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Geoff Lewis

Founder & Managing Partner, Bedrock · 2 appearances on the record, plus 1 compilation re-air.

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

investorfounder@GeoffLewisOrg ↗bedrockcap.com ↗

Geoff Lewis is a venture capitalist who founded Bedrock Capital in 2018 following his tenure as a partner at Founders Fund. He has led major investments in and served on boards of companies including Rippling, OpenAI, Lyft, Nubank, and Vercel.

44statements → 14claims → 5claims resolved → 60%fully supported → 3.95/5average certainty → 2.45/5average debate potential → 4.2/5argument clarity · the sources → 18said about them ↓

3 supported 1 partly supported 1 contradicted 9 not checkable as stated how the 14 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

7 predictions · 7 assertions · 5 opinions · 10 insights · 15 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 14 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 5 are resolved, and 9 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 Geoff 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
Geoff Lewis: The public-private valuation disconnect has never been greater
“Is the disconnect between the public market valuations and the private market valuations to me has never been greater. And so that is the new variable where I think how that variable ends up playing out is going to be really key.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 5:29 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company

Their most notable contradicted claim

Prediction Didn’t hold up
Geoff Lewis: Bedrock Three will take over three years to deploy
“And with Bedrock Three, I think it's going to be like a three-year-plus type deployment cycle, and future funds will be the same.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 24:05 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
25% certainty 3
100% 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

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

4.2 / 5 directness 4.4 · coherence 4.4 · precision 4.1 · compression 3.6

redirected or did not address 2 of 22 assessed questions (9%). Watch them ▸

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? →

219 words/min while actually speaking · 7.3 um and uh per 1k words · 7.2 false starts per 1k · 29.4% of pauses land inside a clause

Measured by listening to the audio itself: 6,681 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 4 rated episodes:

host pushback ▾ 3.3/10
pushed back at the host ▾ 2.5/10
setup questions received 66%

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

Insight
Lewis: Vengeance is a crucial motivator for historic entrepreneurs
“I think the greatest entrepreneurs in history, and this is a sort of declassé thing to say, it's not really a appropriate thing to say, but I'm going to say it anyways. I think the greatest entrepreneurs in history, it's this combination of a life's work surfa…”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 5:18 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lewis: Rippling will dominate globally without leaving room for European clones
“Why does some of these European payroll and HR, workforce management companies, not knocking on Europe, but why do you need a rippling for Europe? There's no Airbnb for Europe. There's no Google for Europe. Why do you need a rippling for Europe? Why do you nee…”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 15:09 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Geoff Lewis: Only about a dozen VCs globally actually add value
“I think that some do. And by some, I mean maybe a dozen or so. And so I think there's probably a dozen VCs that you could say are actually value added.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 12:41 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company
Opinion
Geoff Lewis: VC board seats do not add significantly more value
“And then in practice, I don't actually think there's that much that a board can do to help a company. I don't think that being on the board enables you to add an order of magnitude more value than being a involved investor who's not on the board.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 14:25 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company
Opinion
Lewis: Parker Conrad is the most vengeance-driven founder he has backed
“And Parker has that in spades more than any entrepreneur I've backed. He's got it.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 8:14 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lewis: Rippling will become the AdWords for SaaS software distribution
“In March of twenty-twenty-two, Parker and the company articulated a very specific and detailed product roadmap around how they can really become, through their employee graph, over time, I don't think he would phrase it this way, but I'm going to, the AdWords …”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 13:34 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lewis: Rippling's preferred stack will grow linearly or sublinearly relative to revenue
“Because of their approach to product building and go to market, I believe the preferred stack Grows either linearly or sub linearly versus revenue over time versus hyper linearly.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 19:16 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lewis: Bedrock refuses to participate in competitive VC fundraising processes
“By the time a company's in a formal financing process, it's kind of dead to us. Like, we still love it, we still love the entrepreneurs, but once they've circulated a memo to 12 VC firms, we're not engaging.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 24:42 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Lewis: Bedrock lost Rippling's Series B after trying to lower agreed valuation
“We agreed on evaluation with Parker. He's like, send me the term sheet. I'm ready to sign. And we were like, wait, Like all of their business at the time was SMBs. Now, since then they've extended, expanded surface area phenomenally into mid-market. They're st…”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 26:38 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Bedrock exited Bitcoin and Ethereum to fund its investment in Rippling
“And so we traded out of Bitcoin and Ethereum via our second fund and for it, right before the crash for a great multiple and recycled those proceeds to fund our rippling investment.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 34:28 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Lewis: Pay up for transcendent startups at 300x ARR or invest zero
“The difference between a hundred X AR multiple and a 150 X AR multiple. The reality is those are both insane. And so you have to have extremely high conviction and to have done your diligence and really believe this set of entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs, this com…”
Geoff Lewis Aug 12, 2022 ▶ 22:05 20VC: 13 of the Great Investing Minds on When to Pay Up vs When To Remain Disciplined and Walk Because the Price is too High: The Ultimate Guide to Price Sensitivity
Assertion Supported
Geoff Lewis: The public-private valuation disconnect has never been greater
“Is the disconnect between the public market valuations and the private market valuations to me has never been greater. And so that is the new variable where I think how that variable ends up playing out is going to be really key.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 5:29 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company
Insight
Geoff Lewis: At 100x ARR valuations, invest your maximum or zero
“The difference between a hundred X AR multiple and a 150 X AR multiple, the reality is those are both insane. And so you have to have extremely high conviction and to have done your diligence and really believe this set of entrepreneurs, this company is going …”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 7:57 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company
Disclosure
Geoff Lewis: Uncapped note in Rippling was one of Bedrock's best investments
“I think one of our best investments at Bedrock was doing an uncapped note investment in Rippling”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 16:09 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company
Disclosure
Geoff Lewis: Bedrock does not require minimum ownership targets in startups
“Lots of VCs will say, we need to own a certain percent of a company. We don't have that as a rule here.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 17:06 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company
Insight
Lewis: Pay 300x ARR with extreme conviction, or invest zero
“And so you have to have extremely high conviction and to have done your diligence and really believe this set of entrepreneurs, this company is going to transcend. And if you feel that way, I would go for it at 300 versus 200. If you don't, I would do zero.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 9, 2024 ▶ 5:51 20VC: Doug Leone, Bill Ackman, Bill Gurley and Orlando Bravo on "Does Price Matter"; When to Pay Up vs When to Stay Disciplined, The Biggest Lessons on Price Discipline from 8 of the World's Best Investors
Assertion Supported
Lewis: Rippling reached nine-figure ARR with nearly 3x annual growth
“Now they're already at, you know, nine figures of air are growing extremely fast. They grew almost three acts over the past. 1212 months.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 19:30 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lewis: Bedrock's VC loss ratio is under 50 basis points
“We at Bedrock have only lost a few million dollars. You know, we've invested hundreds of millions of dollars over almost five years at this point. I think our loss ratio is less than 50 basis points, so we, we've lost almost no money.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 20:49 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Lewis: Deploying capital via uncapped notes is not real investing
“Uncapped notes aren't actually investing. That's why I hate them. Investing is You know, you should know the price you're paying. That's what an investment is. It's not an investment if you don't know what the price you're paying is for the security.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 24:06 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Bedrock returned over 10x cash to Fund One LPs from crypto
“So we returned a 10 plus X life to date multiple on our Bitcoin and Ethereum investments on fund one. To our LPs in cash. Nobody even emailed us to thank us.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 36:06 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Geoff Lewis: Bedrock deployed 20% of first three funds into Rippling
“It's around 20% of those first three funds now. All in is rippling across all of our investments.”
Geoff Lewis Oct 5, 2022 ▶ 42:15 Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #933 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Geoff Lewis: Youth is a venture manager's biggest asset
“Youth, I would say, is the biggest asset one can have as a venture capital manager. The youth enables you to not be jaded and to rebuild these mental models for every new market, for every new company that you encounter.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 11:30 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company
Insight
Geoff Lewis: The best companies do not fit pre-existing patterns
“But I do believe that there's a pattern match thing in venture capital. And I think there's some value to that, but the best companies just don't fit any preexisting patterns is what I've found.”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 12:17 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company
Insight
Geoff Lewis: Bedrock's best-performing deals started with low initial ownership
“For me, the companies where I've done the best, and wherever I look, you know, retrospectively to our bedrock track record, our pre-bedrock track record, the ownership percentages were actually quite low, and so you basically, for me, it's operating the world,…”
Geoff Lewis Feb 14, 2022 ▶ 18:11 20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Not Have An Ownership Focus and The Difference Between Principles and Rules When Building a Firm or Company

Show 20statements(20 left)

The other half of the tape: Geoff Lewis's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 18 times in 6 episodes on 20VC. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 18

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
004182201920202021202220232024episodesmentions
012201920202021202220232024episodes it came up in
004182201920202021202220232024episodesmentions per episode
2024 3 mentions in 1 episode
2021 4 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode
2020 3 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode
2019 8 mentions in 1 episode

Appearances (3)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
20VC: Doug Leone, Bill Ackman, Bill Gurley and Orlando Bravo on "Does Price Matter"; When compilation Feb 9, 2024 47s
Geoff Lewis: Why I Put $200M into Rippling; Uncapped Notes; "Compound Startups" | 20VC #93 Oct 5, 2022 35m
20VC: Bedrock's Geoff Lewis on Whether VCs Actually Provide Value or Not, Why Bedrock Does Feb 14, 2022 20m

Played on the show (1)

Episodes where a recording of Geoff Lewis was played rather than Geoff taking part, or where the tape carries an address with nobody putting questions to them. Listed because the words are on the record, kept out of every score on this page because they were not said on this show. We read this off the tape: who was spoken to, who was asked something, who answered whom.

EpisodeDateOn tapeWhat it is
20VC: 13 of the Great Investing Minds on When to Pay Up vs When To Remain Disciplined and Aug 12, 2022 46s clip played
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