Every argument clarity score on this site is built from rows on this page. Each
question and answer was assessed with names hidden, the host's own answers included, on
four things from 1 to 5:
directness (does it answer the question asked), coherence (do the ideas follow),
precision (concrete details and clear references), compression (says a lot per word). The weighted
mix (30/30/25/15) is the exchange score. A person's published score averages their exchange
scores on raw tape only, at least 8 of them, shrunk toward the cohort mean.
Full method →
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 5 · Cm 4 4.85
Q And then, anti-portfolio, what have you missed?
A As a seed investor before that for five years, I missed a couple of companies. Um, in particular, one that I got there just a little bit too late was Waze. I love Waze. And, um, you know, Kleiner put a bunch of money and it was too expensive for me at that point, but I love those guys. And, and I took that idea and I thought, what else could be a Waze like idea? And this was a long time ago, but finally last year we invested in a company that we call the Waze for Weather. It's called Sunshine. And it's for the first time in human history using your smartphone, um, passive device and a little bit of community. We have accurate weather data for 48 hours. Um, so even though we missed some, I learned from those mistakes.
AI assessment note: “one that I got there just a little bit too late was Waze.”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.60
Q Well, a huge congratulations for that. That was fantastic. But how do you then evaluate the social scene today?
A Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, I think, you know, a lot of, a lot of VCs and us included are very wary of investing in that space. And we do Invest in the social space, and we love it, and that's something we have core expertise. We look at it in a little bit different way. I think that right now, the, the platform for social is pretty saturated. So there was the internet, that was the first consumer platform, and then mobile, and we'll talk a little bit about mobile. It was the second platform. What we need is the, the next platform to arise in consumer, and then there'll be massive opportunity once again for new social communication platforms. Or social media, or whatever we're going to call it in, in that phase. And I think we're, we're at the starting point. You know, we're, it's happening now. And I think in the next couple of years, they're going to be massive opportunities. So we're not necessarily looking for great social consumer plays on the mobile or the internet space. Although if we see them, we'll invest and we're looking at some right now. Uh, but we are thinking ahead. We always look at the next platform. Um, in particular, I think we're very excited about, uh, AR and VR. Um, we see that as a game-changing platform for consumer, and we've, we've made a couple of investments in that space.
AI assessment note: “right now, the, the platform for social is pretty saturated.”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.60
Q So what are the core elements of this kind of business building?
A You know, um, so last year we decided to write a blog about what are the 10 things you need to do to build a billion-dollar consumer company? And the first nine, you really have to do and have to do well. And I'll talk about two of the other nine I think are the most important. But, but here's the trick. If you do those nine well, that's, that's necessities, right? That's the 20% you have to have to build a billion dollar consumer company. Number 10, which unfortunately you and I have very little control over, is luck and timing. And that's about 80%, right? You have to do all these amazing things, have the right vision, have the right team, have the right culture, have the right marketing, you know, da, da, da, da, da. And those are really hard, and that's about 20% of the success. You're likely going to have a successful company, but to have a breakout Uber or Facebook, you need a lot of luck. And I think the two most important things early on for consumer startups is vision, and we call it a vision worth fighting for, and the team. So the vision worth fighting for, you know, is just as important to us as the team. Uh, and, and it's about You know, first of all, having a great idea that you're passionate about, because you're going to be doing this for the next five to 10 years of your life, and if you don't love this, and if you're not really proud to bring this to the world…
AI assessment note: “the two most important things early on for consumer startups is vision, and the team.”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.60
Q Well, a huge congratulations for that. That was fantastic. But how do you then evaluate the social scene today?
A Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, I think, you know, a lot of, a lot of VCs and us included are very wary of investing in that space. And we do Invest in the social space, and we love it, and that's something we have core expertise. We look at it in a little bit different way. I think that right now, the, the platform for social is pretty saturated. So there was the internet, that was the first consumer platform, and then mobile, and we'll talk a little bit about mobile. It was the second platform. What we need is the, the next platform to arise in consumer, and then there'll be massive opportunity once again for new social communication platforms. Or social media, or whatever we're going to call it in, in that phase. And I think we're, we're at the starting point. You know, we're, it's happening now. And I think in the next couple of years, they're going to be massive opportunities. So we're not necessarily looking for great social consumer plays on the mobile or the internet space. Although if we see them, we'll invest and we're looking at some right now. Uh, but we are thinking ahead. We always look at the next platform. Um, in particular, I think we're very excited about, uh, AR and VR. Um, we see that as a game-changing platform for consumer, and we've, we've made a couple of investments in that space.
AI assessment note: “I think that right now, the, the platform for social is pretty saturated.”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 4 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.30
Q Can you think of any companies that have gained and sustained it then significantly?
A You know, I think, look, I would agree that in the last three years, it's, it's harder to find companies that have scaled in a big way. And again, you know, so I would, I'd say Snapchat, um, you now, which is interesting. Um, I know that early investors there musically and, you know, those kinds of companies, we're an investor in a company called shots, which is a mobile social play, the selfie app, but it's really about a place to You know, young kids can express themselves. Yeah. Teens and young adults can express themselves without feeling bullied. It's, you know, Justin Bieber's an investor, lots of celebrities. It's a great idea. But the truth is it's going to be really hard to scale another consumer app in the mobile shop. I mean, it's just, it's just mature. It's a mature market. And the big players that have a monopoly like Facebook and Twitter are not opening their platforms anymore. Right? So we have to wait for the next platform. Yeah. But there will be one. Um, I'm a hundred percent sure that's going to be another cycle. It's just a matter of what it's going to be and when.
AI assessment note: “so I would, I'd say Snapchat”
Answered raw tape
D 4 · C 4 · P 4 · Cm 3 3.85
Q And then the investor you most respect or admire?
A This is a tough one. So I'll tell you what, I'm going to answer the question, but it may not be the answer that you are seeking. Um, we, we co-invest with, you know, 15 plus amazing venture investors and some angel investors. Um, and I think, uh, some of them I would call mentors. I learn a lot from these folks. Some are mentors from a distance. So I think there's some great consumer software investors that we love to co-invest with that I admire. I, I don't think I could pick out one. So we'll, I'll, I'll, I'll say that I, I greatly admire Warren Buffett. Um, and, and the reason is for, for these qualities. Number one, he's successful and consistent. Uh, number two, um, he has a focus and he sticks to it. Right. And number three, he's humble. And those are the kind of traits I think that, you know, we try to have also at Maven.
AI assessment note: “I'll say that I, I greatly admire Warren Buffett.”
Answered raw tape
D 4 · C 4 · P 4 · Cm 3 3.85
Q Can you think of any companies that have gained and sustained it then significantly?
A You know, I think, look, I would agree that in the last three years, it's, it's harder to find companies that have scaled in a big way. And again, you know, so I would, I'd say Snapchat, um, you now, which is interesting. Um, I know that early investors there musically and, you know, those kinds of companies, we're an investor in a company called shots, which is a mobile social play, the selfie app, but it's really about a place to You know, young kids can express themselves. Yeah. Teens and young adults can express themselves without feeling bullied. It's, you know, Justin Bieber's an investor, lots of celebrities. It's a great idea. But the truth is it's going to be really hard to scale another consumer app in the mobile shop. I mean, it's just, it's just mature. It's a mature market. And the big players that have a monopoly like Facebook and Twitter are not opening their platforms anymore. Right? So we have to wait for the next platform. Yeah. But there will be one. Um, I'm a hundred percent sure that's going to be another cycle. It's just a matter of what it's going to be and when.
AI assessment note: “I'd say Snapchat”
Answered raw tape
D 4 · C 4 · P 4 · Cm 3 3.85
Q And then I have to talk about kind of the mobile space there. How have you seen it develop and evolve and how has that affected your kind of role in terms of investing in the consumer software?
A Well, no, I would say it's not going to die. You know, like these smartphones are amazing and I, I live on my iPhone, you know, like we all do. Even when the mobile started taking over, the internet didn't die. It's still an important part of your Distribution strategy. We, you know, one of the things that we do well at Maven is we focus a lot on growth, right? I would say that the, the lifeblood of consumer startups is, is growth, right? And, and without your growth or hyper growth, and ideally where you're not just spending money to acquire customers, but people love your product so much for telling other people about it, you know, their terms of art now growth hacking or viral marketing. But in essence, it's a very simple idea. If you build a product that people love, And ideally that's even better when I invite a friend or you invite a friend, it makes it a better experience for us. You've got a very interesting company right on the, on the consumer side. So we think about how do you play in distribution around mobile? There's still opportunities there, right? The app stores are interesting. Um, you know, there's, uh, Facebook is really interesting what they're allowing and some of the mobile distribution. There's still ways to build your company working with some of the bigger players, but again, It's going to be hard to really scale the next massive consumer company on th…
AI assessment note: “So we think about how do you play in distribution around mobile?”
Answered raw tape
D 3 · C 4 · P 4 · Cm 4 3.70
Q Am I right in saying that you started the company straight out of college?
A Uh, multi-million dollar revenue business and retail. We used the internet intranet Before the internet, and this was back in the eighties and nineties. Um, then I went to law school, practiced for a couple of years, fortunately practiced in Palo Alto. Uh, and that got me close to what was happening in the heart of Silicon Valley and realized that, uh, I needed to go back to my roots of being an entrepreneur. So after a couple of years practicing law, I went and joined a company called CNET, which was a very big internet company back in the day. It still is around today. And we spun out a company called SNAP. And the reason we did that is we saw the internet portal. I, I saw that whoever controlled the starting point for the internet was going to be a massive, massive opportunity. And so we wanted to compete in that space. It was Yahoo and still around, not for long though, uh, Lycos and Excite. Um, you know, they were all the, the early portals and we were snap. We actually had the, the, the number one performing search engine. Um, and then in 99, we got acquired by NBC, uh, and we became NBC internet. We went public, uh, And overnight we were a six billion dollar company. It was pretty cool. It was my first unicorn. Thank you. And, uh, and then from there, uh, left, um, after the web went on bust and we sold it back to GE and then I joined Friendster and, and, uh, and then Be…
AI assessment note: “then I went to law school, practiced for a couple of years”
Redirected raw tape
D 2 · C 4 · P 3 · Cm 2 2.85
Q anything in the consumer mobile space. This is quoting him, by the way. These days it's super hard. I can't think of many consumer mobile apps that have gained massive traction sustained in the past three years. Can you? So my question to you is, so why is this space so hard, do you think? Can you think of any that have sustained it in the way that Fred struggles?
A Well, listen, I mean, I completely agree with Fred, and he's not the only one that Marc Andreessen's on record recently saying, you know, when it comes to consumer software, consumer startups, we don't know early. We wait. You know, they're happy to pay up in the A and the B round to see when there's traction. But that's great for us, because that's exactly what we do. Like, we get in early. We're there from the very beginning with a vision and two people trying to build a company. And I think The reason why we've been so successful at it is, number one, it's what I love to do. Like, it's my passion. I'm sure I'm curious about a lot of other stuff. I'd love to learn more about some SaaS enterprise stuff, or some big data stuff, or, you know, energy. I mean, there's a great company that's going to be built around there. But I know how to build consumer startups. I've done it, you know, for 15 years before. I've invested now for over 10 years in this space. I can add a lot of value immediately in that space. Moreover, I actually We have a very strong set of filters that when we see the right team with the right vision, we have a good sense this is going to be potentially a billion dollar idea. By the way, we should also mention at Maven, we do about eight to 10 company investments a year. Um, and every one of our companies we think can be a, you know, multi-billion dollar company…
AI assessment note: “that's great for us, because that's exactly what we do. Like, we get in early.”
Redirected raw tape
D 2 · C 3 · P 3 · Cm 3 2.70
Q Am I right in saying that you started the company straight out of college?
A Uh, multi-million dollar revenue business and retail. We used the internet intranet Before the internet, and this was back in the eighties and nineties. Um, then I went to law school, practiced for a couple of years, fortunately practiced in Palo Alto. Uh, and that got me close to what was happening in the heart of Silicon Valley and realized that, uh, I needed to go back to my roots of being an entrepreneur. So after a couple of years practicing law, I went and joined a company called CNET, which was a very big internet company back in the day. It still is around today. And we spun out a company called SNAP. And the reason we did that is we saw the internet portal. I, I saw that whoever controlled the starting point for the internet was going to be a massive, massive opportunity. And so we wanted to compete in that space. It was Yahoo and still around, not for long though, uh, Lycos and Excite. Um, you know, they were all the, the early portals and we were snap. We actually had the, the, the number one performing search engine. Um, and then in 99, we got acquired by NBC, uh, and we became NBC internet. We went public, uh, And overnight we were a six billion dollar company. It was pretty cool. It was my first unicorn. Thank you. And, uh, and then from there, uh, left, um, after the web went on bust and we sold it back to GE and then I joined Friendster and, and, uh, and then Be…
AI assessment note: “then I went to law school, practiced for a couple of years”
Redirected raw tape
D 2 · C 3 · P 3 · Cm 2 2.55
Q anything in the consumer mobile space. This is quoting him, by the way. These days it's super hard. I can't think of many consumer mobile apps that have gained massive traction sustained in the past three years. Can you? So my question to you is, so why is this space so hard, do you think? Can you think of any that have sustained it in the way that Fred struggles?
A Well, listen, I mean, I completely agree with Fred, and he's not the only one that Marc Andreessen's on record recently saying, you know, when it comes to consumer software, consumer startups, we don't know early. We wait. You know, they're happy to pay up in the A and the B round to see when there's traction. But that's great for us, because that's exactly what we do. Like, we get in early. We're there from the very beginning with a vision and two people trying to build a company. And I think The reason why we've been so successful at it is, number one, it's what I love to do. Like, it's my passion. I'm sure I'm curious about a lot of other stuff. I'd love to learn more about some SaaS enterprise stuff, or some big data stuff, or, you know, energy. I mean, there's a great company that's going to be built around there. But I know how to build consumer startups. I've done it, you know, for 15 years before. I've invested now for over 10 years in this space. I can add a lot of value immediately in that space. Moreover, I actually We have a very strong set of filters that when we see the right team with the right vision, we have a good sense this is going to be potentially a billion dollar idea. By the way, we should also mention at Maven, we do about eight to 10 company investments a year. Um, and every one of our companies we think can be a, you know, multi-billion dollar company…
AI assessment note: “that's great for us, because that's exactly what we do.”
Partly raw tape
D 2 · C 3 · P 3 · Cm 2 2.55
Q And then I have to talk about kind of the mobile space there. How have you seen it develop and evolve and how has that affected your kind of role in terms of investing in the consumer software?
A Well, no, I would say it's not going to die. You know, like these smartphones are amazing and I, I live on my iPhone, you know, like we all do. Even when the mobile started taking over, the internet didn't die. It's still an important part of your Distribution strategy. We, you know, one of the things that we do well at Maven is we focus a lot on growth, right? I would say that the, the lifeblood of consumer startups is, is growth, right? And, and without your growth or hyper growth, and ideally where you're not just spending money to acquire customers, but people love your product so much for telling other people about it, you know, their terms of art now growth hacking or viral marketing. But in essence, it's a very simple idea. If you build a product that people love, And ideally that's even better when I invite a friend or you invite a friend, it makes it a better experience for us. You've got a very interesting company right on the, on the consumer side. So we think about how do you play in distribution around mobile? There's still opportunities there, right? The app stores are interesting. Um, you know, there's, uh, Facebook is really interesting what they're allowing and some of the mobile distribution. There's still ways to build your company working with some of the bigger players, but again, It's going to be hard to really scale the next massive consumer company on th…
AI assessment note: “hard to really scale the next massive consumer company on the existing platforms.”
