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Jim Swartz

Founder & Partner Emeritus, Accel · 1 appearance on the record.

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

investorfounderentertaineraccel.com/people/jim-swartz ↗

In 1983, Jim Swartz co-founded venture capital firm Accel alongside Arthur Patterson, pioneering its "prepared mind" investing approach. Over a five-decade career, he served as lead director for dozens of technology companies, helped launch Meritech Capital, and founded film funder Impact Partners.

17statements → 7claims → 3claims resolved → 67%fully supported → 4.13/5average certainty → 2.4/5average debate potential → ≈4.0/5argument clarity, estimated → 18said about them ↓

2 supported 0 partly supported 1 contradicted 3 not checkable as stated how the 7 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 6 assertions · 2 opinions · 2 insights · 6 disclosures · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 7 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 4 are resolved, and 3 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 Jim 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
Swartz: The market is at the beginning of a new cycle downturn
“Money's just being thrown against the wall, so there's been no countervailing force to trigger the cycle. I personally think we're at the beginning of one right now, but we'll see.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 15:47 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Swartz: Tech revenue multiples in 2021 are 3x to 5x historical peaks
“We're at three to five X where we've ever been in our lifetime in terms of price to revenue of companies, three to five X where we were at the peak ever before”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 20:06 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
100% certainty 3
0% 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? →

242 words/min while actually speaking · 2.8 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for Jim Swartz: 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 4 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 3,253 words across 1 episode, but every recording we have of Jim Swartz 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 ▾ 1.5/10
pushed back at the host 3.5/10
setup questions received 83%

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

Opinion
Swartz: Believing current asset bubbles are 'different this time' is bullshit
“That's the key word. It's different this time. Yeah. Bullshit. I can't believe Arthur actually said that. It's different this time. He's bought into it.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 17:11 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Assertion Contradicted
Swartz: Revenue Multiples Are 3x to 5x Above Historical Peaks
“If you do a careful analysis of the multiples here in the marketplace, we're at three to five X where we've ever been in our lifetime, price to revenue of companies, three to five X where we were at the peak ever before.”
Jim Swartz Jun 29, 2022 ▶ 7:00 20VC: The Memo: Bill Gurley, Doug Leone, Keith Rabois; Investing Lessons from Prior Busts, How Their Investor Psychology Changed, What Can Be Applied To Today's Market
Opinion
Swartz: Modern Monetary Theory is crap
“Modern monetary theory, which is crap.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 15:38 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Prediction Held up
Swartz: The market is at the beginning of a new cycle downturn
“Money's just being thrown against the wall, so there's been no countervailing force to trigger the cycle. I personally think we're at the beginning of one right now, but we'll see.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 15:47 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Assertion Contradicted
Swartz: Tech revenue multiples in 2021 are 3x to 5x historical peaks
“We're at three to five X where we've ever been in our lifetime in terms of price to revenue of companies, three to five X where we were at the peak ever before”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 20:06 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Disclosure
Swartz: Selling high-priced assets expecting an imminent market crash
“Personally, I'm behaving like There's a major crash coming. And so whatever opportunity I have to get out of very high priced assets, I do.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 21:24 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Insight
Swartz: 100x revenue valuations are unsustainable and subject to mean reversion
“Everything reverts to the mean at some point. And, you know, a hundred times revenue is just not sustainable.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 21:48 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Disclosure
Swartz: Accel avoids Sand Hill Road offices to prevent groupthink
“In terms of culture, that's why we never, ever would have an office on Sand Hill Road. We want to be anti-Sand Hill Road. We want to be anti-culture, venture capital culture. We want our own culture, independent thought processes.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 35:44 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Disclosure
Jim Swartz Is Exiting Overvalued Assets Ahead of Expected Market Crash
“I'm behaving like there's a major crash coming and whatever opportunity I have to get out of very high priced assets I do, but I'm continuing to invest and continuing to plow back.”
Jim Swartz Jun 29, 2022 ▶ 7:16 20VC: The Memo: Bill Gurley, Doug Leone, Keith Rabois; Investing Lessons from Prior Busts, How Their Investor Psychology Changed, What Can Be Applied To Today's Market
Disclosure
Swartz: Accel maintains equal equity ownership with no partner hierarchy
“The single most important one is our philosophy of Equal ownership. You know, we've always had, you're either a full partner, or you're on your way to becoming a full partner as you grow. There are no gradations. There's no senior partners and junior partners …”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 23:48 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Disclosure
Swartz: Accel partners can invest without group support
“The decision-making process, there's no votes, but, you know, you go around the table, and at the end of the discussion, project, it's always a project manager, somebody who's making the call. He or she knows whether they have the support of the group or not b…”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 27:01 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Insight
Swartz: Accel partners must handle withering criticism to survive
“In Excel, if you can't withstand withering criticism, you probably aren't going to last.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 28:11 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Swartz: Accel's inaugural 1983 fund was the easiest it ever raised
“I mean, I think it was the easiest fund we ever raised. We raised it in the 90 days or so, and as Arthur points out, it was a particularly ebullient era.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 8:24 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Assertion Supported
Swartz: Software and communications were under 15% of 1980s VC
“You go back in that era, those two sectors were maybe 10 to 15% of the total investing that was going on at the”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 7:04 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Swartz: Accel's 1989 Fund III was the firm's most challenging raise
“Oh, it's very clear. It was the third fund, which we raised in 1989 because I mean, I could write a book on the tactics to get that damn thing done. It took us a year, maybe a little more.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 9:29 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Disclosure
Swartz: Accel co-founders began relinquishing firm equity around 2000
“So we started giving up our ownership in the firm, you know, beginning around 2000 or so late nineties, early 2000 started scaling back, which allowed others to grow.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 24:29 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Swartz: Accel was named to be near the alphabet's beginning
“The Accel name, both Arthur and I spent our lives at the tail end of the alphabet. We wanted something at the front end of the alphabet. Going through a dictionary, he came across, it's actually a music term. It's short for accelerando, if you're into music.”
Jim Swartz Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 7:22 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev

The other half of the tape: Jim Swartz's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 16 times in 5 episodes on 20VC. 2 statements on the record name them. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Harry Stebbings 6David Fialkow 4Sonali De Rycker 3Peter Wagner 2Miles Clements 1

Statements about Jim Swartz, by other people (2)

Assertion Supported
Patterson: Kleiner Perkins invested in Accel's $40M telecom fund in the 1980s
“Jim had made a really strategic move in about 83, 85, where we raised that XL-II was actually a focused telecom fund of a smaller size, but I think it was about forty million, and I think KP even invested in it.”
Arthur Patterson Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 13:27 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev
Assertion Partly supported
Patterson: Citicorp shut down its UK venture arm due to no deals
“When Jim was at Citicorp Venture Capital, one of his first jobs was to go to close down their English operation because there weren't any good deals in Europe.”
Arthur Patterson Nov 8, 2021 ▶ 29:22 20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of the Most Prominent Venture Firms Over Four Decades, How Today's Market Compares To The Dot Com Bubble, How To Do Generational Transition Well and Why Accel Will Nev

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
0081152202120222023202420252026episodesmentions
012202120222023202420252026episodes it came up in
003162202120222023202420252026episodesmentions per episode
2026 1 mention in 1 episode
2024 2 mentions in 1 episode
2022 12 mentions in 2 episodes 6 per episode
2021 1 mention in 1 episode

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
20VC Special: Accel Founders Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz on Building Accel Into One of Nov 8, 2021 15m

Played on the show (1)

Episodes where a recording of Jim Swartz was played rather than Jim 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: The Memo: Bill Gurley, Doug Leone, Keith Rabois; Investing Lessons from Prior Busts, Jun 29, 2022 1m clip played
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