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Anton Levy

Advisory Director, General Atlantic · 1 appearance on the record, plus 1 compilation re-air.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

investorexecutiveLinkedIn ↗Wikipedia ↗

Levy joined General Atlantic in 1998 and spent more than two decades leading its global technology investing practice, earning recurring spots on the Forbes Midas List. He is best known for orchestrating growth investments in companies such as Alibaba, Facebook, ByteDance, Slack, Airbnb, and CrowdStrike.

26statements → 14claims → 7claims resolved → 29%fully supported → 3.72/5average certainty → 2.24/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated → 7said about them ↓

2 supported 3 partly supported 2 contradicted 2 not yet assessed 5 not checkable as stated how the 14 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

9 predictions · 5 assertions · 8 insights · 4 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 14 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 7 are resolved, 2 are not yet assessed, and 5 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Anton argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Prediction Held up
Levy predicts cross-stage firms will scale companies from Series A to take-private
“In 10 years from now, it may be sooner than that, that you're going to have a handful of investment firms that are cross-stage, and you're going to show up at the Series A investor meeting, and you're going to say to the entrepreneur, I'm going to scale with y…”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 21:35 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Levy: The five largest global companies are tech firms under 35
“Basically, the five largest companies in the world, these are all technology companies that didn't exist 35 years ago.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 9:15 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
50% certainty 3
50% certainty 4
none yet certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: speaking style how? →

290 words/min while actually speaking · 0.9 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for Anton Levy: no usable question→answer exchanges on raw tape (a fair score needs 8+). We do not score a sample that small. Roundtable and news formats yield far fewer direct exchanges than interviews. Their coarse estimate from 27 exchanges on the produced feed is ≈4.5/5, shown at half point precision because the sample is small and produced tape scores higher.

Measured by listening to 9,082 words across 1 episode, but every recording we have of Anton Levy is the aired feed, and an editor cleaned that audio before release. Some of the hesitation was cut before we ever heard it, so read these as floors: the true rates are at least this high. These are measurements of speaking style, not scores. How it's measured →

How the interview went all their pushback → series average →

Across 2 rated episodes:

host pushback ▾ 3.5/10
pushed back at the host ▾ 3/10
setup questions received 37%

Everything Anton Levy said on 20VC that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight
Anton Levy: Passive venture capital commoditizes quickly, competing solely on price
“I think that the passive capital commoditizes really fast. If you're looking for passive capital and you're saying, give me money at the highest price and leave me alone. Just give me the capital. At that point, what really matters to you? What really matters …”
Anton Levy Feb 23, 2022 ▶ 9:17 The Tiger Global Memo: From Sequoia Capital to Benchmark and Thrive: The World's Best on the Rise of Tiger Global
Insight
Levy: Higher potential upside justifies paying higher startup valuations
“Just rationally, you should say, if the expected positive outcomes are higher, I should be willing to pay higher prices across the board.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 9:42 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Levy predicts the current golden age of tech innovation could last decades
“I actually think we're in the golden age area of innovation right now, and I think that golden age could be decades plus.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 10:35 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Insight
Levy: Speed and high pricing are easier to copy than value-add
“I think those things are easier to copy if people can move fast enough and raise the capital and get the flywheel going. I think it's harder to copy. Hey, I'm really going to change outcomes for you.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 19:03 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Held up
Levy predicts cross-stage firms will scale companies from Series A to take-private
“In 10 years from now, it may be sooner than that, that you're going to have a handful of investment firms that are cross-stage, and you're going to show up at the Series A investor meeting, and you're going to say to the entrepreneur, I'm going to scale with y…”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 21:35 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Insight
Levy: Follow-on checks generate higher IRRs at lower risk than initial investments
“The returns on the follow on checks. End up being so much higher return and higher IRR for lower risk.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 26:24 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Insight
Levy: Winning venture deals is easy if you pay the highest price
“Doing deals is easy. It's easy to give capital to someone. It's easy to lead around. You just pay the highest price.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 7:09 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Insight
Levy: Access to founders, not capital, is the scarce resource in investing
“The valuable asset is not capital. There's lots of capital, particularly in this low interest rate environment that you and I are living in. It's access. The scarce resource is access.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 15:51 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Partly held up
General Atlantic is moving earlier stage to build relationships with winning founders
“We're moving earlier stage to get to know and build relationships with entrepreneurs so we can continue to press our winners.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 16:20 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Insight
Levy: Passive venture capital commoditizes extremely fast
“I think that the passive capital commoditizes really fast.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 18:03 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Disclosure
General Atlantic cut its minimum check size from $75M to $15M
“If you look at General Atlantic a decade ago, we used to have a minimum seventy five million dollar check. We've now, we're now probably, you know, I don't know the exact numbers, but call it four X the size in terms of capital deployment. And we've taken our …”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 22:26 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Partly held up
General Atlantic scales top winning investments up to $500 million checks
“Somewhere in the middle, we make a hundred investments for a vintage, somewhere between the 10 and 300, but it's still going to be only 10 to 15 or 20 that matter at the end of the day, because we're going to press those. So if we do a bunch of 25, 50, and sev…”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 25:11 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Assertion Not yet assessed
General Atlantic maintains an investment loss ratio under three percent
“Our loss ratio is sub three percent.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 29:50 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Levy predicts unprincipled venture capitalists will be ejected from the ecosystem
“So I think that's also the future of our business. I think a lot of the jerks get ejected from the system because you're going to call around and people are going to say that guy, Anton, you don't want to work with him.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 34:18 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Disclosure
Levy had a handshake deal to invest in Facebook at $5B valuation
“I had a full shot on goal, ready to go, handshake deal to invest in Facebook early on, which doesn't sound that early, but at a five billion dollar value.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 35:51 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Levy: Venture capital is not a winner-take-all market
“It's not a winner-take-all market. There's going to be, I think, at least a handful of winners and probably many, many more than that.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 41:20 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Assertion Contradicted
Levy: The five largest global companies are tech firms under 35
“Basically, the five largest companies in the world, these are all technology companies that didn't exist 35 years ago.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 9:15 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Levy predicts technology and innovation will remain strong investments for 50 years
“So I would be long tech. I'd be long innovation for the next 50 years.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 11:44 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Levy predicts the current tech market cycle will end with a recession
“But I will tell you the thing that will ultimately cause this cycle to move into the next will be a recession.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 12:44 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Disclosure
General Atlantic takes board or observer seats in all portfolio companies
“We sit on the boards of every company or board observers in all the companies we invest in.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 15:09 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Assertion Supported
Levy: Most Series A investments today have existing revenue and customer data
“Most Series A investments today, there is revenue. There is ARR. There is a product. There are customers to talk to, and so that means you have data”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 21:02 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
General Atlantic is deploying over $8 billion to $9 billion annually
“Well, now we're trending, you know, probably 8,000,000,009 billion plus of capital deployment.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 22:54 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Levy: General Atlantic will never invest in broken unit economics businesses
“I don't think we'll go all the way to investing in the upside down unit economics business. I don't think we'll ever do that. That's not how we invest, and I don't think we will.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 31:11 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic
Insight
Levy: The biggest venture misses are under-investing in winning portfolio companies
“I think in some ways, the biggest misses are not doing more of your winners.”
Anton Levy Oct 5, 2021 ▶ 35:10 20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Venture is Access & Why Investors Are Acting Mostly Rational and Upside Scenario Planning Needs To Change with Anton Levy, Co-President @ General Atlantic

Show 2statements(2 left)

The other half of the tape: Anton Levy's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 6 times in 3 episodes on 20VC. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 2Erik Allebest 2Martin Escobari 1Anthony Casalena 1

Statements about Anton Levy, by other people (1)

Disclosure
Escobari: General Atlantic passed on Uber's $2B round over market size limits
“So, one of my mistakes as an investor is Anton, my friend Anton Levy, co-president of the farm, invited me to look at Uber, the two billion dollar round, because of the international opportunity, and we went, and we met Travis, The entire black market industry…”
Martin Escobari Nov 11, 2022 ▶ 11:29 Martin Escobari: How to Invest During a Recession; Negotiation Tips; Developing Markets | 20VC #948 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
0021312021202220232024episodesmentions
0112021202220232024episodes it came up in
001.50.5312021202220232024episodesmentions per episode
2024 2 mentions in 1 episode
2022 1 mention in 1 episode
2021 3 mentions in 1 episode

Appearances (2)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
The Tiger Global Memo: From Sequoia Capital to Benchmark and Thrive: The World's Best on t compilation Feb 23, 2022 2m
20VC: The Two Largest Changes in the Investing Market Today, Why The Scarce Resource in Ve Oct 5, 2021 33m
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