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Michael Ma

Co-Founder, Liquid 2 Ventures · 1 appearance on the record.

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

11statements → 5claims → 4claims resolved → 75%fully supported → 3.91/5average certainty → 2.45/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated →

3 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted 1 not checkable as stated how the 5 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 4 assertions · 1 opinion · 4 insights · 1 disclosure · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 5 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 4 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 Michael 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
Liquid 2 Ventures skips seed extensions to re-invest at Series A
“Generally, we say we stay out of seat extensions and during the A, we think the lead is going to be the signal anyway. So that's when we'll come back in.”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 8:51 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
50% certainty 3
100% certainty 4
100% 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? →

279 words/min while actually speaking · 4.8 um and uh per 1k words

No argument clarity score for Michael Ma: 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 3,724 words across 1 episode, but every recording we have of Michael Ma 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 ▾ 3/10
pushed back at the host ▾ 2/10
setup questions received 65%

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

Insight
Founders do not need initial passion for their startup idea
“So I don't think you need to be passionate about an idea in the beginning, which is sort of controversial in my opinion, but you actually do see founders grow into something.”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 21:06 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Opinion
Y Combinator is the exact opposite of proprietary deal flow
“So, YC, in a lot of ways, exact opposite of proprietary deal flow. Everybody talks about proprietary deal flow like having something unique, and YC is a public demo day where everybody in the Valley is invited, and so, in a lot of ways, it's antithesis to a lo…”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 14:25 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Assertion Not checkable as stated
YC yields a constant number of good deals regardless of batch size
“I think what we have seen is there's a certain number of good deals per batch, regardless of batch size.”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 15:22 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Insight
Perceived YC quality decline stems from international deals US VCs cannot fund
“What has gone up is YC has done more international deals. So from a lot of VC's perspective, those deals are just not doable. And so the batch size has, let's say, another 20 or 30 African Indian deals. I don't think those are bad companies, and some of them a…”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 15:28 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Disclosure
Liquid 2 partners get one unilateral 'silver bullet' deal per year
“Silver bullet is any, at any point in time, individual partner says, I just want to do this deal. They get one per year, and they don't need anybody else to vote on it. Otherwise, usually it's majority vote.”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 8:06 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Assertion Partly supported
The best micro VCs reserve 75% of capital for follow-on investments
“Typically for micro-receives, I'd say in industry, it's like fifty-fifty, 50% out of fund, 50% on the back end. I'd say the best funds are doing like something like three to one with three being the follow on. I'd say first round poly is doing that. Like some …”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 8:27 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Insight
VCs should avoid seed extensions because bridge rounds rarely succeed
“But in general, I think you should stay away from it from the VC standpoint. Just to, they just tend to go nowhere, like Maple said.”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 9:39 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Prediction Held up
Liquid 2 Ventures skips seed extensions to re-invest at Series A
“Generally, we say we stay out of seat extensions and during the A, we think the lead is going to be the signal anyway. So that's when we'll come back in.”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 8:51 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Assertion Supported
Liquid 2 Ventures does not take board seats at the seed stage
“We don't take board seats on seed.”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 12:44 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Insight
Aspiring VCs can perform analyst duties before getting hired
“I mean, it's actually possible for you to basically act like an analyst associate at a fund without getting a job. You can meet with founders. You can write market maps. You can basically do the job. You can send over these deals to VCs, and you'd be surprised…”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 19:55 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures
Assertion Supported
TalkBin was the fastest exit in Y Combinator history
“At the time, TalkBend was the fastest exit YC had ever had.”
Michael Ma Jul 26, 2017 ▶ 4:20 20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Dramatically Aligns Incentives & Why Founders Do Not Have To Be Passionate About Their Idea From The Start with Michael Ma, Founding Partner @ Liquid 2 Ventures

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
20VC: Why YC Is The Exact Opposite of Proprietary Deal Flow, Why Having No Follow On Drama Jul 26, 2017 14m
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