David Fialkow

Co-Founder & Managing Director, General Catalyst · 1 appearance on the record.

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

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David Fialkow co-founded the venture capital firm General Catalyst in 2000, backing technology companies including Stripe, Airbnb, and Canva. Parallel to venture investing, he is an Academy Award-winning documentary producer whose credits include Icarus and Navalny.

17statements → 4claims → 3claims resolved → 33%fully supported → 4.18/5average certainty → 2.29/5average debate potential → ≈4.0/5argument clarity, estimated → 18said about them ↓

1 supported 2 partly supported 0 contradicted 1 not checkable as stated how the 4 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

4 assertions · 1 opinion · 9 insights · 3 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 4 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 3 are resolved, and 1 names 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 David 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

Assertion Supported

General Catalyst's first $70M fund was structured as an LLC

“Well, the first fund was probably seventy million dollars, and it wasn't even in GPLP, it was an LLC, because of course we were building a company, which is the only thing we thought we knew how to do. It was seventy million, most of it was from us, and then a…”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 10:59 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1

none yet certainty 2

none yet certainty 3

100% certainty 4

50% 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? →

256 words/min while actually speaking · 0.4 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for David Fialkow: 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 29 exchanges on the produced feed is ≈4.0/5, shown at half point precision because the sample is small and produced tape scores higher.

Measured by listening to 7,906 words across 1 episode, but every recording we have of David Fialkow 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 ▾ 1/10

setup questions received 75%

host pushback: the hardest questions Harry asked, tap to play ▶ 16:08“Can I ask, how do you retain that quality and that authenticity at scale?” ▶ 22:19“How would you advise me with that kind of investment quandary?” ▶ 11:30“When you had to go out to institutionals for the first time, how did that go?”

when David pushed back ▶ 35:15“Wait, Well, you're using different definitions. You're putting activity and hours against process and outcome and success.” ▶ 11:54“Joel looked at me and said, it's not a donation. They actually want their money back with a return.”

What they said17 What others said18 Episodes1

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

Insight

Fialkow: Venture capital success is 100% about founders, not TAM

“It's a hundred percent about the founders. Not 99, it's a hundred percent. Forget about markets, forget about TAM, forget about even other co-investors. Myopically focus on your relationship with founders in choosing people who are going to build the next gene…”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 43:22 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Assertion Partly supported

Fialkow: Distributors refused to buy 'The Dissident' over Saudi fears

“Couldn't get the film sold. It was one of the best films that we ever made, and no film company would buy it. No film company would distribute it, because they honestly were all scared of the Saudis. And it taught me a lesson. Right after winning an Academy Aw…”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 46:01 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Insight

Fialkow: Founders should ignore TAM and CAC/LTV in early pitches

“So the first thing I would say is forget about markets. Forget about TAM. Forget about CAC LTV. Forget about all the things you think traditional people are going to ask you. Paint a picture for me. What do you want to build?”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 26:47 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Insight

Fialkow: Co-founders must prioritize business needs over protecting their friendship

“Most people who start business with their friends, I think, can make a mistake. They say, let the business never get in the way of the friendship. We said the exact opposite. Let the friendship never get in the way of business.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 6:52 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Insight

Fialkow: Great founders do not need to be well-rounded

“Building a business is not like playing tennis. To be a tennis player, you have to learn how to head back in. You can't get away with it. Business is not like that. You don't have to be well-rounded. I mean, obviously, I'm a good example of that, right? What y…”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 21:03 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Insight

Fialkow: Great early-stage startup teams operate like cults

“Great early stage companies are like cults. They all believe, they believe with a capital B.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 25:13 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Insight

Fialkow: Poor family relationships signal poor leadership potential

“Somebody who's a loner and somebody that doesn't like to get along with people who has shitty relationships with their family, not as a rule, but it's pretty hard to imagine that they're going to be a great leader.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 29:33 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Opinion

Fialkow: New leadership outperforms General Catalyst's original founders

“And in the years since They've all really taken on the day-to-day management of the firm. It's a much better place. I don't hate to admit. They have done a much better job than Joel and I ever did.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 40:04 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Disclosure

General Catalyst launched without a master plan to hatch Boston startups

“We had no plan. We had no strategy. We had no business model. All we knew is that we were going to take some of the money we just made selling our travel business, and we were going to hatch companies in Boston.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 9:36 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Insight

Fialkow: Investor value lies in network mobilization over individual expertise

“There's a limited amount that I can bring anybody, but I can bring an enormous amount of people to you as a founder who have skill sets or relationships or desires to help you.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 14:49 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Insight

Fialkow: Inviting acquaintances to curated dinners ruins group openness and dynamic

“If I bring two people that know each other, they're immediately going to change the dynamic of the group.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 17:32 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Insight

Fialkow: Founders unable to endure extreme stress will fail regardless of idea

“The first thing you've got to evaluate is, is this person that's sitting in front of me Capable of the emotional, physical, and mental stress that it's going to take to build a business. Binary. If they're not that person, regardless of how good their idea is,…”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 24:41 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Disclosure

General Catalyst LPs stayed supportive despite the firm's market underperformance

“We had a tough fundraise. The market was off. We didn't have a lot of liquidity. And we went to our LPs and said, hey, things aren't great right now. We're really, like, feel like we underperformed the market over the last couple of years. But, and they all sa…”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 30:37 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Accel's Jim Swartz warned General Catalyst to expand beyond Boston

“Jim Schwartz told us in the summer of 2011 that if we didn't open a presence in California because we were only in Boston, we would never survive as a firm.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 38:10 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Assertion Partly supported

Fialkow built a multi-hundred million dollar travel company without VC funding

“We built a business with several hundred million dollar business without ever having to raise venture capital.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 4:16 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

Assertion Supported

General Catalyst's first $70M fund was structured as an LLC

Disclosure

Fialkow was a struggling documentary filmmaker at age 24

“Can I tell you what life was like for me when I was 24? You know, I was a filmmaker trying to make documentary films, and it was like I couldn't make a living. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, and I had a couple of ideas.”

David Fialkow May 16, 2022 ▶ 20:01 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst

The other half of the tape: David Fialkow's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 17 times in 6 episodes on 20VC. 1 statement on the record names them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 7 Brad Gerstner 5 Elias Torres 3 Quentin Clark 1 Hemant Taneja 1

Statements about David Fialkow, by other people (1)

Assertion Supported

Fialkow built and sold four companies before founding General Catalyst

“Prior to founding General Catalyst with Joel Cutler, David was a serial entrepreneur. Building and selling no less than four successful companies.”

Harry Stebbings May 16, 2022 ▶ 0:26 20VC: The Founding of General Catalyst, What it Takes to Build a Firm That Stands the Test of Time, Why VCs Need to Give Founders Greater Permission to Go For It & Why Venture Capital is Like Tennis with David Fialkow, Co-Founder @ General Catalyst