearted questions about meeting George Kurtz, joking about a 15-minute power play. Sameer clarifies the story while agreeing on the shared vision and missing physical office culture.6:17–12:07 · Harry as informed peer 5/10 Analyzing the Endpoint Market and Bet on Cloud Native Security Harry probes Sameer on evaluating market timing risk and cloud-native security adoption in 2013. Sameer details how legacy antivirus was ripe for disruption and how incident response services provided downside protection against market timing delays.12:07–20:01 · Harry as informed peer 6/10 Evaluating Upside Scenarios and Doing the Hard Things First Harry questions growth equity return profiles and whether founders can still afford to go slow to go fast in today's fast-moving VC environment. Sameer reframes speed as quality of execution and doing hard foundational work early.20:01–25:47 · Harry as informed peer 5/10 Software vs. Services Revenue and Telling Founders to Shop Term Sheets Harry asks about the optics of services revenue and highlights Sameer's unusual move of telling George Kurtz to shop Accel's term sheet. Sameer explains how incident response pulls through product sales and why offering a safety net term sheet built long-term trust.25:47–30:28 · Harry as informed peer 6/10 Navigating Preemptive Funding and Accel's Growth Fund Strategy Harry explores how founders should handle preemptive funding offers and how Accel handles multi-stage investing under one roof. Sameer argues that asymmetric inside knowledge and relationship continuity give existing investors a distinct advantage over crossover funds.30:28–34:40 · Harry as informed peer 4/10 Quick-Fire Round: Leadership Evolution, Risk, and Auto Racing Harry conducts a quick-fire round covering George Kurtz's growth into a public company CEO, investment pre-mortems, key early hires, and auto racing parallels. Sameer praises Kurtz's relentless self-improvement and ability to look ahead on the track and in business.2:51–6:17 · Guest teaching 2/10 20VC Podcast Destination Audio ID Harry opens with lighthearted questions about meeting George Kurtz, joking about a 15-minute power play. Sameer clarifies the story while agreeing on the shared vision and missing physical office culture.6:17–12:07 · Guest teaching 5/10 Analyzing the Endpoint Market and Bet on Cloud Native Security Harry probes Sameer on evaluating market timing risk and cloud-native security adoption in 2013. Sameer details how legacy antivirus was ripe for disruption and how incident response services provided downside protection against market timing delays.12:07–20:01 · Guest teaching 4/10 Evaluating Upside Scenarios and Doing the Hard Things First Harry questions growth equity return profiles and whether founders can still afford to go slow to go fast in today's fast-moving VC environment. Sameer reframes speed as quality of execution and doing hard foundational work early.20:01–25:47 · Guest teaching 4/10 Software vs. Services Revenue and Telling Founders to Shop Term Sheets Harry asks about the optics of services revenue and highlights Sameer's unusual move of telling George Kurtz to shop Accel's term sheet. Sameer explains how incident response pulls through product sales and why offering a safety net term sheet built long-term trust.25:47–30:28 · Guest teaching 4/10 Navigating Preemptive Funding and Accel's Growth Fund Strategy Harry explores how founders should handle preemptive funding offers and how Accel handles multi-stage investing under one roof. Sameer argues that asymmetric inside knowledge and relationship continuity give existing investors a distinct advantage over crossover funds.30:28–34:40 · Guest teaching 3/10 Quick-Fire Round: Leadership Evolution, Risk, and Auto Racing Harry conducts a quick-fire round covering George Kurtz's growth into a public company CEO, investment pre-mortems, key early hires, and auto racing parallels. Sameer praises Kurtz's relentless self-improvement and ability to look ahead on the track and in business.2:51–6:17 · Guest disagreement 1/10 20VC Podcast Destination Audio ID Harry opens with lighthearted questions about meeting George Kurtz, joking about a 15-minute power play. Sameer clarifies the story while agreeing on the shared vision and missing physical office culture.6:17–12:07 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Analyzing the Endpoint Market and Bet on Cloud Native Security Harry probes Sameer on evaluating market timing risk and cloud-native security adoption in 2013. Sameer details how legacy antivirus was ripe for disruption and how incident response services provided downside protection against market timing delays.12:07–20:01 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Evaluating Upside Scenarios and Doing the Hard Things First Harry questions growth equity return profiles and whether founders can still afford to go slow to go fast in today's fast-moving VC environment. Sameer reframes speed as quality of execution and doing hard foundational work early.20:01–25:47 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Software vs. Services Revenue and Telling Founders to Shop Term Sheets Harry asks about the optics of services revenue and highlights Sameer's unusual move of telling George Kurtz to shop Accel's term sheet. Sameer explains how incident response pulls through product sales and why offering a safety net term sheet built long-term trust.25:47–30:28 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Navigating Preemptive Funding and Accel's Growth Fund Strategy Harry explores how founders should handle preemptive funding offers and how Accel handles multi-stage investing under one roof. Sameer argues that asymmetric inside knowledge and relationship continuity give existing investors a distinct advantage over crossover funds.30:28–34:40 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Quick-Fire Round: Leadership Evolution, Risk, and Auto Racing Harry conducts a quick-fire round covering George Kurtz's growth into a public company CEO, investment pre-mortems, key early hires, and auto racing parallels. Sameer praises Kurtz's relentless self-improvement and ability to look ahead on the track and in business.2:51–6:17 · Harry pushing back 0/10 20VC Podcast Destination Audio ID Harry opens with lighthearted questions about meeting George Kurtz, joking about a 15-minute power play. Sameer clarifies the story while agreeing on the shared vision and missing physical office culture.6:17–12:07 · Harry pushing back 3/10 Analyzing the Endpoint Market and Bet on Cloud Native Security Harry probes Sameer on evaluating market timing risk and cloud-native security adoption in 2013. Sameer details how legacy antivirus was ripe for disruption and how incident response services provided downside protection against market timing delays.12:07–20:01 · Harry pushing back 4/10 Evaluating Upside Scenarios and Doing the Hard Things First Harry questions growth equity return profiles and whether founders can still afford to go slow to go fast in today's fast-moving VC environment. Sameer reframes speed as quality of execution and doing hard foundational work early.20:01–25:47 · Harry pushing back 4/10 Software vs. Services Revenue and Telling Founders to Shop Term Sheets Harry asks about the optics of services revenue and highlights Sameer's unusual move of telling George Kurtz to shop Accel's term sheet. Sameer explains how incident response pulls through product sales and why offering a safety net term sheet built long-term trust.25:47–30:28 · Harry pushing back 3/10 Navigating Preemptive Funding and Accel's Growth Fund Strategy Harry explores how founders should handle preemptive funding offers and how Accel handles multi-stage investing under one roof. Sameer argues that asymmetric inside knowledge and relationship continuity give existing investors a distinct advantage over crossover funds.30:28–34:40 · Harry pushing back 1/10 Quick-Fire Round: Leadership Evolution, Risk, and Auto Racing Harry conducts a quick-fire round covering George Kurtz's growth into a public company CEO, investment pre-mortems, key early hires, and auto racing parallels. Sameer praises Kurtz's relentless self-improvement and ability to look ahead on the track and in business.

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

0:00 · Harry 96.1% · guest 3.9%0:00 · Harry 96.1% · guest 3.9%3:00 · Harry 28.7% · guest 71.3%3:00 · Harry 28.7% · guest 71.3%6:00 · Harry 16.2% · guest 83.8%6:00 · Harry 16.2% · guest 83.8%9:00 · Harry 20.1% · guest 79.9%9:00 · Harry 20.1% · guest 79.9%12:00 · Harry 22.8% · guest 77.2%12:00 · Harry 22.8% · guest 77.2%15:00 · Harry 14.1% · guest 85.9%15:00 · Harry 14.1% · guest 85.9%18:00 · Harry 26.1% · guest 73.9%18:00 · Harry 26.1% · guest 73.9%21:00 · Harry 13.4% · guest 86.6%21:00 · Harry 13.4% · guest 86.6%24:00 · Harry 27% · guest 73%24:00 · Harry 27% · guest 73%27:00 · Harry 17.3% · guest 82.7%27:00 · Harry 17.3% · guest 82.7%30:00 · Harry 13.9% · guest 86.1%30:00 · Harry 13.9% · guest 86.1%33:00 · Harry 49.1% · guest 50.9%33:00 · Harry 49.1% · guest 50.9%36:00 · Harry 100% · guest 0%36:00 · Harry 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 14:03 Reframing speed of execution

Sameer politely rejects Harry's framing of CrowdStrike's success as pure speed of execution, rearticulating it as quality of execution and taking the harder, longer path first.

 Hardest push from Harry ▶ 24:01 Challenging the decision to tell a founder to shop a term sheet

Harry directly challenges Sameer's counterintuitive strategy of telling a portfolio founder to shop Accel's term sheet around, asking what were you thinking.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 20:20 Distinguishing implementation drag from strategic IR services

Sameer educates Harry on why not all services revenue is equal, explaining that while high implementation services signal product flaws, incident response acts as a lucrative pull-through mechanism for software products.

 Harry holds his own ▶ 16:12 Pressing on going slow to go fast in modern VC market

Harry demonstrates deep VC market awareness by pointing out hyper-growth companies like Hopin that hit massive valuations at record speed, pushing back on whether taking the long road first is still viable today.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicHarry as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementHarry pushing backWhy
20VC Podcast Destination Audio ID 3210 Harry opens with lighthearted questions about meeting George Kurtz, joking about a 15-minute power play. Sameer clarifies the story while agreeing on the shared vision and missing physical office culture.
Analyzing the Endpoint Market and Bet on Cloud Native Security 5513 Harry probes Sameer on evaluating market timing risk and cloud-native security adoption in 2013. Sameer details how legacy antivirus was ripe for disruption and how incident response services provided downside protection against market timing delays.
Evaluating Upside Scenarios and Doing the Hard Things First 6424 Harry questions growth equity return profiles and whether founders can still afford to go slow to go fast in today's fast-moving VC environment. Sameer reframes speed as quality of execution and doing hard foundational work early.
Software vs. Services Revenue and Telling Founders to Shop Term Sheets 5414 Harry asks about the optics of services revenue and highlights Sameer's unusual move of telling George Kurtz to shop Accel's term sheet. Sameer explains how incident response pulls through product sales and why offering a safety net term sheet built long-term trust.
Navigating Preemptive Funding and Accel's Growth Fund Strategy 6413 Harry explores how founders should handle preemptive funding offers and how Accel handles multi-stage investing under one roof. Sameer argues that asymmetric inside knowledge and relationship continuity give existing investors a distinct advantage over crossover funds.
Quick-Fire Round: Leadership Evolution, Risk, and Auto Racing 4301 Harry conducts a quick-fire round covering George Kurtz's growth into a public company CEO, investment pre-mortems, key early hires, and auto racing parallels. Sameer praises Kurtz's relentless self-improvement and ability to look ahead on the track and in business.

Statements from this episode (9)

Insight
Gandhi: Good market timing temporarily hides startup execution and product deficits
“Market timing, if you get it right, it covers up a lot of other deficits in a business, right? If your team is incomplete, your product isn't quite there. If your execution is not stellar, you can cover all that stuff up. If you just hit the market at the righ…”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 8:07
Insight
Gandhi: Go-to-market investments require market timing within a two-year window
“I think we really look at it and say like, it's gotta be, you know, within plus or minus a year or two. That's the right way to look at it. If you're later than that, you're too late. And I think if you're earlier than that, it's just a different kind of inves…”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 10:05
Disclosure
CrowdStrike used incident response services to bridge slow early cloud adoption
“We could be pushing cloud and having a slower adoption cycle around the Falcon platform, which is really the endpoint product platform. And the way that was mitigated for us is that the company was doing really high-end incident response services, and so there…”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 11:00
Assertion Supported
Gandhi: Accel invested in CrowdStrike at a $150M post-money valuation
“So I never looked at it as a three to five X. I looked at it as we're investing in a company, you know, in the first round when we did it was a 150 posts or something like that.”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 13:25
Insight
Gandhi: High implementation services revenue signals underlying product issues
“If the percentage of that rises too much in the company, it really tells me that there are product issues at the root of what's happening there.”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 20:32
Insight
Gandhi: Cybersecurity incident response services directly drive product sales
“In fact, it's an amazing business because once you make money on incident response services, it pulls through product afterwards.”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 21:13
Disclosure
Accel told CrowdStrike founder George Kurtz to shop their term sheet
“Why don't you take my offer, my term sheet, you have it in your back pocket. So when you have these other conversations, Go in knowing that your deal done already, and if someone comes along and offers you something much better, or you think they're additive t…”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 24:56
Insight
Gandhi: Overcapitalized startups lose operational rigor and suffer downstream issues
“An overcapitalized business doesn't always have the same rigor in terms of how you run it as a company that's been capitalized thoughtfully. It's also getting ahead of yourself creates all these issues downstream potentially.”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 26:29
Disclosure
Gandhi: Accel's pre-mortem downside for CrowdStrike was an incident response business
“I think the number one thing on this was like, man, we just whiffed on the cloud native concept, and nobody's willing to do it, you know, like, that was one where, if you got that wrong, you know, and I think you see in my memo, it's like, well, if we totally …”
Sameer Gandhi Sep 2, 2021 ▶ 31:41
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