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Brian Ascher

Partner, Venrock · 1 appearance on the record.

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

investoroperator@VCsurferDAD ↗vcwaves.com ↗

Joining Venrock in 1998, he focuses on early-stage investments across enterprise software, SaaS, and fintech. A multi-time Forbes Midas List honoree, he has backed companies including Vocera, Personal Capital, DATAllegro, SlideShare, and 6sense.

8statements → 1claims → 1claims resolved → 4/5average certainty → 2.25/5average debate potential → 4.6/5argument clarity · the sources →

0 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted how the 1 claim stands · each chip opens the sources

1 assertion · 2 opinions · 5 insights · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertion are the 1 claim: statements the public record can support or contradict. 1 is resolved. 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 Brian argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Argument clarity: do they answer the question? how? →

4.6 / 5 directness 4.8 · coherence 5 · precision 4.5 · compression 4

answered every one of 15 assessed questions directly

This is a score against a rubric. It is not a rank. Every host question → answer exchange is scored with names hidden on directness, coherence, precision and compression, 1–5 each, on meaning alone: disfluencies are ignored, and only raw unedited episodes count. This is the score that measures thought. Every scored exchange, scores shown → · The rubric and its checks →

How they sound: speaking style how? →

225 words/min while actually speaking · 5.7 um and uh per 1k words

Measured by listening to the audio itself: 3,511 words across 1 episode of raw-level tape, transcribed verbatim with every um and uh kept, each one attributed only where the alignment onto our timed stream is unambiguous. These are measurements of speaking style. We do not rank them: across this corpus, fluency and argument quality are nearly uncorrelated (ρ≈0.2), and smooth talking does not signal clear thinking. How it's measured →

How the interview went all their pushback → series average →

Across 1 rated episode:

host pushback ▾ 0/10
pushed back at the host 1/10
setup questions received 85%

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

Insight
Ascher: Pitch decks have replaced business plans as the de facto standard
“So my first advice is to have slides. They're not only useful for fundraising, but the PowerPoint deck has become the de facto business plan. It can substitute for your mission statement, vision statement, etc. Like, there's never not a good time to have a goo…”
Brian Ascher May 31, 2017 ▶ 6:16 20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists & What Makes The Best Post-Investment VC/Founder Relationship with Brian Ascher, Partner @ Venrock
Insight
Ascher: Move team slides to the middle or end of pitch decks
“But generally a team slide, it's hard to generate excitement and interest. Like you might all have very impressive backgrounds, but a five minute slog of three or four or 10 people's resumes, it's just not high energy. And it's much better to do it at the midd…”
Brian Ascher May 31, 2017 ▶ 7:11 20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists & What Makes The Best Post-Investment VC/Founder Relationship with Brian Ascher, Partner @ Venrock
Opinion
Ascher: Venture capital has become overly transactional and cap-table focused
“I'd like to see it be less transactional and more relationship oriented. I feel like it's become a bit of a, yeah, yeah, yeah, write me a check and join this long cap table list, but ultimately for me, again, it's about the long-term partnership relationship.”
Brian Ascher May 31, 2017 ▶ 20:51 20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists & What Makes The Best Post-Investment VC/Founder Relationship with Brian Ascher, Partner @ Venrock
Insight
Ascher: Breaking into VC requires starting young or an executive track record
“Well, there's kind of two paths. You beat and kick and scratch and claw your way in as a young person who doesn't yet really have much to bring to the table by way of a track record or proven deal flow based on your stature as a founder or senior executive at …”
Brian Ascher May 31, 2017 ▶ 3:49 20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists & What Makes The Best Post-Investment VC/Founder Relationship with Brian Ascher, Partner @ Venrock
Insight
Ascher: Early-stage VCs seek non-consensus viewpoints that prove right
“We're looking for a non-consensus viewpoint that will ultimately prove right, and the market will catch up and reward the company for achieving this goal.”
Brian Ascher May 31, 2017 ▶ 11:23 20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists & What Makes The Best Post-Investment VC/Founder Relationship with Brian Ascher, Partner @ Venrock
Assertion Partly supported
Ascher: Jack Dorsey's Square Series A pitch listed 75 company risks
“I remember seeing Jack Dorsey's pitch for squares series a, and he literally started with like, these are 75 things that could kill this company in the short term.”
Brian Ascher May 31, 2017 ▶ 12:24 20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists & What Makes The Best Post-Investment VC/Founder Relationship with Brian Ascher, Partner @ Venrock
Insight
Ascher: Board meetings should focus on problem-solving, not celebrating success
“I assume going into every one of our companies that we're going to spend most of our time in board meetings and outside of board meetings, solving problems, fixing things, trying to make it better. We actually spend very little time congratulating ourselves on…”
Brian Ascher May 31, 2017 ▶ 16:08 20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists & What Makes The Best Post-Investment VC/Founder Relationship with Brian Ascher, Partner @ Venrock
Opinion
Ascher: Google Photos is an underrated example of artificial intelligence
“Google Photos, to me, is not getting nearly the credit and discussion it deserves For being a truly remarkable example of artificial intelligence.”
Brian Ascher May 31, 2017 ▶ 21:08 20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists & What Makes The Best Post-Investment VC/Founder Relationship with Brian Ascher, Partner @ Venrock

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
20VC: How Both Founders & GPs Should Construct Their Pitch, Why VCs Are Eternal Optimists May 31, 2017 17m
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