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Chris Hutchins

Founder & CEO, Grove · 1 appearance on the record.

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

Chris Hutchins is the Founder and CEO of Grove, a financial planning startup backed by First Round Capital and Lowercase Capital. Previously, he was a Partner and EiR at Google Ventures and co-founded Milk.

12statements → 0claims → 0claims resolved → 3.67/5average certainty → 2.42/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated →

3 opinions · 8 insights · 1 disclosure · every statement was checked. none of them is a claim the record can settle: opinions, insights and disclosures never carry an assessment.

The record, in short

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

How they sound: speaking style how? →

258 words/min while actually speaking · 0.5 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for Chris Hutchins: 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 24 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 3,668 words across 1 episode, but every recording we have of Chris Hutchins 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 1 rated episode:

host pushback ▾ 2/10
pushed back at the host ▾ 3/10
setup questions received 70%

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

Opinion
Hutchins: Most VCs fake interest in startups and withhold honest feedback
“Most VCs that I've worked with or talked to, they're not really interested in the company. In order to protect the future opportunity, they don't always give the best honest feedback, and that hurts the founder.”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 22:59 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Insight
Hutchins: Founders should never name-drop other VCs during fundraising
“Oh, I think none. If I'm a founder, and I tell someone at VC or at GV, oh, you know, I just had this great conversation with this other investor. I'm going to be like, great, I'll call them and see what's really happening. VCs all know each other. They all tal…”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 11:19 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Insight
Hutchins: SAFEs and convertible notes create distracting fundraising loops for founders
“Safes, convertible debt, they're all kind of based on future guesses. You kind of figure out the dilution later. It allows for this continual raising process that, you know, I know YC's talked a lot about that I think can be a huge distraction.”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 13:25 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Insight
Hutchins: Super pro rata rights for insiders block new lead investors
“If you are in a situation where the insiders have all of their pro rata rights, super pro rata rights, you get to a point that if you want to raise 20%, or you want to sell 20% of the company in your next round, and insiders are taking 15, it's going to be har…”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 14:44 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Opinion
Hutchins: Crypto in 2018 is a speculative investment, not a retirement plan
“I feel like I'm seeing too many people spend too much time on it right now, and I kind of see it as more of a speculative investment for most people at this point, not a guaranteed way to plan your retirement.”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 21:56 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Opinion
Warby Parker and Casper warrant VC backing through supply chain innovation
“At first glance, you might say that a number of companies like Warby Parker or Casper traditionally wouldn't be venture backed companies because they're kind of traditional e-commerce product companies. But I think as you dive into the supply chain, you dive i…”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 6:21 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Insight
Hutchins: Founders Should Practice Series A Pitches for 40 Hours
“In advance of a Series A, you should be giving the pitch for about 40 hours of practice and rehearsal before you give it to the first investor.”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 7:31 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Insight
Hutchins: The specific VC partner matters far more than fund reputation
“I think ultimately what you're looking for as a founder when fundraising, assuming you have options, is someone you think will be a partner to you, and you know, I always say that the partner means much more than the fund, and so find out how you work together…”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 11:59 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Insight
Hutchins: High-leverage founders should slow fundraising cycles to vet board partners
“So if you're the founder and the deal time is really, really tight, and you feel like you need another two hours to spend with the partners at the three funds you're thinking about working with, you have all the leverage. I could see the allure of just rushing…”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 12:34 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Insight
Hutchins: Preemptive funding rounds must price in six months of future growth
“I personally would want to make sure if someone wanted to preempt a round by six months, the round would need to be priced as if we were six months further along.”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 15:48 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Insight
Startup hiring requires a single leader and hundreds of candidate contacts
“Put one person in charge, and step one is just define the process and put someone in charge. If that person loves data even better, and just understand that it is a longer slog than I think anyone who's never been in charge of it realizes, and it might take yo…”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 19:43 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures
Disclosure
Hutchins takes minimal salary and relies on savings to build Grove
“Yeah, I would say relative to Silicon Valley, I probably have a low risk Risk tolerance. I'm not entirely investing my life savings in Bitcoin. I'm not a rabid angel investor. I think compared to the rest of the world, I'm probably pretty high risk tolerance i…”
Chris Hutchins Feb 23, 2018 ▶ 3:55 20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Rounds & Why Hiring Is Really A Big Data Problem with Chris Hutchins, Founder @ Grove & Former Partner @ Google Ventures

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
20VC: The Fundamentals Of Optimising The Fundraising Process, SAFE's vs Priced Equity Roun Feb 23, 2018 15m
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