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Jon Staenberg

Venture Capitalist · 1 appearance on the record.

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

13statements → 3claims → 3claims resolved → 0%fully supported → 3.92/5average certainty → 1.92/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated →

0 supported 2 partly supported 1 contradicted how the 3 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

3 assertions · 1 opinion · 4 insights · 5 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 3 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 3 are 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 Jon argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Jon Staenberg has invested in over 250 startups
“So it's probably over 250 startups at this point, just to update here.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 5:26 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
25% certainty 3
50% 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? →

274 words/min while actually speaking · 29.4 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for Jon Staenberg: only 6 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 6 raw tape exchanges is ≈4.5/5, shown at half point precision because the sample is small.

Measured by listening to the audio itself: 3,028 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 Jon Staenberg said on 20VC that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Insight
Staenberg: Co-investor reputation drives VC deals more than the founder's pitch
“Entrepreneurs should know that often it's not about the person you're pitching, but it's about the people you're bringing to the table.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 7:19 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Insight
Staenberg: Five years of operational experience makes for better venture capitalists
“You can do venture, but why don't you get some real world experience first? Why don't you go somewhere for five years? And actually know what it means to go through cycles, know what it means to hire and fire people, know what it means to have to work on a tea…”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 2:16 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Insight
Staenberg: Early-stage pitch deck market size projections are made-up guesses
“I don't need to see those numbers because they're made up numbers anyway. They're guesses in many ways.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 9:12 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Opinion
Staenberg: VCs overvalue their contributions while founders assume all VCs are identical
“Yeah, I think, in general, VCs overvalue their role, and their value add, and but having said that, I think the entrepreneur often makes the mistake of assuming all VCs are the same.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 11:13 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Disclosure
Staenberg missed the social media wave while running a wine startup
“That's why I, quite frankly, have probably missed most of what's happened in the whole social media and much of the consumer in the last couple years, partly because I was doing my own startup in the wine business, but also because a lot of what that was about…”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 7:55 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Insight
Staenberg: Founders should reference check VCs with failed portfolio company founders
“The tell is asking other companies they've invested in, And not just the ones that have worked out, the ones that didn't work out.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 13:24 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Assertion Partly supported
Staenberg: Active major VC funds have dropped from 3,000 to under 1,000
“There used to be close to 3000 major venture funds, and today that's in the hundreds. It's certainly below a thousand.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 14:07 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Disclosure
Staenberg requires warm introductions or shared investor networks to review pitches
“If someone doesn't come to me through someone I know, Or has a, has an ecosystem of investors that I know, it's very hard for me to take a look at.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 18:51 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Assertion Contradicted
Jon Staenberg has invested in over 250 startups
“So it's probably over 250 startups at this point, just to update here.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 5:26 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Disclosure
Staenberg invested in DocuSign and Avalara during later funding rounds
“I'm in DocuSign, which I did later in Avalara, Those are two Seattle companies later.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 10:39 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Assertion Partly supported
Staenberg: AngelList and OurCrowd each raised over $100M in 2014
“I think in the last year, both of them had over a hundred million dollars raised through their vehicles.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 15:46 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Disclosure
Jon Staenberg discloses his personal investment in AngelList
“For full disclosure, I am an investor in AngelList.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 17:25 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg
Disclosure
Staenberg recently invested in recipe app Kitchenbowl and fertility app Kindara
“Well, we talked a little bit about it. Kitchen bowl. Although I also just did a deal called Kindara, which is a mobile app. Yeah, Kindara, which is a women's mobile fertility app. It's both software and hardware.”
Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 ▶ 20:16 20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
20 VC 034: 250 Investments, AngelList Syndicates and Microsoft with Jon Staenberg May 7, 2015 15m
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